We had a bit of a fiasco earlier this week on the home-front. Here’s what happened:

We recently moved from Indiana to Oregon. We had to switch banks (we bank locally), so this means we’ve had to be really careful with automatic payments since then. We also switched insurance companies. Luckily, insuring your residence, car, business, etc is a bit in your control … We found who we thought was a great agent that would take care of us here in Portland. After discussing the need to change our banking information and filling out (and returning) all of our paperwork, we found out that they charged our old account twice. This resulted in several overdraft fees, as other transactions were returned. Needless to say, we were a little stressed, but figured it could be resolved.

Within the afternoon, funds had been sorted out, we had a refund for the overdraft fees, and all was in order. However, the one thing we really wanted was an apology. We never got it. I spoke with the agent on the phone and through email … we never heard the golden word: “sorry”.

As a small business owner, I understand the importance of trying my hardest not to make mistakes, and when it happens … I know to say sorry. I know to do what I can to ensure my client knows it was a mistake that won’t happen again, and that they feel I actually care about them.

I just wanted to tell this story as a reminder to those of you who run your own businesses … There was nothing really keeping us with this company before, but now, there are reasons not to stay. An apology would have changed everything.

Saying sorry is a lot like saying thank you … Neither are really necessary, however, both can make the world of difference to your clients.