Sales Rep: My biggest customer just told me they are sending more work our way!
Manager: Wait, what? Didn’t we just royally screw up an order of theirs?
Sales Rep: Yup! We blew the run and had to eat $25,000.
Manager: And they want to give you MORE work? That doesn’t make any sense.
Sales Rep: It does to me. When I found out about the issue, I owned it. I called with the bad news and gave them two options to rectify the situation, leading off the conversation with an apology. After they decided, I sent daily updates. In addition, we digitally printed a small quantity to tie them over. Also, I did a Zoom call and included our head of Production, letting them know what happened and what is being done to ensure it won’t repeat.
Manager: Sounds like the screw up was the best thing that could have happened to you.
Sales Rep: Because of how we handled it, yes. The client said their faith in us a quality vendor skyrocketed as a result. Their direct quote was:
“We want a vendor with integrity as well as quality. Anyone can make ink and toner stick to substrate. A good vendor does the job with consistency. A great vendor is made when situations like this arise. You have proven yourselves to fall into that category.”
