Whenever there is a discussion on how a PPC manager should handle his/her mistakes when reporting to a boss or client, it is bound to get extremely interesting. From the answers one is apt to glean, it becomes clear that a lot of PPC managers have very little clue on this issue. Any competent service however recognizes 3 main principles to use when mistakes are made in clients PPC accounts.
The first is to get the whole picture. Often a mistake feels like an attack. The natural response to an attack is to defend oneself. However, to maintain the relationship, the PPC client needs to resist that urge and instead listen. It is important to make sure to understand exactly what the issue is, how large the effect, and why it happened. Further, remember that perception is reality. The boss/client may have a different perspective than you have, causing the issue to be exaggerated in their view. Don’t discount their perspective but rather acknowledge it so that as you move forward you take the appropriate steps.
Own up to your mistake. It takes a high degree of professionalism to do this and only the best services can. The only thing more frustrating than the initial mistake is the blame game. Whatever level of responsibility you have in the issue, take ownership of that. Explain what happened and perhaps give some reasons why. Don’t make it sound like an excuse though and don’t take more blame than you deserve. Nonetheless, owning up goes a long way in maintaining a positive relationship.
Prevent it from happening again. Now that the issue has been determined, responsibility has been taken, and the mistake fixed, it is important to put measures in place to prevent the mistake from happening again. This step is what allows the move beyond typical customer service (fixing the problem) and demonstrates to the boss/client that the commitment to not making the mistake again is in place. It provides closure to the issue at hand and begins the relationship moving forward in the right direction again.
If handled appropriately, mistakes don’t have to be relationship and credibility killers. If anything, they can help bind relationships even tighter.