Let me preface this with, “I do not consider myself an expert!” I have had experiences in my lifetime, and I have made some observations. My thoughts and opinions are based on what I have learned, what I have seen and how I perceive all of that to fit together. So If I say something that does not seem correct, you are free to discuss this with me in a productive and composed manner. Although, I don’t really think that would be an issue here. You can always choose to just ignore what I say as it is mostly just my perceived opinion on a matter.
Just recently my wife had a scheduled appointment with a local dentist. This dental establishment contracts with another business to send reminder emails and texts to their customers that ask for a confirmation of appointment. The office of the dentist also sends texted reminders to the clients that will also ask for a confirmation. This particular scheduled appointment was already a rescheduled appointment from when the dentist had an emergency and could not see my wife. A week prior to the appointment, my wife received an emailed reminder asking for her to confirm and she did. A few days later she received a text reminder asking her to confirm and she did. Yesterday morning, she was texted again at 9am and was asked to confirm. She did not because she was working. She then received a voice message after a missed call. When she listened to it, it stated that if she did not confirm her appointment that it would be dropped(It also stated that this had to be done by noon, but she did not hear that part. More on that later)
She immediately confirmed the appointment at 11:44 and called the dentist’s office. She was told that her appointment had already been cancelled and given to someone else. My wife explained to them that she had, in fact, confirmed at least once by email and text message prior to the last text. She asked for them to keep her appointment. She was told the the company that handles the confirmation emails/texts sometimes don’t show up on the dentist’s office end. She was told that they could not keep her appointment and that all they could do reschedule her.
Now, maybe I am missing something. Maybe, there is something else going on here that I am not aware of. However, given the facts that were put before me, this looks like the office at the dentist is in the wrong. That is not a problem. We all make mistakes. The problem is that the lady in the office would not acknowledge the fault nor would they make it right. This is bad business, my friends.
In my time working at grocery stores, restaurants, and study business at college; I have learned something about mistakes. They will be made no matter how well you run your business. The thing to learn is that when you make a mistake, you acknowledge it and make it right. Here is the tie in with Voice Over, or any business, or life in general. We must own up to our mistakes and make them right. Maybe the dentist doesn’t need our business and can afford to lose us as customers. That is fine. I can’t afford to lose clients. It is much easier to keep clients than it is to get clients. I have to right my mistakes and I should do it. Not because this is how I make money, but because it is the right thing to do.
It is okay to make mistakes. It is inevitable and it sucks to be wrong. There is no doubt about that. This is why it is important to acknowledge and set right those mistakes. This is how we learn. As long as this company ignores the mistake, they are doomed to repeat it. Which could possibly turn into losing more customers and so on.
Acknowledge your mistakes. Make them right. Keep your clients. I hope that this gives you something that you can use. Thank you for reading.