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It’s Okay to Make Mistakes

April 2, 2013 By Chase Clemons 2 Comments

Mistakes used to terrify me. At my last job, we had these checklists to open and close the restaurant. 30 to 40 individual steps that you had to go through to properly open and close each day. I’d be so scared of missing one, I’d go through that checklist at least four times to make sure nothing was missed. Great for general manager because he knew the list would be finished. But it was terrifying for me because my only thought was “What if I missed one?”

I was talking about it with one of the other managers at lunch and mentioned how much I hated those checklists. He stopped eating, looked up, and said:

It’s okay to make a mistake. It’s not surgery. We’re just making sandwiches.

When it comes to customer support, you’re going to make mistakes a long the way. You might be in a hurry and overlook something. You might give someone outdated info. You might even spell the customer’s name wrong! (Been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.)

Just make sure to grow from it. To make sure I don’t spell a customer’s name wrong, I copy and paste it from their email to me. It makes sure I get it right every time.

Don’t let the fear of making a mistake control your life. Remember, you’re just making sandwiches or answering emails.

Make a mistake. Learn from it. It’s as easy as that.

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Comments

  1. James (@urbancali) says

    April 10, 2013 at 11:30 am

    I want to add these thoughts as my moment of Zen today. Thanks @ChaseClemons!

    Reply
    • Chase Clemons says

      April 10, 2013 at 3:14 pm

      Definitely a Zen kinda moment.

      Reply

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