Nobody wants to have to tell a client that they screwed up. What’s worse though is when you have to make an apology… and then can’t think of any way to follow up. You have no fix, no answers, nothing to show your client that their business means a great deal to you and that your firm can be trusted to come up big when times get tough.
This in essence is the key – do not say sorry without having a fix. The fix is part of the apology, and the two must always go hand-in-hand if you want to turn a mistake into a money-making opportunity (or at the very least keep your client from taking their business elsewhere).