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🙏 We're Sorry

Okay - I'm not really sorry - but I'm sorry you think you can't be sorry, and I'm here to help you learn how to be sorry as a business owner - sorry if you were hoping for a sorry. 

We see it posted often in the groups: NEVER APOLOGIZE - it shows WEAKNESS. It also makes you 100% RESPONSIBLE and AT FAULT. 

And those comments are not wrong. There are types of apologies that do more harm than good for the apologizer - and that's what I think they're talking about. Apologies that break down your own boundaries and signal to folks that you're a doormat waiting to be walked on are the types of apologies we do want to irradicate from our vocabularies. 

Examples of "poor apology form" in business look like this:

• 😓 "I'm sorry you're mad at me."
• 😓 "I'm sorry I forgot - please don't be angry."
• 😓 "I'm sorry that I didn't understand what you were saying." 
• 😓 "I'm sorry - what do you want me to do to make you happy?" 

Now - these are general, so put ya pitchforks down - there are times and places where these apologies may be a valid response - but we're talkin' broad strokes for this podcast. 

But never apologizing? Imagine being in a relationship with a spouse who never apologized. Yeah - that'd be... tough. Every time they felt wronged or offended, they never got the emotional release that an apology gives. 

👉 Here's what a therapist told me once: "Every emotion is valid even if you don't agree with it." 

So - when our clients have an experience we don't necessarily agree with - that emotion they're feeling is valid. We're not apologizing for "messing up," but rather we are apologizing for their unfortunate experience. 

It's the intention of the apology that makes all the difference. Are you apologizing because it's a trauma response from a childhood wound? Or are you apologizing to empathize with the client and work towards a resolution? We want to get to the latter and work on abandoning the prior.

Examples of "poor apology form" in business look like this:

• 😊 "I'm sorry that you weren't happy with the moisture content in those cupcakes, what can I do to make this right?" 
• 😊 "I'm sorry you didn't make the pick-up window - can I leave it out for a porch pickup for you?"
• 😊 "I'm sorry that there's a bit of confusion with the ordering process - I do require pre-payment to ensure I have the funds to get supplies for your order. Would you still like to move forward?"
• 😊 "I'm sorry that your experience wasn't what you'd hoped, and I'll take the feedback back to the kitchen with me. I appreciate you letting me know." 

🧠 This week's podcast is a little more cognitive than usual - but understanding the art of apologizing is one of the sharpest tools in the business owner's toolbelt, and we thought it'd make for a good conversation. I'm sorry if you don't agree 😂.