Top 5 Things To Do When You Make Marketing Mistakes

April 27, 2008

Oops! Now what?

Recently the American Marketing Association called to interview me about “What happens when mistakes are made in marketing?” I thought it was a really interesting topic because I don’t know that people really talk about this sort of thing unless it goes really buck wild like the ad campaign where little boxes thought to be bombs shut down many overpasses and bridges.

After the call, I got to thinking about what people do in general when mistakes are made. To me, whether they are marketing or business, the guidelines appear to be the same.

Assess the Mess – Take stock of what the situation is. Sometimes the ‘mess’ is seemingly smaller and easier to forgive than a bigger one. What can you do right now to address it?
Determine a Course of Action – What do you do next? What would serve all involved? What is fair? What is ethical? What reflects your company’s highest values?
Address the Weakest Link – When things go wrong, it is usually because something within the system or process isn’t working. What can you do next time to address the weak link?
Know What Matters – Walking on eggshells makes for a tense work environment. Are the company’s culture and values aligned with the expected outcome? Are you walking your talk? What needs some attention?
Follow It to Completion – After you determine the other areas, walk through the process and look for gaps. Close those and move on!

An oops can appear like any number of things. We’ve written many articles on Jott.com, but one of their big oops! was nowhere on the site do they have the complete phone number. Yes, it’s cool to say 1-800-JOTTXXX but when you are on a smart phone that doesn’t tell you the numbers for JOTT, then it is a pain in the neck. I mentioned this to someone else and that person said they had the exact same experience. If you see an oops! share the oops with the company – you might save a few (or few hundred) oops experiences.

A few years ago I remember a HUGE oops that happened with one of our clients. We weren’t involved – just want to get that straight! – but we did see how it was handled. The oops was in ordering by one of the admins. The result was a $86,000 oops. There was no way to cancel the order. What would you do?

If you are curious… the admin didn’t lose her job, the company wasn’t held responsible for not asking… “Are you sure you want this much?” and a new process was put into place to double and triple check future orders.

How does your company handle an Oops!?

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