How His Mistake Almost Cost $1.5 Billion in Lost Revenue | Mark Schaefer, Schaefer Marketing Solutions

08/29/21 • 11 min

Social media branding consultant Mark Schaefer explains how his sales team almost lost $1.5 billion in revenue from a profitable (if problematic) client -- and how he managed to recover the account.

Mark's biggest mistake was not hanging up fast enough. No, really, it was a teammate's indiscretion in choosing a bad time and place to vent about a problematic, if profitable, client -- risking the loss of 10% of the company's total revenue and Mark's own job.
To fix his mistake, Mark took the old fashioned approach: Flying out in person, hiring a live courier to hand deliver a handwritten apology, offering to discuss the situation face to face. Ultimately, his ownership of the mistake and his prompt personal actions saved the account. Years later, Mark insists that this mistake could be even more deadly for the employer brand today who forgets that we're always on. So, you must be to swallow your pride to survive the inconvenience of a client you don't always click with -- because anything you say or do will be held against you in the court of public opinion.
Today, Mark Schaffer is the executive director of Schafer Marketing Solutions, specializing in marketing strategy and social media. You can browse his decades of knowledge in half a dozen or more remarkable books on business -- I'm currently staring at my rediscovered copy of "Known" as I record this outro -- or his blog at BusinessesGrow.com.

You can find this and other episodes of the Professional Confessional podcast at PC-Podcast.com or on your preferred podcasting platform of choice.
Do you want to come on and share your biggest professional mistake? Head to PC-Podcast.com/BeOurGuest to schedule your professional confessional.
In the meantime, please share this episode with someone you think needs to hear this today -- and share what you needed to hear in a review! The more often we rate and review our favorite podcasts, the more people will find out about our community and the more episodes I can make.
That's all for this Professional Confessional. I'm Ashley Stryker. Thanks again for tuning in, and I hope you'll join us next time. Talk soon!

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08/29/21 • 11 min

The Professional Confessional - How His Mistake Almost Cost $1.5 Billion in Lost Revenue | Mark Schaefer, Schaefer Marketing Solutions

Transcript

Ashley Stryker [00:00:01] Welcome to the Professional Confessional: How the biggest professional mistakes we've ever made fundamentally changed our work, our careers, and our approach forever. Gain wisdom and perspective through these audio absolutions.

Ashley Stryker [00:00:22] Today's guest is author, keynote speaker and social media branding consultant Mark Schaefer, who once had to correct a sales mistake so bad, it almost cost him a client worth $1

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