Some folks instinctively know how to apologize, others over apologize and have an "I’m sorry" chip inserted into their brain: they’re sorry for everything.

Everyone operates in this world with different guardrails and boundaries: what’s acceptable behavior for you might be unacceptable to someone else. You might see a seller friend do something you deem egregious, yet they feel totally fine with it.

But there’s rarely a grey area when it comes to making a business mistake.

You goofed! Okay, big deal.

Your action probably didn’t do irreparable damage, so stand as tall as you can and say, "YES, I made a mistake, and I will stand by it."

If you need help with the admitting/fixing/moving on formula, maybe you should recite the Seller’s Apology Manifesto:

"I’m gonna bungle a lot of sh%t on my accounts and can’t blame anyone but me even though I didn’t get the memo, didn’t understand what my manager wanted, and wasn’t able to balance all the demands on my life including my CRM update requirements and needing to make sales calls I’m sorry I’ll never do it again even though I know I’m not supposed to say ‘I’m sorry’ especially because I blew a $5 million order."

It helps to recite that mantra in one breath…it’s meditative.

Stop playing the Blame Game. Fix it, learn, move on.