For freelancers and solopreneurs, making a mistake on a task compares to a corporate employee receiving bad performance review. Facing mistakes — no matter how small — as a freelancer comes harder than those made as a corporate employee — and I’ve worked on the other side. The other side includes working for the U.S. government for three years and for corporations for all but the last 2 1/2 years.

Maybe it’s my perfectionist (not as bad as it used to be, however — busier personal and professional lives will do that) nature coupled with wanting to provide the best services for clients. But freelancers know clients can drop a contractor in a jiff and over the smaller things while a company has to jump through more hoops to fire an employee over bigger issues. Corporate employees also usually receive a warning, counseling, regular reviews, or whatever the company’s policies dictate.

We (especially me) have to remember we’re human not machines. We tire, we forget, we slip, we fall. I believe that how a person handles the mistake speaks louder than the mistake.

1. Apologize: I avoid making excuses. They don’t mean a thing. The mistake happened. Apologize. Move on and work so it doesn’t happen again.
2. Rectify the situation: Get a refund, fix the error for no extra charge, add a discount on the invoice.
3. Go the extra mile next time.
4. Request feedback: After I’ve worked with a new client for a reasonable time, I request a check up. I care about providing high quality services and improving.

Here are two cases where I blundered and how I handled them.

The case of the complicated PR service
I submitted a press release for a client through a service. I had done it before without a problem. The client e-mailed me and asked why I added an extra, which added charges. What extra charges??

In reviewing the receipt, I saw what happened and it was an honest mistake because of the way the site sets up its form. OK, this sounds like I’m blaming the form, but it’s confusing and I thought I filled it out correctly. Anyway, the site makes it hard to tell what you’re getting and doesn’t bother providing a page with the totals before confirming the order. Had I seen the extra charge, I would’ve looked closer and fixed it before confirming.

Rather than pouting and praying the client doesn’t drop me, I contacted the site’s representative and had the extra charges removed. I also asked for documentation that wasn’t available online. Now when I use the site, I remember the experience (and feel my heart thump a few extra beats during the tricky process) to avoid extra charges.

The case of the forgotten information
A client asked me to contact editors and provided specific details for one editor. I didn’t start with that editor, so by the time I e-mailed the editor… I forgot about the special instructions. Eep!

E-mailing the editor again was out of the question as I didn’t want to turn off the editor from contacting him more times than necessary. Since I couldn’t rectify the situation the way I would’ve liked, I included a discount on my invoice to that client and apologized without making excuses.

Got a story of dealing with a mistake? We’d like to hear it — remember, you don’t have to use your real name.

Do you ask your client for feedback on your work? Some freelancers and contractors don’t have annual or formal reviews. Large contracts usually make reviews a part of the process, but that’s not always the case with individual freelancers.

Sending a client a separate e-mail asking for a project check up signals a few things to the client:

• You care about product high quality work for the client.
• You’re open to feedback.
• You care about improving your relationship with the client.

Even if the client can’t ever give you another project, the client might refer you to others who can. Furthermore, it helps you learn about the areas needing improving so you do better next time.

Most of the time, clients are happy to provide feedback. It just may take a little time before they do. In your e-mail, let the client know to respond when it’s convenient for the client and that the response doesn’t have to be lengthy.

I ask the client three questions to keep it short and doable. Too many, and it might turn off the client from responding. I typically ask the following two every time:

1. Are you happy with the work you receive from me?
2. What can I do to better serve you?

The third question depends on what I am doing for the client. If it’s an ongoing client engagement where I work hourly, I might ask if the hours are acceptable or simply leave the question open-ended.

Yes, the first question is a “yes/no” question rather than open-ended. But I make up for that with the second question. One closed question and one open-ended question gives the client balance to open the door for a quick response or a lengthy one.

Some clients take the time to provide a detailed reply while others are short. Get out there and keep those clients happy — as you know it’s cheaper to keep a client than to find a new one.