So yeah, we’re probably about to be sued by our first customer because we over-promised and under-delivered. It’s possible they won’t win the suit since the contract had no delivery dates, but still, no one wants an angry customer. :(
3 answers from the community
So, what are you doing to make things right?
<a href="http://glvr.com" rel="nofollow">Who?</a>
I hope you have professional liability insurance.
Did you fuck them over? Or did you just fuck up?
If you fucked them over, then good, fuck you and get sued. Choosing to fuck someone over by doing dishonest crap is a calculated risk. You lost that risk. Now pay.
Did you just fuck up? This seems more likely! The good news is that there's a lot of research that shows that people are much more likely to respond favorably to honest and straightforward, contrite, admissions to failure than they are to PR and damage control tactics.
Really analyze how this looks from the customer's perspective. Then reach out to them and explain with agonizing honesty how and why things went wrong. Tell them you know you fucked up. Tell them they SHOULD be angry with you. Tell them that you wouldn't blame them if they choose to take their business elsewhere. Agree, agree, agree and amplify.
There's a good chance they'll respect your contrition and give you another opportunity to win their hearts.
Just don't fuck -that- up.