“Great job!”

“Thank you! You really wowed that customer!

“Congratulations! You took all of the coaching and applied it!

If you’ve followed this series you’ll recall that we began with the premise that sometimes things go wrong. There’s no escaping that. What really matters is how you deal with it.

You’ve owned the mistake, made it right with your customer, reassured your team that mistakes happen, determined the course correction, and then implemented the training. Now your team is back out on the field and they’ve hit a home run.

Acknowledge them. Lavish praise on them. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the smart thing to do. Employees who feel valued perform better. They are more loyal to the company they work for. They speak more highly of your company to their peers who work for other companies.

Human beings need acknowledgment. It’s in our DNA. We’re literally hard wired to fear rejection and crave acceptance. And the best way to communicate acceptance is to acknowledge a job well done, in the moment, and in front of others. Make sure it comes from the heart, and it comes from you.

It’s one of the simplest, most effective strategies for success.

So, celebrate.