I like to be right but I am wrong a lot of the time and for much of my career I struggled to apologise when an apology was needed.Not wanting to apologise is about pride and ego. Both of these things can get in the way of a good relationship (in business or in personal life). Apologising for a mistake, bad service, bad performance or for generally doing wrong is a pretty standard response. It amazes me how many businesses don't allow for this response to take place.For a long time I would blame clients, blame the individual who I was dealing with, blame staff members or anyone I could point a finger at if there was an issue. It's easy to blame.It is significantly more difficult to acknowledge a problem, apologise for it and rectify it.In truth the only thing that makes an apology so difficult is pride. Once I was able to get over the fact that mistakes happen and that most people and clients allow for mistakes to happen, I began to apologise when things went wrong.The most incredible thing happened after that... problems actually got solved, arguments end quickly and issues are resolved swiftly. I even found that fewer problems arose when I was willing to own them.An apology is free, and so is great customer service so you should use both when they are required.People respect the honesty it takes to acknowledge and own a mistake.It must be noted that sometimes an apology isn't enough to save a relationship. Sometimes it just serves as a final statement of ownership of the mistake and the final step towards a parting of ways.