Coyote Time for Brands: Building Trust with Customers, Partners, and Employees

In video games, there’s a feature called “Coyote Time” that players often experience without even realizing it. Named after Wile E. Coyote from the classic cartoons, this mechanic allows players to jump for a brief moment after stepping off a ledge—giving them just enough grace to recover from an almost-failure. Game developers include it to account for human error, knowing that a little forgiveness keeps the experience engaging and fun rather than frustrating.

But what if we told you this concept isn’t just for games? What if “Coyote Time” could reshape how your brand interacts with customers, partners, and employees?

The truth is, we all miss a step now and then. Customers submit the wrong shipping address. Partners misunderstand expectations. Employees make mistakes on new initiatives. The question isn’t whether these things will happen—they will. The question is how your brand handles them when they do.

Forgiveness isn’t a weakness. It’s a strategy. And when done right, it builds the kind of trust that turns casual consumers into loyal customers, transactional partners into advocates, and overwhelmed employees into engaged team members.

Forgiveness with Customers: Building Loyalty, Not Frustration

When a customer interacts with your brand, they’re stepping into your world—a world you’ve (hopefully) designed to be intuitive and welcoming. But even in the best systems, mistakes happen. A misclicked button. A forgotten password. An incorrectly chosen subscription tier.

Do your systems punish those mistakes, or do they offer a way back?

Here’s where you can add a little “Coyote Time” for your customers:

• Website Navigation: Does your site make it easy to edit a form or undo an action? Clear, accessible “Back” buttons and confirmation prompts go a long way.
• Customer Support: Are your reps empowered to fix mistakes without escalation? Nothing erodes trust faster than a scripted “I’ll have to check with my supervisor.”
• Policies that Forgive: Flexible return policies or “no questions asked” fixes turn first-time customers into lifelong ones. Zappos didn’t become a customer service legend by accident.

When customers feel secure that your brand has their back—even when they make mistakes—they’re more likely to stick around. After all, trust is loyalty’s secret ingredient.

Forgiveness with Partners: Creating Collaboration, Not Conflict

Partnerships thrive on mutual respect and clear communication. But misalignment? That’s inevitable. Deadlines shift. Deliverables don’t match expectations. Priorities change midstream.

Your reaction to these moments defines more than just the current project—it defines your relationship. If your brand creates space for “Coyote Time” with partners, you’re signaling that collaboration matters more than conflict.

Here’s some systems you might consider:

• Flexible Contracts: Build agreements that account for inevitable changes, such as contingency plans or flexible deadlines, rather than punitive clauses.
• Open Communication: When issues arise, assume positive intent. A partner’s missed deliverable is often an opportunity to strengthen alignment, not assign blame.
• Celebrating Recovery: When a mistake is resolved, acknowledge the effort it took to fix it. Gratitude builds goodwill.

Partnerships, like trust, are earned over time. A little grace can make the difference between a one-off collaboration and a trusted long-term ally.

Forgiveness with Employees: Building Confidence, Not Fear

Employees are the lifeblood of your brand. They’re the ones who translate your mission into action. But they’re also human, which means mistakes are part of the equation.

What kind of culture does your brand foster when errors happen? One of fear and avoidance? Or one of growth and resilience? “Coyote Time” can transform the way your employees approach their work—and your brand. Here’s how:

• Safe Training Spaces: Give employees room to learn by doing, without fear of immediate consequences. Think practice scenarios, shadowing opportunities, or sandbox environments.
• Failing Safely: Create mitigating factors and backstops that allow any failures to happen in a way that limits any damage done. Think safety nets under bridge workers. 
• Empowered Problem-Solving: When employees are trusted to fix their mistakes, they’re more engaged and accountable. Micromanagement kills innovation.
• Celebrating Lessons Learned: Mistakes can be a brand’s greatest teacher. Encourage teams to reflect on what went wrong and how it can be avoided in the future.

A brand that forgives fosters a workforce that’s confident, creative, and ready to innovate.

“Coyote Time” as a Brand Philosophy

At its core, “Coyote Time” is about designing systems—whether digital, procedural, or cultural—that anticipate human error and build in room for recovery. It’s a simple concept, but its implications are profound.

• For customers, it shows you value their experience over rigid rules.
• For partners, it demonstrates a commitment to shared success over short-term wins.
• For employees, it fosters a culture where growth is more important than perfection.

Your brand is more than the products you sell or the services you offer. It’s the story your customers, partners, and employees tell about you. When you design forgiveness into every interaction, you’re creating a story worth sharing.

So, here’s the question: How can your brand add a little more “Coyote Time” to its relationships?