I think it was my first day as a Sales Rep that my manager
told me to Under Promise and Over Deliver. At the time it was a new concept and
I was amazed at how smart my Manager was. Since that time I have said those
same words to thousands of Sales Reps and I hope a few of them thought I was
amazingly smart. (I kind of doubt it, but it sure feels good to think it).
Until recently I still believed in this and was 100% sure it
was a great concept to teach, until I ordered my eyeglasses from an online
website.
I had ordered a few pairs of glasses online before and I had
a very good experience. The glasses I bought were high quality and at a ridiculously
low price compared to optical shops. I surfed around a few sites until I found
the frames I wanted and placed my order.
As with most online ordering I instantly received a
confirmation e mail letting me know the order was placed correctly and that
they will contact me when the order is complete and again with the tracking
number when the order is shipped. About 4 days after I placed the order I received
the first e mail. As promised it told me my order was complete and was sent to
the shipping department. It said I would receive another e mail within 3 days
with my tracking number.
So I waited for the e mail to come. (I like getting tracking
numbers, I enjoy following the route my package travels, I know I need a life!)
Anyway, on the third day I still hadn’t gotten the e mail with the tracking
number. I made a note to call the company the next day to check on the order
and see what the delay is. As my family and I sat down to dinner the doorbell
rang. I went to the door and the UPS driver was standing there with a package
for … you guessed it … ME!
I signed for the package and saw it was from the website I
ordered my glasses from. I opened the package and sure enough there were my new
eyeglasses. I tried them on and the fit and prescription was perfect. I was
very happy with my purchase.
Every evening my normal routine is to come up to my office,
check my e mails, and then write my post for this blog. As I sat at my desk
that evening and checked e mails I saw I had received one from the company that
my glasses came from. I opened the e mail and saw it was the tracking
information for the package I had already received earlier that evening.
This started me thinking about the Under Promise and Over
Deliver saying. By the actions of the company they had absolutely Under
Promised. I wasn’t expecting the package until several days after I received the
tracking number. They absolutely Over Delivered, I got my glasses before the
tracking number which was several days sooner than I ever expected them. So if
they did what I have been teaching for decades, why did I feel like the company
didn’t know what they were doing?
This was a case where the expectations were so
overwhelmingly exceeded that it makes the company look as if they don’t know
what they are doing.
Now I had to rethink the saying, because Over Delivering too
much had a bad effect on my thinking about the company could Over Delivering in
EXCESS to your customers have the same effect? The answer is YES it can.
We all want to always do more than we promise, but we need
to make sure that what we do and what we say are at least within believable
distance of each other so our customers don’t think we are the ones who are
screwed up.
We need our customers to have faith in us. We need our
customers to know that we are in control and taking care of all the details. We
need our customers to trust us and not think things are happening in spite of
us rather than because of us.
Lorin
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