Underpromise and Overdeliver
Daniel over at Daily Blog Tips ( one of my favorite daily reads, by the way ) recently posted on the concept of “Underpromise and Overdeliver“. The concept is one that I’m very familiar with, and make an effort to put into practice every day.
The concept is especially important when dealing with customers or clients. If you tell your client that a project will be finished in 7 days, and you finish in 9, you have one extraordinarily angry client. One who, in all likelihood, won’t be returning to you in the future. By overpromising, you alienated a customer and erased a chance at future revenue. Not only that, there’s the word of mouth aspect, and you have no idea who the angered client will complain to.
Now take that same situation and adjust just one thing. Instead of promising your client a 7 day turnaround, let’s say you promised them a 14 day turnaround. It may take a little more explaining in the beginning, with regards to the complexity of the project, but it will be well worth it. You finish up the project in the same 9 days as before, only this time, your customer is absolutely ecstatic. You didn’t finish the job on time, you were early - and that speaks loudly. You’ve just created a customer for life ( provided you did quality work, but I’m sure you did, right? ) , and he won’t be able to stop telling everyone how great you are. Bam, that’s some instant referral business.
It’s easy to get caught up in making big promises, and bragging about how great you are. That may get you some initial business, but it will backfire and hurt you long-term. Be modest and underwhelming in your promises, and always strive to exceed the expectations that you set. Underpromise and Overdeliver - every single time.
Duvet Dollars - Anatomy of a failed Ebook said
March 23 2007 @ 3:04 am
[...] Well, a few things. While hype is a very important part of any ebook or informational product launch, Duvet Dollars promised much and returned little. After reading the book myself, I felt robbed of 15 minutes of my time. Granted, the book may not be bad for a complete newcomer, but no one with any online experience. The information and techniques contained in Duvet Dollars is readily available online, and it doesn’t even take much time to find. Duvet Dollars promised to make the readers rich in their sleep, with little work, and little risk. Wrong. That’s a classic case of Overpromise and Underdeliver. If you remember a few days ago, I wrote about the concept of Underpromise and Overdeliver. [...]
Simonne said
March 31 2007 @ 8:26 am
This is true, I experienced it many times when working as an account manager in advertising. Unfortunately, in order to make it happen, I had to lie on my team and tell them the deadline was a few days earlier than in reality. Otherwise, each and every time there was something preventing them to deliver the work in the promised day. Then I found this solution: agree a deadline with the client, and one shorter with the team. Everybody was happy: team, client and myself.
Leroy Brown said
March 31 2007 @ 9:14 am
I know many won’t agree with me, but sometimes it’s ok to lie at work. Especially in your case - if you told the truth, the deadlines wouldn’t be met. If you fabricated the deadline, then the real deadline would always be met, as it should be. That’s just being efficient in my eyes, and honoring your commitment to your client. As the acct mgr, you are the one making the promises, so you have to do what it takes to make sure you are overdelivering. No need to feel bad about lying there.