In business, you often hear the phrase “under-promise and over-deliver.” This concept is a myth and can actually cause harm to your business.
Don’t ever under-promise…just over-deliver!
Promise what you’re going to give people, and then give them more… but don’t intentionally under-promise.
One example that was in a book I recently read was setting a meeting for an earlier time in your calendar because you always run late. For example, if you have a meeting scheduled for 2:00 and you know you’re always 15 minutes late then schedule the meeting for 1:30 in your calendar. Then you will arrive at 1:45, 15 minutes early, and you think you’ve over-delivered.
The first thing you have to ask yourself is why are you always late? You’re running a business so it’s important to be on time.
Set meetings for a time you can arrive on time, and then arrive on time.
Be the responsible business person you need to be, and be a person of your word.
Don’t under-promise so you can look good by over-delivering. In this situation, the fact of the matter is you didn’t over-deliver at all. You simply made good on your real promise.
If you’re truly going to over-deliver then do something over and above, and something no one is expecting. That’s over-delivering.
Doing the right thing or the thing you should do isn’t over-delivering.
Pick-up the phone and thank somebody for investing in your course, for ordering something, or for coming into your shop that day. That’s going above and beyond, and providing your clients an unexpected benefit. Those are the kind of things that are going to wow your customers and prospects.
Wow people! And, do it by giving them things they don’t expect.
People expect you to deliver what you say you’re going to give them. That’s the minimum you should do anyway. Do what you say and then, go a step above and beyond so you exceed their expectation.
Run your business responsibly by doing more for your clients than they expect, and they’ll stay with you for a long time to come. You’ll never have to worry about where your clients are or worry about them working with you or buying from someone else.
If you promise something, deliver what you promise, and then you go above and beyond what is expected or necessary. That’s the way you run a successful business.
Diane Conklin is an author, entrepreneur, coach, consultant, event planner, speaker and copywriter. Diane is a direct response marketing expert who specializes in showing small business owners how to integrate their online and offline marketing strategies, media and methods, to get maximum results from their marketing dollars. Diane also shows entrepreneurs and small business owners how to outperform their competition by measuring their marketing, and strategically use multi-media campaigns to stand alone in their marketplace as the go-to provider for their products and services.
She is the co-founder of Complete Marketing Systems and for more than 15 years has been showing small business owners how to start, build and grow Information Marketing businesses where they take knowledge they already possess and turn it into passive, ongoing, leveraged profits.
Through her company, Complete Marketing Systems, Diane helps event promoters market, plan and manage their live events, workshops and seminars, using cost effective, multi-step marketing strategies that put butts in seats, without the promoters losing theirs. As an Event Marketing & Planning expert, Diane has planned and produced multiple events grossing over $1,000,000.00.
As a business and marketing strategist, Diane has been involved in numerous campaigns grossing over $1,000,000.00 in sales several times in her career.
Diane has proprietary home study systems, coaching programs, and provides done-for-you services in the areas of Social Media, Information Marketing, Direct Response Marketing, Direct Mail and Event Marketing, Planning and Management.
As a speaker, Diane has shared the stage with the likes of Joan Rivers, George Foreman, Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, Lee Milteer, Harry Dent, Lee Phillips, Fabienne Fredrickson, James Malinchak, Dov Baron, Peggy McColl, Marshall Sylver, Alex Mandossian, Marie Forleo, Barbara Corcoran and many others.
Diane was voted Information Marketer of the Year for her innovative marketing strategies and campaigns.