Undersell Your Promises

Summary

• I set a 5-minute response time for customer service because our average response was 90 seconds. This way, we could always exceed expectations.
• It’s important to make promises you can over-deliver on. If our average response was 4 minutes, I wouldn't promise 5 minutes because any delay might cause us to miss it.
• Companies should create promises they are confident they can meet 100% of the time, if not exceed.

Video

How To Take Action

I would suggest implementing a few key strategies to help your small business, entrepreneurial venture, or personal growth journey. These are low-cost and high-value, making them easy to start right away.

First, set realistic promises. Look at what you’re currently achieving and set a promise that you can meet 100% of the time. For example, if you usually reply to customer queries within 90 seconds, promise a 5-minute response time. This way, you’ll always exceed expectations, and your customers will be impressed with your speed.

Next, focus on over-delivering on your promises. This builds trust and strengthens your brand. If you’re confident you can do something in 5 minutes, aim to respond even faster whenever possible. Your customers will appreciate the extra effort.

Additionally, be mindful of potential delays. Plan buffer times into your promises. If you know that sometimes unexpected things happen, like needing to take a break or handle multiple tasks, ensure your promises account for these possibilities.

Finally, consistently review and adjust your promises based on your performance. If you’re consistently responding in 90 seconds or less, maybe consider lowering your promised response time to 3 minutes, ensuring you continue to exceed customer expectations.

By setting achievable promises and continually reviewing your performance, you'll create a reliable and impressive service. This approach doesn’t cost much but adds tremendous value to your customer relationships and personal reputation.

Full Transcript

in gym launch when we had a customer service department I said we will get back to you in 5 minutes or less because I saw that our first response was always within 90 seconds so if it's always within 90 seconds I'm pretty sure 5 minutes is reasonable and people were very impressed because they were like wow you guys are so fast and they were always like holy crap it said it was going to be 5 minutes it's like 2 minutes I would never have set that Target if the average was like even 4 minutes because I'm like oh man if something happens somebody had to go to the bathroom like and 1 minute off so you always have to really undershoot with that companies typically engineer a brand promise to be one that they are positive that they can hit 100% of the time if not overshoot so for example