Quick Tip: Don’t Promise More than You Can Deliver
August 31, 2007 by Eric Eggertson
Filed under Marketing
In business communications, it’s always tempting to offer resolution to a problem, even if you don’t know whether it’s do-able.
Stop.
Nothing makes people angrier than empty promises that don’t materialize into anything. It destroys trust. It destroys your credibility.
You may have to deliver an unpleasant message. Don’t sugarcoat it with half-measures that aren’t guaranteed.
Be the bad guy. Deliver the message. Take your lumps.
Tags: business, communications, companies, workplace, integrity, trust, promises, messages, corporate
Thanks, Eric, for this idea that I was able to pass along to my Home Biz Notes readers. In the enthusiasm of the moment, we often promise we will do more than we really can, at least in the allotted amount of time. I linked to your post on my blog.
It must be our innate desire to be “people pleasers” that causes us to hold back vital, but needful information which can impact what we share with a client. On the other hand, I’ve spelled out in exact detail to a client what a project would entail and they ended up being the ones to sugarcoat it.
this is very interesting information to be used in business