Be careful what you promise
I promise
As an entrepreneur and small business owner, it’s easy to get caught up with a new customer, a big sale, or a new opportunity. Your adrenaline rushes, and the excitement grows. You’ll almost do anything to get the contract!
But – be warned. Be very careful what you promise. As entrepreneurs, we have the uncanny ability to envision everything in the positive, embracing the “of course we can do that” attitude.
Everyone knows that in today’s economic environment, it’s the added service that gets the sale. The ‘extra’ value you can give to your customer. To be there when they need you, and to deliver in an emergency. Need it two weeks earlier? No problem. Need to make last minute changes? You got it. Whatever it takes.
The problem?
Over-promising.
If you can pull it off – perfect! You’ve made a great impression, and have become invaluable to your customer. You are the hero – you scored the big goal, and achieved your vision.
The risk?
Well, the unfortunate outcome if you can not deliver as promised can be as small as losing a customer, all the way to law suits and bankruptcy.
A few points to remember when going in for the sale:
- Don’t agree right off the bat to additions and special requests. Tell your customer you have to check with your partner / managers/ vendors if they can meet an aggressive time line or have the available capacity and manpower.
- Remember, you have limited resources at your immediate disposal. Will you need to hire more employees? Contract labor? Storage space? All these things cost money.
- Most customers are aware that special requests come at a premium. Extra things cost money. Don’t be afraid to add a line item for the additional requests. Don’t use it as a chance to ’stick it’ to your customer, but make sure you put in money for what it will really take.
- It’s not just you promising to deliver – you are making a promise for everyone who works for you. Make sure they are all on board with the additional work or overtime that might be needed.
- Don’t be afraid to pass up a sale – it’s better to lose one sale than to sacrifice your company.
Finally, if you do make a promise, be prepared to do whatever it takes to make good on that promise. Once you sign that paper, it it very difficult (and embarrassing) to go crawling back to your customer asking for more money, more time, and making excuses.
And yes, this does come from experience.
What do you do when you over-promise? What precautions do you take? Leave a comment and let me know.
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