I recently wrote an article talking about how the summer months are just around the corner and that how my family and I are getting ready for it. You can consider this article somewhat of a part 2 to that one since I will be referencing some material from it.
As you might remember, my wife purchased our son’s new swimsuit for our upcoming beach days. We ordered it from Land’s End and had a wonderful experience in doing so.
What I wanted to touch on today is something that caught my eye from their online catalogue compared to what actually happened. I’ll get to more on that in a moment.
Do you remember way back when Domino’s Pizza claimed they would deliver your pie in 30 minutes or it was free? It was a great marketing gimmick to get people to order thinking if it were busy enough when they called, they just might get a free pizza.
However, no matter how many times I tried, they always seemed to beat the 30 minute mark. Either way I was happy. I would either get a pizza for free or one delivered really and I mean really fast.
The above example leads right into what I wanted to talk about today. It also ties in what I previously mentioned about the Lands End catalogue. That is, making a promise and exceeding the customer’s expectations.
In the Lands End catalogue they said shipping would take about 2 to 4 weeks. So we marked our calendar, noted the date, and expected to receive the swimsuit by or around that time. A few days later the order arrived. This completely exceeded our thoughts as to when we would get it. In turn it made my wife and I very happy customers. The same holds true for Domino’s Pizza. I expected to get it by 30 minutes, but when they showed up at my door in about 10 to 15 minutes, I was really blown away.
As a business owner, you need to hold yourself, employees and your business in the same regards. Make a realistic promise and then exceed it. If you paint rooms for a living and the customer wants to know how long it will take you to complete the job, it might be better to add on a day or two. When you finish prior to your promise date you will have exceeded the goal. Your customers will be extremely happy and chances are will refer you to their friends.
You want to avoid undercutting the time you need to make a customer happy. If you do that and do not hit that goal, the customer will get frustrated, ask for a refund, cancel your service and of course no longer be a customer.
So keep in mind the next time you are delivering a product or scheduling to complete a service. Give yourself extra time and then exceed it to make the customer happy.
By: Bruce A. Tucker
About the Author:
Mr. Tucker is the Associate Director of http://www.Indocquent.com, an online resource where you can advertise your business, products or services throughout the world without pay-per-click prices or auction fees.
You can now download Indocquent`s free social bookmark utility for your website or blog at http://www.indocquent.com/social_bookmark/social_bookmark_landingpage.html.
Published By: Indocquent.com- An online resource where you can promote your business, products and services around the world.
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