One of the negotiating tips I received in my neophyte days of selling was to always underpromise and overdeliver. I was told it was a much easier way to keep a client happy. Overpromising was a surefire way to get yourself in trouble – especially when it came to advertising sales where the actual delivery on a given campaign could only be estimated, rarely guaranteed. Underpromising ultimately built trust while the opposite was a quick slide into distrust and in the business world trust is everything.
I made it a habit early on to always say what I was going to do and then do it. I continue to strive to make promises I can keep. Being someone people know they can trust has opened a lot of doors for me which is why I’ve never understood why people overpromise or for that matter make promises they know they won’t keep. There is a cost to that because the fact is that ultimately the truth rears its head. You get caught and the door that was once open shuts.
If I promise you that by simply buying my book you will immediately close the next pitch you make I would be overpromising. I might get lucky and the stars might align and you just might sign that next client, but the odds are reading my book was not a direct line to you closing that business.
But if I promise you that by reading my book, you will see how you can use my framework to craft more engaging and persuasive pitches that is a promise that delivers.
Brands make promises all the time. This toothpaste will give you whiter teeth. This cream will make all your wrinkles disappear. But if they overpromise and underdeliver they are pretty much guaranteed to lose the next sale. At the very least they will get a bad Amazon review and lose future sales. Promises should speak to our needs but they only satisfy the need if and when they deliver.
Politicians overpromise all the time. They tell us they will bring down the price of eggs on Day One (note: I paid $5.49 for a half dozen eggs in Whole Foods this week). They tell us they will unilaterally freeze rents when that is something that is much more complicated than it sounds to implement.
In today’s noisy world, the overpromises seem to get bigger all the time. People use it as a way to break through the noise and be heard in a world where everyone is talking at once. They promise as big as possible without giving much thought to how that promise will be fulfilled. Unlike a business deal where deliverables are written into a contract, it seems not enough people are asking how that promise will be realized or even seem to care when it comes to politics.
The thing is when a promise isn’t made good there is a cost. Eventually, you get caught – whether you are selling a product or a politician selling an idea. People get angry. They remember what you promised. They lose trust at a time when according to Edelman’s Trust Barometer trust is at an all-time low. Trust is also something desperately needed to heal society in these polarizing times.
The crazy thing is the solution is really simple. If you are going to promise what you are going to do, make sure you know how you can do it. The cost is too great not to.
This article was originally published on Does This Make Sense? on Substack. Subscribe for free!
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