Under Promise and Over Deliver

One of the best principles I’ve learned in business and life is to “Under Promise and Over Deliver.” This principle is really very simple. Never promise anything you know you can’t deliver. Don’t promise something unless you are absolutely sure you can deliver. Promise to do less than you know you can, so you can do more than what was expected of you to do. When you promise to do something for someone and you don’t, they will be less trustful of you. But when you promise to do something and do it beyond that persons expectations, then you become a hero.

Here is an example in business. A customer wants to order a product. The salesperson knows that it usually takes 3 to 5 days to get the product, so that is what the salesperson promises. Then the product doesn’t arrive within the 3 to 5 days and the customer is now upset. Even if it was something outside the salespersons control, it will not matter to the customer. The customer has lost trust in that salesperson and company. What the salesperson should have done was to say the product would arrive in 5 to 7 days. This way if something did go wrong the salesperson would still have time. If the product arrives early, then the salesperson and company are heroes.

Here is an example in life. You tell someone that you will meet them for lunch at 11am, but you show up 15 minutes late. What you have just said to that person is that their time is not as important as yours. Instead show up 15 minutes early, so they will know that you value them and that your word, even in small matters can be trusted.

To “Under Promise and Over Deliver” is to live by the Golden Rule, “To do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”