Only make promises you can deliver

Have you ever visited Disney World or Disney Land and stood in line for some of the attractions? In the UK we call it queuing and we’re particularly good at it. We wait patiently, we don’t complain and we certainly wouldn’t think of cutting in. Some people will even join a queue even though they don’t know what it’s for. (You may note a hint of sarcasm here) However some people and certain nationalities don’t like to stand in line or queue at all.

I read recently that a woman in Florida had been charged with beating and kicking another woman she said cut in line at a Walt Disney World attraction!

Perhaps she didn’t need to get so worked up because the lines at Disney may not be as long or as time consuming as you think. Apparently the lines are engineered to go faster than the signs say. The signs are designed to say that a line will take15 minutes longer than it does. It’s a case of ‘under promise and over deliver’

When you’re dealing with a customer, particularly an unhappy one, or a member of your team; you may be tempted to make promises you can’t deliver. You may say things like: “I’ll phone you back in 5 minutes” or “I’ll post that to you today” or “I’ll get this sorted this afternoon and phone you back.” It would be far better to say: “I’ll get this sorted by tomorrow midday.” Then phone them back that afternoon or early the next morning and they’ll think you’re great.

Just some food for thought; before you make a promise to a customer or one of your team, stop for a second and think before you speak. Customers and your team will hold you in high regard if you ‘under promise and over deliver.’