source: discoodoni
A friend of mine keeps as many promises as she breaks. Why are we still friends? The main reason is that the promises she makes to me aren’t important.
When she promises to meet me for coffee, I enter the time in my iPhone and then before I leave my house, I send her a text to confirm. Sometimes she remembers and sometimes she doesn’t.
While those broken promises aren’t earth-shattering and haven’t affected our friendship, if she did the same thing to her clients, her client list were dry up. To a client, any broken promise is important, so you need to do what you can to keep every promise you make.
Start with these tips.
Don’t promise what you can’t deliver
A huge corporate client with a large budget may tempt you to make promises you can’t keep, and add more to your plate than you can handle. Before you say yes to a request from a big client, take a close look at your current schedule and decide whether or not you have time to complete the job. Don’t forget to consider if you’re even the right person to handle the project. If not, recommend someone else who can help your client.
Prioritize your projects and clients
The minute you sit down at your desk each morning, make sure you have a clear idea of the tasks and projects that need your attention that day. Start by reviewing your list of ongoing projects. Bringing in new clients is important, but don’t forget about your existing clients. If a prospect calls you and you accept the project, how will the new client affect the attention and service your current clients expect? Will you be able to do a good job if you face a time crunch? You have one chance to make a first impression and if your work isn’t up to par, you’ll lose any chance of building a long-term relationship with any client.
Build in a cushion
When you promise something to a client, do your best to gauge how long it will take you to finish the project and then, if possible, add a week. That gives you extra days to make sure you deliver what you promise, when you promise it. Even if you’re the most qualified person to handle a job, yet you can’t meet your client’s deadline, you could damage your relationship with that client. And rebuilding a damaged relationship can take longer than you think.
As the old saying goes, “Promises are made to be broken,” but that doesn’t mean they should be.
What strategies do you use to make sure you keep your promises?
Great tips and analogy, Lisa.What you dismiss with your friend, someone else might not. I have a friend who no matter what time we set (even if I told her 30 minutes earlier than necessary), she was never ready when I came over. She often took another 30 minutes to finish getting ready. Like you, I dismissed it as it wasn’t earth-shattering. We weren’t on any time clock to go out. Another friend of hers had a major fight over it and they didn’t speak for years.
My point (and there really is one)
is you never know if your client might be like that “other” friend. They may not easily dismiss you always being 5 minutes late for a call or a meeting.And you’re right, most clients wouldn’t accept it.Someone’s time is viewed much differently for business vs. personal/
Loved your post, Lisa.
Cathy Miller recently posted..7 Social Media Strategies for Strangling the Shoulder Satan
Great story, Cathy! I’ve heard of others getting into similar fights. It’s all about respecting others’ time. Some people don’t get it. They expect others to wait for them, no matter what.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Hi Lisa… how right you are on these points.
I know from personal experience that taking on more than I can deliver does me no good, physically or mentally.
I used to have my own ridiculously busy offline business. When I first started, I always accepted every job tat came in. As the years went on I learned that honesty is always the best policy.
I was asked to take on many projects but found that if I was too busy to do a good job, I’d just tell my customers the truth. It’s amazing how many were either willing to wait or truly grateful that I was up front. More often than not, even the clients I turned away would still return when then had something else. I never found I ‘lost’ clients or tarnished my reputation.
It was a good lesson and I have found the same principles apply in my online business as well. It’s all about reputation. I’d rather have a rep as being reliable!
Great advice. Definitely food for thought for many people I’m sure.
Jayne
Jayne Kopp recently posted..Starting an Online Business? Feeling Overwhelmed? Be Careful Who You Listen To!
The truth works wonders, doesn’t it?
Your clients waited for you because you did a great job for them and they knew they could count on you. That says so much about you and your business. 
That’s good advice that all of us need to follow. I especially like your comment about being reliable. You’re right that that’s so important. Thanks for your suggestions.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Hi Lisa,
Those are great tips. It really can be tempting to give into large demands when there is a big opportunity in front of us. But really we must know our limitations and stand firm otherwise we will definitely let others down and possibly ruin our reputation!
Thank you for sharing!
Stacy
Stacy recently posted..Habit Building Day #19: Why?
Thanks, Stacy. Standing firm is a great way to say it. If we don’t do that, it’s too easy for others to take advantage of our time and skills. I know I’m guilty of wanting to do everything at once, but as we all know, that never works. When I finally started saying no to a few requests, I noticed that my quality of work went up and I was able to help my clients more.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
The post is great but I think how we treat people we call friends can often set the scene for how we treat clients. If we have bad habits in one area, why would we have a better habit in another area. Our friends are our referral source sometimes. We do compensate for those we care about but I question what else she brings to your relationship.
Roberta Budvietas recently posted..Mission Statements Fuel 21st Century Business Success
I hadn’t thought about it that way, but it makes sense. At some point, some clients become friends and if we don’t respect our friends’ time, we’ll start to disrespect our clients’ time. With regard to my friend, I’ve noticed that I get together with her less often. We tend to text and email more. That works for me, as I don’t block out time that eventually gets cancelled.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Hi Lisa,
love that. It’s probably the same with friends always being late. You expect it, anticipate it and thus don’t become angry.
Of course, and I agree with you here, it’s entirely different in business.
A great way is really to only plan 50-60 % of our day and most importantly being able to say NO to people if we can’t afford it to do someone this favour or to go this event or chat in a café, whatever.
Thanks for sharing your insights.
Be blessed
Oliver
Oliver Tausend recently posted..New Friends Through MLM Or No Friends Left ?
I think that’s a great idea. By only planning part of the day, you reduce your stress level because you’re not rushing around all day trying to accomplish too much. Thanks for your insightful comment.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
I really hate when people don’t keep their promises. I really do not understand why people promise things they can’ deliver. Thank you Lisa for the wonderful tips.
Masood Rushdee recently posted..SOPA Blackout – A List of Major Websites Taking Actions
These are great tips and advice that you share Lisa. Under promise and over deliver was pounded into my head when learning about marketing and creating raving fans. I think if you know how to manage your clients expectations then there really is no need to make an empty promise.
Lynn Brown recently posted..The Secrets to Writing With Your Reader In Mind
That’s a great motto: under promise and over deliver. All of us need to remember that.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Hi Lisa
It can be really hard to turn down a big opportunity or even a small one when you have a mindset of struggling to find success. I think the key for me is to know what I want for my business and ask if this fits into that. It makes it so much easier to say yes or no.
Of course sometimes we just have to limit ourselves even so. I have a mentor who suggests keeping a waiting list for clients works for her but I haven’t found this to be true yet for me. Instead I always offer to send them my free newsletter and that this let them know when workshops and such are coming up.
I will break my own spirit trying to keep a promise and have been that way for a long time. It took a great deal of personal work and growth to understand that other people do get that you can only do so much and won’t usually look badly on you for it. In fact I have had people commend me for being honest about it right away rather than trying to fit them in.
Really enjoyed this post. Thank you!
Bonnie recently posted..Lessons from a Jack Pine
Thanks, Bonnie. You brought up an excellent point of knowing what you want for your business and asking yourself whether or not a new project fits into that. Your commitment to staying focused no doubt is one of the many reasons your business is succeeding.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Hi! Great post! Writing helps me remember! – and I make sure to deliver – it’s simply about commitment!:)
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Thanks for stopping by, Gemma.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
Some great ideas here on ways to initiate and generate your business. Absolutely, integrity and keeping our word with clients is essential. It is easy, however, to get hung up on “figuring” things out. I find that as long as I know I can deliver, my schedule always generates space for clients. Sometimes you have to say yes first and let the details work themselves out…and often the more I take on, the higher my level of productivity. It’s like the more I take on the more it feeds my energy level. Over-committing and not delivering isn’t good business but stretching beyond what feels safe and reasonable is, in my experience.
Tambre Leighn recently posted..It Simply Must Be…
It seems counterintuitive, but you’re right that being busy can make you more productive. You have to schedule your time, make sure you’re completing the different parts of a project and of course, meet the ultimate deadline. I like your term “stretching beyond what feels safe and reasonable.” Many of us get caught up in the day-to-day routine of running our business and need to stretch our abilities. Thanks for your insight, Tambre.
Lisa recently posted..How to Keep the Promises You Make
For me, integrity is a large part of how I run my business and my life. Not keeping promises consistently grinds on me and is one of my pet peeves. When I fall from grace, I also fall out of alignment and my world gets all wonky and wobbly. I commend you for keeping up with the text reminders to your friend, but when and how else might this person learn to be responsible and sensitive to you and your time? Just sayin’
Love this post, Lisa. The biggest pitfall of promises, for me, lies in our conscious (or unconscious) desire to please people. Sometimes, even if we don’t want to, we end up making promises because we’re afraid that it can cost the friendship. The same thing happens in business. Many entrepreneurs, especially those that are just starting out, tend to promise a lot of things to potential clients because they are afraid that if they don’t, they will lose potential income.
Just like what you mentioned in the article, I don’t promise anything that I can’t deliver to my clients. It can be quite tempting, but I just fight that temptation with the knowing that promising something that I can’t deliver will not only affect my business relationship with this one client, but others as well.
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So many of us are people-pleasers, even if we don’t recognize it. You’re right that the cost of the friendship or client relationship can make us agree to things we know we shouldn’t (or can’t) do. Looking at the big picture truly helps. Thanks for your interesting insight.
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