Africa-Press – Eswatini. We’ve all heard the saying, ‘Act now, apologise later’.
” In fact, a lot of us might even live by that motto, believing that our intuitions know best and that if things don’t pan out later, we can always apologise and make up for everything.
But when action looks like overpromising, which later results in under-delivering, an apology might not cut it.
At the core of what makes entrepreneurs great is the ability to dream big and cast a vision of what could be.
But when you aren’t able to deliver on your ideas and promises, your reputation will suffer, which is bad for you and bad for business. So before you promise the moon, beware of these seven potentially perilous outcomes when you under-deliver.
Depleted Credibility
Keeping your promises is imperative if you want to retain trust and grow your business. In fact, it should be one of your highest priorities.
While some businesses that experience high client turnover are complacent with offering substandard work, most companies cannot afford to operate that way.
It can take years to build up your credibility, and only one or two unhappy customers to make everything come tumbling down. If you cannot do something within a specific time frame or by a particular date, then be upfront about it.
If they need to go elsewhere because you cannot meet their timeline, then so be it.I’m willing to bet that your honesty will bode nicely for you. Being honest by telling a client that a deadline isn’t feasible shows them that you are committed to quality work and you understand how long it takes to achieve it. Clients know that a lot is on the line when you push back, so doing so will actually work in favor of your credibility.
Negative Reviews
In today’s digital world, if you make a misstep and let your customer down, chances are everyone will hear about it. Consumers are savvy, and they don’t hesitate to post their concerns and complaints about companies directly to social media or review sites. If negative review after negative review is posted to your page, then you risk losing prospective shoppers and clients before they even consider working with you.
Negative reviews are hard to recover from, so your best bet is to do as much as you can to avoid them. This means managing your customers’s expectations upfront and always maintaining transparency.
Don’t ever make them feel like they were promised something so that you could get them to partner with you. The future negative review isn’t worth the short-lived business.
Unhappy Customers
With negative reviews come unhappy customers. Customer relationships are the core of your business, and when your actions yield unhappy customers, it can be a major roadblock to growth. A new relationship is like a new life.
Bad Public Relations
The saying, ‘Any publicity is good publicity’ does not apply in today’s business landscape, unless your goal is to drive customers away. A juicy story can spread like wildfire, and before you know it, every magazine and online site is running it.
Therefore, it pays to go out of your way to look after your customers and focus on a business model that services well, gives back and invests in the well-being of its employees. Make sure you take some time to focus on how your business contributes to your community and treats its staff.
Also, start thinking about how you should handle a PR crisis, should one happen.
Having a plan of action never hurts and can undoubtedly keep you better equipped for the unexpected.
False Expectations
Winning someone’s favour and keeping them happy is your job.
What isn’t your job is lying to clients’s faces. Do not provide your customers with false expectations in an effort to keep a smile on their faces.
I promise you, those smiles won’t last long, and this method will backfire.If something does go wrong, don’t play the blame game.
Even if it was someone else’s problem or ‘fault’, you are still responsible. It’s your company, and you have to stand by it no matter what happens. You’re the captain of your ship, and if that ship is going down, you’re the last one on it.
Loss of Business
Through poor planning or lack of judgment and your failure to meet promises, you could easily be handing over your customers and clients directly to your competitors. No one will want to do business with you if your lousy reputation exceeds the quality of work you do.
The business world is highly competitive; therefore, you need to develop your reputation on above-average service, rock-solid trust, and efficient delivery.
If you fail to maintain your reputation and continue to lose business, you’ll have to eventually look at creative ways to retain the customers and up your client-acquisition strategy.
Poor Cash Flow
When you start to lose business due to failure to deliver, it can be devastating from a cash-flow perspective and create more significant problems for your organisation.
If your customers begin to go elsewhere, then that’s money you won’t be seeing month over month.
You are responsible for your employees, and it doesn’t feel good for anyone when you have to let them down and lay them off because you couldn’t deliver for your clients.
Overpromising and under-delivering doesn’t just affect small businesses; it can also destroy the reputation of prominent organisations.
It is best to err on the side of caution when it comes to making promises. Be realistic with your deadlines so you can under-promise and over-deliver every time.
Your customers trust you so be open about what you can and cannot do and strengthen your relationship with your customers, rather than pushing them away.
Source: observer
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