The idea of keeping promises is nothing new in the field of sales but the follow through seems to be slipping.

As everyone knows, the Denver Broncos made it to the Super Bowl a few weeks ago. The game, of course, was a dud, but that’s where the story begins. My friend wanted to surprise her son and daughter-in-law with some AFC Championship shirts that they could wear in the days leading up to the big game.

She went to the post office to ship them and was told that they would be there in plenty of time and that time was even guaranteed. The shirts did not get there on time and she was never really given an explanation. Someone did say something about the weather being bad in certain parts of the country, but that was more of a guess than anything else.

The package was supposed to arrive on the Tuesday before the game but when it didn’t, my friend followed up and was told they would be there by Saturday. We all understand that weather and other factors, but that’s a four day difference between when the package was promised and when it arrived. We also know that the mail system and customer service do not always go hand in hand, but this is something that all salespeople can learn from.

When a customer buys a product or service and is promised that it will be delivered by a certain date, that promise must be kept 99% of the time.

Keeping promises is one of the most important standards in customer service and failing to keep your promises is also one of the quickest ways to lose a customer. You work very hard to close every sale; don’t lose a possible future sale because you forgot to keep a promise that you made during the presentation. That approach works in politics, apparently, but it doesn’t fly in the field of sales.

The customer may be very happy with the product they bought from you but if it wasn’t delivered by the date you promised, then that very well could impact whether or not they buy from you again. Keep your promises and your repeat sales will increase, I promise.

FINAO - Brad Huisken