Business

Click here to listen to this article as a Podcast.

In mid-2004, I won a free 1000-CD pressing as a prize in a raffle. I was thrilled; I didn’t yet have a product, but the prize would make it that much easier to create one. The company added me to their mailing list, occasionally sending emails to persuade me to buy CD duplication.

Finally, late last year, it was time! I eagerly contacted the man who had sent the emails … and he said my prize expired. Duplication would cost money going forward. The tag line in his email: “We create relationships.”

Wow. Talk about a disconnect between words and actions. Relationships are built on trust, fulfilled expectations, shared commitments, and mutual support. If you give a promotional prize, hoping to attract a customer, don’t kill the trust on day one by reneging on the prize. Even if you include an expiration date (though I didn’t remember one), enforcing it starts the relationship with a refusal. That’s hardly a great way to create relationships. In this case, I’ve replied courteously, and politely hinted that this treatment has me disinclined to do business. He hasn’t taken the hint.

When you make a promise, follow through. If you don’t, you’ll undermine trust and damage the relationship. This is true for explicit promises and also true for implied promises. If someone thinks you’ve agreed, the relationship will depend on your fulfilling the agreement[1].

How many of these lines have you heard, or maybe even used yourself?

• We promised you a promotion, but circumstances have changed. Next year. Promise.
• We’ll never have layoffs. Ever.
• You’ll have the report in your hands by Thursday.
• I’ll come see your play/ballgame/art opening tomorrow evening.
• We care about you as a customer. (Please hold.)

If you break a promise, it really doesn’t matter why. Yeah, maybe it wasn’t under your control. Or maybe you had other priorities. But why should the other person care? When you say things like this, it’s important that you realize the listener thinks you’re being sincere. If you don’t follow through, all they know is that you’re undependable. So if there’s doubt, say so. “I don’t know if I can have the report in your hands by Thursday, but I’ll give it my best shot.” You just might be surprised when they reply, “Oh, that’s OK. I don’t need it until next week, anyway.”

For the next week, practice being honest when you make promises. Be honest with your co-workers, your customers, your family, and your friends. Be honest with yourself. Only promise what you’re sure you’ll deliver. Tell the truth. Have your company do the same. Then and only then, will you be able to say:

We create relationships.

[1] Like every rule, this one has its exceptions. When your spouse asks you to tell the truth about how good their new outfit looks, the answer is always “I’m telling the truth. You’ve never been more lovely.”back

Click here to listen to this article as a Podcast.

“I’ve stumbled on beauty.” The ground was gray, the horizon melding seamlessly with a velvety black sky. Reflecting in the plain beneath us, four beautiful icons gazed out, happily rotating in a graceful dance. I held my breath, reached out, and pressed a key. The wrong key. The icons faded down, and in the distance, my screen reappeared and swooped towards me. I was back in reality.

It was the day after I switched to the Mac, six weeks ago. My fingers, trained by 15 years of Windows use, typed some magical incantation and took me somewhere … beautiful. It took three days of searching to figure out what I’d done.[1]. In my search, I became a convert, wishing dearly to recapture that moment.

Stumbling on beauty. What a great experience for a customer. Disney knows it, too. Where else can you stumble on a candlelit dinner for two overlooking the Caribbean…in the heart of Orlando. It’s the little things that grab people’s hearts and keep them coming back.

How do people use your product or service? Can you arrange for them to stumble on a delightful surprise? Perhaps hauntingly nice music at an unexpected moment. Beautiful artwork. Or (gasp) full-service at self-serve prices. It needn’t be expensive, just fun and unexpected.

But why stop at work? It works with friends, too. Send a “thank you for being my friend” card to your best friend. Or watch your cuddle bunny wander around the house at night, finding a little poem hidden in a favorite before-bed snack. Maybe a quiet love song as they fall asleep. Or your kids…what if they stumbled on a free concert ticket beneath their pillow for no reason at all—just because.

We get so wrapped up in the daily grind that we often forget it’s the truly exceptional moments that make the biggest impression. It works in business, it works in your home life. Plan some exceptional moments for the people around you and watch what happens. Nothing compares to Stumbling on Beauty.

P.S. If you haven’t spent time with a Mac recently, run to your nearest Apple store. They’re really quite something!

[1] Command-escape in OS 10.4.8 starts the Front Row media center. Don’t tell Windows users, though. They must buy a whole special edition of Windows to get a decent media center experience. back