promises Archives - Dennis E. Gilbert

03
Mar 20
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Promised Results Are Often Just a Surprise

Tags : buyer beware expectations promised results promises realistic

The new year resolution, the new job opportunity, and the lowest price on-line, what do they all have in common? What are the promised results?

Enthusiasm will sell a lot. The energy, fast talk, and big promises often spring people into action.

Do they get what they expected?

Expectations and Results

The new year resolution doesn’t always crash because the person is unmotivated or doesn’t try. The resolution will often crash because the expectations are unrealistic.

It is also true for workplace commitments. Join our team and you’ll be a supervisor within six months, a manager within eighteen, and then we’ll be growing so much you’ll run a division within two years.

It could happen, but often is not as advertised.

On-line shopping has similar behaviors. The lowest price seekers, the open-box, the refurbished, and the discontinued. Sometimes, yes, there are deals. Often, it is more about buyer beware.

The expectations are set by the marketing, the hype, and the false-perceptions created by the word-of-mouth from strangers.

What results have you been promised that have come up short?

Have you been a victim of the hype?

Promised Results

People can make suggestive promises fairly easily. It happens all the time.

It may not be surprising that many people are looking for that shortcut. The perception is that someone else did it, so why not me?

I want to get ahead too. I want the better job, the sleeker physique, and the flashy BMW on the Chevrolet Spark budget.

By now you’ve probably been disappointed by something. The quick fix, fast diet, and easy money. The work from home, vacation more, and live large gimmick.

The old saying, “Talk is cheap.” has never been more relevant.

Often the shortcut is not the promised result.

It is not what is mentioned in the advertisement, the brochure, or the clever social media video.

The shortest cut is often to the disappointment.

You shouldn’t be surprised.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

30
Sep 19
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Making Workplace Promises Bigger

Tags : micromanagement promises trust workplace

A promise is not just about confidentiality. A promise is often about a commitment to doing your best work. Are you making workplace promises that you will keep?

Trust is element often discussed during leadership training. Trust is critical for our communication, teamwork, and is critical for organizations to realize their true competitive advantage.

Changing Outcomes

Trust often begins with a promise. Sometimes it is a verbal commitment, a head nod, or a hand shake. In other cases, it is assumed. Attend the meeting and you’re on the hook for assignments.

Workplace promises may be a force that tugs against the micromanager. When there is greater trust, there is less oversight. Less oversight means more freedom of movement, creativity, and innovation.

As a result of promises kept, things tend to go far beyond trust. Promises make a difference for outcomes of the organization and will help individuals build better careers.

Are you making promises? Can you make them bigger?

Workplace Promises

Professional growth often starts with a promise. When the promise becomes bigger, more meaningful, and delivers with greater impact your credibility increases. Done repetitively across time, a sense of consistency develops.

More credibility, greater consistency, and well managed communication will mean you are becoming a trusted resource.

Making bigger promises will test your vulnerability, improve your ability to assess risk, and perform at a much higher level.

We often write our own story. When you are committed to making promises that you will keep, you’re making a difference for everyone. Including yourself.

Make bigger promises. Keep them.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

02
Jul 18
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Big Promises and Buying a Solution

Tags : brand discipline persistence promises

People are fascinating by media. They watch traditional television, surf their phone, and spend hours on YouTube. Are advertisers making big promises that they cannot possibly keep? Do buyers really care?

Advertisements Move Us

We see the commercial for the franchise restaurant and the food looks delicious. When we order it in the restaurant it looks like something is a little different.

There is the promise that the new automobile will make our family happy, the dog enjoys the ride, and haul all our goodies without any trouble, all while achieving better exceptional gas mileage. Does it do all those things?

We can’t forget about the diet supplements, the meal plans, and why we should buy gold. Are the implied promises kept?

Perhaps one of the most important points about all the things that are pitched to us is understanding who owns the responsibility for what works. Looking at it another way, who owns the responsibility for what doesn’t work?

“Just eat the meals and lose the weight.” may sound familiar. Are you buying the meals, or are you buying the idea that for some reason you’ll change your eating habits?

We can’t forget about the prescription drug advertisements. How does that work? We tell our doctor we want what the television is advertising? She then prescribes what we want?

Big Promises

Most people are buying something based on big promises. Promises that the advertisers probably can’t keep. Don’t blame them though, you didn’t do exactly as described. You didn’t eat the meals, so you didn’t lose the weight.

Perhaps the best way to get to where you want to go is to make the big promises to yourself. Most advertisers leave you with the feeling of finally finding a solution and that buying their product is just that, a solution.

In many of these cases people aren’t buying a solution, they are buying the hope of creating change. How much will you pay for hope? What about discipline, persistence, and motivation?

Really it is all still up to you.

-DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

12
Sep 17
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Why Customer Service Promises Matter

Tags : blame brand customer service emotions promises

Yes, it is true, the customer typically wants to be right. Your image and brand are critically important for continued success. What is sometimes surprising is how little businesses understand why customer service promises matter.

Certainly, it isn’t everyone, but when something goes wrong many people are looking for someone else to blame. When you’ve promised something to your customer and you don’t deliver you probably will make them look bad. Who will they blame?

Your brand, your image, what people believe or understand about the transaction will have a lot to do with the outcomes. It doesn’t always mean it is the correct impression or understanding, but it might be what they understand.

Ordering a Whopper at McDonald’s might be a misunderstanding or a simple mistake, but expecting your sandwich to be warm is a promise.

Service Promises Matter

Have you thought about your customer service promises? Those that are spoken, written, or otherwise assumed by your customer to be delivered by you? Have you considered how policies, procedures, and pricing affect loyalty?

Here are a few things to consider when you ask yourself about customer loyalty and living up to brand promise:

Giving new customers a price break to sign on while loyal customers pay more.
Insisting that the warranty is the warranty even when the difference is very narrow.
Encouraging a buy new, never fix, approach with products or services.
Assume the customer is not smart enough and speak with them that way.
Refuse to negotiate when in the past you always have.
Forcing features or specifications that your customer must now pay more for.
Fixing software bugs and selling them as an upgrade.

This list can quickly become very long. The difference for many promises is based on emotion. It is what the customer feels—or doesn’t.

What Customers Feel

How you make your customer feel will have a lot to do with the future of your relationship. Certainly nearly every situation is unique but word travels fast and a negative word even faster.

Do you believe customer service promises matter? You should, because your customers do.

– DEG

Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSP^TM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a five-time author and some of his work includes, #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, and Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

10
Aug 17
-

customer service promises appreciative strategies

Keeping Customer Service Promises

Tags : customer service expectations promises support wait time

Perhaps the biggest thing that disappoints the customer is when their expectations are not met. How did they develop their expectations? Are they reasonable? Do you keep customer service promises?

A promise may not always be spoken. Sometimes a promise is assumed or expected. At the restaurant or coffee shop, we may expect our table to be clean, our muffin fresh, and typically our coffee warm. They don’t tell us that it will be that way, we expect it.

Accept versus Expect

Many customers might accept less than perfect, but that doesn’t mean that they like it. It doesn’t mean that they will tell their friends that they did. It especially doesn’t mean that they will be back.

Consider any product or service, a website, video, radio, brochure, and email message. They might all make promises or set the expectation. In many cases competitors with like products also set expectations.

If the sandwich shop down the street provides french-fries with any sandwich order as inclusive within the price of the sandwich, we start to expect it. We don’t expect to order a sandwich and then order fries, we assume they are included.

Shoes, well, they come with shoestrings. Eyeglasses from an optometrist come with a case, our smartphones are loaded with a battery, and our new TV comes with a remote control. It is expected, it’s a promise.

Customer Service Promises

Marketers, competitors, and even traditions, they all contribute to customer expectations. If you deliver anything less or expect the customer to pay extra you may have already broken the promise.

The server who doesn’t smile, the queue on the technical support line, or our technology product with short battery life, they are all broken promises.

We expect a smile it is a promise kept or broken. We don’t want to wait, and we don’t always have an electrical outlet to charge a battery. Brighter smiles, shorter wait times, and longer battery life, it is what we want, anything less is a broken promise.

Keep your customer service promises.

– DEG

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

17
Feb 15
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Your Vision

Tags : plan for the unplanned promises time vision

You imagine the best sunset you ever saw. The day you look in the mirror and see slim, trim, and fit. The day you obtain a promotion, raise, or new job that comes with exactly the prestige, perks, and salary you’ve worked so hard to obtain. You may visualize good fortune for you, your family, and your friends. You may picture that long overdue vacation, a new car, or a dream home.

Vision is very clear for some people, others not so much. Often behind the vision is a well-structured plan, or for some there is not. Some people obtain their vision, and others do not.

When the plan fails, there is a chance so will the energy, excitement, and confidence that your vision will appear. But the ensuing shut down, shut out, or blow out that may happen only happens to those who don’t plan for the unplanned. Because often it is not about what you planned for, but how you’ve planned to adjust.

Plans will not always happen on time, at the right time, or just in time. It may not happen when you need it, when you want it, or when you said it would be done. Not everyone will celebrate or appreciate what it took for your vision to become reality. People will come and people will go. Some will stay friends and some will move on. Promises will be kept and others lost. Directions will change and paths won’t cross.

The secret to achieving your vision doesn’t come from the best laid plan; it will come from knowing how to respond to everything about your plan that was unplanned.

– DEG

Dennis Gilbert is a keynote speaker, corporate trainer, and consultant that specializes in helping businesses accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. Reach him through his website at http://DennisEGilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.

Dennis Gilbert on Google+

Tag Archives: promises

Mar 20

-

Expectations and Results

Promised Results

Sep 19

-

Changing Outcomes

Workplace Promises

Jul 18

-

Advertisements Move Us

Big Promises

Sep 17

-

Service Promises Matter

What Customers Feel

Aug 17

-

Accept versus Expect

Customer Service Promises

Feb 15

-

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