Straight Up

It's one thing to make a promise, it's another thing to keep it.

However, there are implied promises. You can hide behind red tape and fine print. Or you can be better than that.

Wizard of Ad Partner Craig Arthur gives us an example:

Speak to a Real Consultant

By Craig Arthur

For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press ‘3’. - Alice Kahn

I needed to phone the company that manages the URL of one of my clients.

I went to their website to find the number.

There it was, top right. Easy to find. Top Marks.

Beneath the 1300 number was the following…

“Call us & speak with a real eBusiness Consultant.”

I hate dealing with automated answering services, so this sentence impressed me.

I called.

Thank you for calling xxxxx, (An automated response)

(Disappointment)

Please press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

I pressed 2.

I got… press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

I pressed 1. (getting pissed off)

Then I got… press 1 for… press 2 for… press 3 for…

After pressing 2, I was then told my call would be answered shortly.

Ok what I want to know is “Where is the REAL CONSULTANT I was promised on the web site?”

I did speak to a guy called Billy who was extremely helpful.

However, my expectation was, I would speak to a real consultant straight up.

This company could ague that I indeed did speak to a real consultant.

But, four levels down an automated tunnel is not what I was expecting.

I was disappointed only because this company raised my expectations at the beginning.

The moral of the story?

Make your promise PLAIN & SIMPLE. Then DELIVER.

PS. Be sure there can be no other interpretation of what you promise.

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