Comments on: Open Discussion: Should We Under Promise and Over Deliver?

By: Marc

Marc — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:46:47 +0000

@Janice Good points. I think bloggers tend to put too much emphasis on the networking and traffic building side of things. Those should be secondary effects or bonuses gained from the true nature of blogging, building a community.

@Sean I think where I was coming from was a concern for rolling down that road without any brakes. How do you under-promise and over-deliver without letting the client take advantage of you even if it’s unintentionally. It’s akin to James’ recent post about a Revisions policy or maybe I’m too pessimistic again.

@Barbara Makes sense. A time buffer as James was saying and I’m sure it’s a pleasant experience for your clients to receive their work slightly earlier than expected.

If that’s all there is to the saying than fair enough but I got the impression there was more to it.

I think I’m still waiting for that lightbulb moment

By: Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach

Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:23:09 +0000

I generally will always under-promise. What takes most webdesigners weeks to build generally takes me a few days at the most (I've been building sites since 1994 and doing SEO since 1997), however, my family life of a zillion kids and 12 Twitterbudgies and 2 Mooses sometimes makes my time unpredictable. Better to be ahead than behind. Data points, Barbara Barbara Ling, Virtual Coach’s last blog post..Trampoline fitness even an elephant can do

By: Writer Dad

Writer Dad — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 17:09:54 +0000

I agree with both James and Melissa. You don't want a mountain of clients. You want a few clients who cannot live without you and are willing to meet your set fees to book your time. Icing on the cake and over delivering paves a road that's easy to roll down. Writer Dad’s last blog post..Have a Nice Day! or Smell You Later.

By: janice

janice — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:44:10 +0000

…oops, had a wee go at html there and accidentally overdid the italics!

By: janice

janice — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:41:07 +0000

I always overdeliver on anything that’s easy for me; I have ideas all day long, so there’s no point in holding on to them all if they could benefit someone else. For example, if I’m in a writing mood, my editor gets three pieces and I always self-edit so much that she rarely has to do much. That way, we can have conversations about the things that really interest us and she raises my game by being genuinely interested in me, by having faith in me – that’s what she can then ‘overdeliver’. That’s why blogging is – should be – wonderful. I comment only if and when I WANT to – I’ve not been around the blogging world long enough to think it’s networking or just a traffic building exercise. That way it’s a real win/win. We can all overdeliver our presence, our personality, our sense of fun, our ideas, our trustworthiness, our punctuality, our honesty, our integrity or whatever it is that we as an individuals bring to the world when we’re happy and feeling like we’re contributing, not just providing a service for money.

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 23:48:34 +0000

@James Spot on.

@Melissa I see what you are saying, kind of like the icing on the cake. Thanks for adding your point of view, it’s put things in a better light for me now.

By: Melissa Donovan

Melissa Donovan — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:27:00 +0000

I never promise less, but I always try to deliver more. And not with turnaround times... I always do extra little things for my clients - sometimes I come up with a great tagline and just send it to them at no charge. Other times, I make recommendations that are outside the scope of the services I offer. For clients that place enough orders, I'll also toss in freebies every now and then for small, quick things they want done (like proofing a 100-word paragraph). Melissa Donovan’s last blog post..Word Pairs: That and Which

By: James Chartrand - Men with Pens

James Chartrand - Men with Pens — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 20:08:58 +0000

*takes notes for a rockin' blog post at MwP* Good questions. What do you see as promise less and deliver more, if not time buffer? What are other ways it can be done? And should those be encouraged or avoided, you feel? James Chartrand - Men with Pens’s last blog post..Is Your Life a Runaway Train?

By: Marc

Marc — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:26:59 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to reply James, I really appreciate it.

I can understand your point about a time buffer to allow for the unexpected but then to me that is just common sense/good business practice and hardly fits the “under-promise over-deliver” mentality which I’ve been seeing quite a bit of lately.

Or am I reading too much into it? Is that all there is to it? How else can you “promise less and deliver more”?