👨✈️ Even Pilots Know This Rule
"When air traffic control tells me the delay will be 10 minutes, I always tell the passengers it will be 15 minutes."
My friend said this to me last week. He's a pilot for American Airlines.
"Why do you do that?" I asked.
"Well, ATC can be optimistic in some
cities. And if they do happen to be correct about the delay, I come on the intercom and tell the passengers: "Good news. I know I told you it would be 15 minutes, but it's only been 10 minutes and we're ready to go!"
"It changes how they think about the delay, about me, and about American."
My pilot friend very much understands (and practices) an often overlooked principle of customer satisfaction:
Underpromise and Overdeliver.
It's funny, isn't it?
We learn this adage on day one in business. It is universally known. And we KNOW
it works.
I called AT&T. They said hold time would be 11 minutes. When they picked up at 9 minutes, it felt like I'd won
$20 on a lottery scratch-off ticket.
When call centers don't tell you how long the expected wait time is, each minute
feels like an epoch.
And this is why underpromise/overdeliver is so powerful: it reframes our
expectations.
After years studying the relationship between responsiveness and revenue, I've learned expectations and how
they are managed are more important than actual speed. (I talk about this in my Time to Win keynote).
Yet, underpromise/overdeliver is NOT universally applied.
Why?
Because in most cases, being the bearer of bad news to customers (especially around speed) can create a venti pumpkin latte full of ire and angst, and most of us avoid conflict like the Chicago Bears avoid the end zone.
So to avoid disappointing customers up front, we fib about time and responsiveness. In the moment, if often feels better to overpromise instead of underpromise. We figure we can massage it later, when the truth comes out. But nowadays, customers are far less forgiving of this approach.
Increasingly, as customers have come to care more about their time than ever before (see my research on this fact) the idea that we can dodge and weave about speed is being proven faulty.
You're now MUCH better off in terms of overall customer satisfaction to take a page from my pilot friend's playbook:
Underpromise and Overdeliver....especially about time.
Any examples in your world of underpromise/overdeliver, or the dreaded opposite? I'd love to hear about them for future presentations, et al. Just reply and let me know.
