I’ve been thinking about company promises lately, and what a fine balancing act this is. Promise too little, and no one will be interested. Promise too much, and you risk having unsatisfied customers.
This matters a lot in a time when social proof has a high level of influence, with 80% of shoppers considering reviews as meaningful as personal recommendations.
Those comments are also very easy to find, which is why it’s important to have satisfied customers who leave positive reviews. Getting those happy customers starts with setting the right expectations. No one likes to be disappointed, but that’s what happens if you promise something you can’t deliver.
How, then, do you find the right balance in your promise? Here are 3 tips to keep in mind.
Tip 1: Find the Middle Ground
Most people are skeptical of sales messages because they often include hype and exaggeration. We’ve all heard about schemes where someone makes a grandiose promise to earn a quick buck, only to vanish before anyone finds out they lied.
What makes this tricky is that sometimes a customer or two might get exceptional results. Then again, some might also have a below-average experience for reasons you can’t always identify or reasons that won’t apply to many others.
Given that, it’s often best to give an average as the expected result. Or if you have a range, you might use the upper end of the average.
Just remember that since your prospects can find out a lot about you online, they’ll likely be able to tell when you’re exaggerating or padding your results, and they won’t appreciate it.
Tip 2: Remind Your Customers That They’re the Hero
It’s important to make your customer the hero, and that also applies to how you phrase your promises.
Think of it this way. You’re not telling your prospect what your product or service will do for them.
You’re promising how your product or service will enable your customers to achieve their goals.
This means they have an active role to play. They can’t simply be a passive consumer and expect things to change.
For example, if someone wants to use solar panels, they need to be conscious of how much electricity they’re using and that it matches the capacity of their panels. Simply having the panels doesn’t mean you can consume an endless amount of energy.
Likewise, having a compost service won’t help if you don’t take the time to compost food scraps. It will be a waste of money.
Emphasize that if your customers make the effort, that’s when they’ll achieve hero status.
Tip 3: Give Real Examples
I mentioned the importance of social proof before, and if you use it well, it can work in your favor.
If you show someone a case study or testimonial, they can see what’s involved in using your product or service. They’ll also see how well someone else succeeded, which accomplishes two things.
One, it provides evidence that what you’re saying is true. This will establish your authority and start to build trust.
Two, it gives your prospect a roadmap to follow. They might not know all the steps to get to the end result, but even seeing that someone else reached the goal is inspiring.
Promises Matter – Make the Right Ones
If you make promises you can’t keep, you’ll lose customers and ruin your brand. But if you do the opposite and deliver on your promises, you’ll earn the trust and loyalty of your customers, and they’ll come back for more.
Have you had any of your own experiences with promises, either good or bad? Please share in the comments.
Or if you need help defining your message and promise, contact me for a FREE consultation to see how I can help.
Good points! I haven’t sold stuff or services for quite awhile, but did tend to overpromise on Amway products, as we were told what to say. But that’s way in the past.
As for recommending, I’m careful with that. I might tell people how a product has performed for me, such as an electric bike, lawn mower, or snowblower, but not suggest that it will perform like that for everyone.
That’s a good approach, to just say how it worked for you and then let them decide if they want to give it a try.