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How to Keep Your Promises and Your Reputation

Guest post by: Lorraine Pirihi

Article Overview: How many people promise to get back to you with that quote, order, report or anything else for that matter and actually do it?

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How to Keep Your Promises and Your Reputation

How many people promise to get back to you with that quote, order, report or anything else for that matter and actually do it?

I'd say that most people do not deliver on their promises! Therefore they do not realise that the ‘trust' element and their credibility goes down the drain.

If they lose your trust and credibility how would they treat other people? Would you refer business to them, feel confident that they can look after an important client or be responsible for finalising a special project?

The Cable Installer
Last week I decided to finally purchase a home entertainment system. Being a person who doesn’t like to waste time visiting the relevant stores and gaining so many conflicting opinions as to what would suit my needs, I rang a local retailer and asked them if they had someone who could come to my home to see our situation and then make suitable recommendations.

I was referred to an installer who regularly purchased goods from the store. He wasn’t contracted to this company, they just had his business card at the desk.

Normally this could be risky as there was no recommendation from the retailer that this guy was either good or bad, however I decided to call John anyway.

I was nicely surprised. John was easy to deal with and he acted very professionally, more so than so many other ‘professionals’ I’ve dealt with over the years.

Here’s what made him stand out:

1. He answered his phone in a professional and friendly manner.
2. He spoke with confidence.
3. He arrived at my home at the agreed time.
4. He was dressed appropriately and didn’t smell. (I’ve had people turn up to sell me something who needed a lesson or two on hygiene).
5. His mobile phone was switched off . Unlike many people I meet with, Paul obviously realised the most important person at that time was me and being interrupted by someone calling him on the phone would take his attention away from me (the prospect).
6. Paul listened to what I said. He understood what I wanted.
7. He was knowledgeable about the products available.
8. He promised to contact me the next day with his recommendations.

And to top it all off, he produced a paper diary and wrote everything in it! I was impressed…I knew at that point he wouldn’t let me down.

True to his word, John contacted me. In fact he sent an email listing all his recommendations and costs. He also suggested I look at the equipment first.

Now that I had the recommendation in front of me, I headed off to the local retailer, was able to check out the specific equipment and was completely confident to make the decision to purchase from John.

I also checked out similar equipment to ensure I was getting the best deal (that was easy to do now that I had a specific list of my requirements). All it took was a couple of phone calls.

I rang John, confirmed my order and by the time I write the next newsletter, we’ll have our new system installed…with no hassles (I hope)!

The Telephone Salesman
In contrast to John, I wanted to update my mobile phone and spoke several weeks ago to Jason who ran his own business in this area. Jason promised to contact me with suitable recommendations.

I never heard back from him…and that was in December! I happened to run into him recently and he promised to get back to me. Again, he let me down.

On both occasions Jason didn’t write anything down. So guess what’s happened? He’s forgotten… and unfortunately for him, he’s lost a sale.

If an opportunity arises where someone needs a mobile phone, I wouldn’t refer Jason. If he’s this slack before you buy, how good will he be when something goes wrong with the phone?

I wonder how many other opportunities he misses because he doesn’t use a diary and more importantly, know how to use it.

Jason works long hours and for the time he spends in his business, he’s not achieving the results he wants. It’s easy to see why.

Why Do People Over Promise and Under Deliver?
From what I observe, people make promises verbally and then do not write the details down immediately in their diary so they can remember to follow up. As long as they look in their diary and take action, there's no chance of them forgetting!

It's as simple as that. Research shows that we have 50-60,000 thoughts running through our brain each day! How can you remember everything? You have to write it down.

For those of you who love technology, you can still follow the same rules as using a paper diary.

If you want to know how more about how to successfully use a diary and gain more business

See our book “Get Organised-Get a LIFE!, part of The Getting Started Pack. We’ve included a whole section on how to choose what suits your needs and how to use them.

The Final Word
John the cabler made it easy for me to buy. He did what he said he would do. Although I knew nothing about him, the way he presented himself gave me confidence in his ability.

Of course, I’ll be referring him to everyone and if you live in Melbourne and need someone to set up and install your home sound system just send me an email and I’ll pass on his details.

It doesn’t take much effort to stand out from the crowd and actually keep your promises and reputation. Now that you are aware of this, what can you do differently? What changes can you make?

Do what you promise, otherwise why bother in the first place?

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Home > Business-Coach > Lorraine Pirihi > How to Keep Your Promises and Your Reputation
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About the Author: Lorraine Pirihi
RSS for Lorraine's articles - Visit Lorraine's website

Lorraine Pirihi, The Productivity Queen, is Australia's leading Productivity Specialist and creator of "The Productivity and Profit System TM" the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses that shows business owners exactly how to work less and earn more!

To receive your F.R.E.E. CD & Report "3 Steps to Dramatically Reducing Your Workload and Stress While Maximising Your Profit$! ($77 value) go to http://www.productivityqueen.com

 



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Picking a corporate lawyer Picking a corporate lawyer - Hi Everyone, I was just curious to know what's the most important criteria a small business owner should look at when choosing a corporate lawyer? -Cost/hr? -Location? -Reputation/Referral? -Experience? -Personality? How did you pick your lawyer? And what's a fair price to pay per hour? Thanks
Re: Managing Your Brand Re: Managing Your Brand - Yes that is why Reputation Management came into existence. When people search your business they shouldn't get anything that can harm your business image. It is better to keep a good image over each channel people are using.
Web Pro News' "Mom's Top 10 Reasons to Social (Web)Mark Web Pro News' "Mom's Top 10 Reasons to Social (Web)Mark - I belong to WebProNews, a weekly eletter which provides lots of good info. I reproduce their whole article below on "Mom's Guide To Social Marketing" (No intent on violating copyright - if you think this is good info you too should subscribe to Web Pro News too.) Your mother, if she did her job right, taught you everything you need to know about how to get along in the world and how to get ahead in it. When we were kids, we thought these rules were silly, but later we learned her advice was pretty valuable. In honor of Mother's Day (May 13), we've put her wisdom to work in online marketing. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Editor's Note: Social marketing is quickly becoming an integral part of generating business online. While search is the on-ramp, social networks are the destination. And just like any social setting, your rep is important. Mom's Guide to Life, we thought, was a great Guide to Everything. Did we forget some valuable tip? Let us know in the comments section. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mom's Top 10 Steps To A Good Online Reputation 1. Put Your Best Foot Forward: As recently as a year ago, when things were newer, more experimental, a presence on MySpace only was fine. Not so anymore. You have to be everywhere, treating branding in the online world the way you would in the real world. Most social networks allow you to set up a profile page for free (the ones that matter most do anyway). Create your online persona (a polite one), then clone it as necessary. 2. Make Eye Contact: Just like in the real world, wallflowers don't get noticed. The wallflower is most likely an incredible resource – it's just that nobody knows her because she doesn't put herself out there. Be a participant by commenting, inviting, giving. Show up at your new neighbor's door with a gift. It always goes over well – just remember to button your blouse. 3. You Are a Reflection of Your Mother (Company): Nobody likes a poorly kept lawn except the lazy bum that lives behind it. Maintain your public face on the social networks, shine your shoes, crease your pants, embrace your OCD. It may not be your homepage, but it is a home away from home. Maintaining several of these online presences is work, but so is business. 4. Keep An Open Mind: There's an appropriate cliché for every situation – all your eggs in one basket comes to mind here – but I prefer my grandfather's chestnut: "You drove your ducks to a damn poor market." Poetic, that man was. For a long time it was search, search, search. Before that it was email, email, email. But now you need to integrate your campaign. Search is a staple, a pillar of your online campaign, but we also know that Wikipedia ranks consistently number one in the SERPs. That means you need a Wikipedia page, too. Note: YouTube also ranks well. 5. Become Necessary: Viral marketing is tricky, difficult business. But maybe it doesn't have to be. Maybe if you realign your approach to reflect what you, as an individual enjoy, instead of being a salesperson, you can find a more intuitive connection with what the public wants to see. It's often been said that a salesman sells himself more than the product. So if you want to make linkbait, think about what would cause you to bite first. If you look at your viral attempt and see more corporate talking points than linkable material, it's time for a do-over. 6. Like the People that Like You (Even If You Think They're Annoying): Barack Obama's campaign people did something brilliant, and followed up with something not so brilliant. That makes it a great case study. An Obama fan set up a MySpace page and soon attracted thousands of friends. Instead of competing with his biggest fan, Obama endorsed the site as the official MySpace campaign headquarters. That was the brilliant part. After the page "got too big" for the original operator, the campaign crew took staged a coup to wrest control of the page from their biggest fan. That was the not so brilliant part, even if politics is mean by nature. 7. Watch Your Mouth: Again with the clichés that still hold true – if you don't have anything nice to say, then don't say anything at all. Steve Rubel learned the hard way that stream-of-consciousness blogging can have you saying something you wish you hadn’t. Transparency doesn't mean total access. 8. Don't Be a Fake: Who do we dislike most in civilized society (aside from the violent)? Liars, cheats, and thieves. We don't like them because we view them as betrayers. That principle applies online, too, when your network discovers you're not what you say you are. And the mob's wrath is one that is hard to endure. Ask Edelman PR about their Wal-Marting Across America campaign. 9. Mind Your Manners: Mom's favorite Bible verse still applies: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Commonly referred to as the Golden Rule on Earth, in Cyberspace, manners and etiquette are becoming increasingly more important. People are getting angry about anonymous drive-by (rude) commentary, salesy and useless comment spam (spam in general constitutes harassment in some form)…the list of ethics and etiquette violations is a long one, so it's probably best to ask yourself: Would I appreciate this if it were done to me? 10. Stay Hip. Right now, MySpace, Facebook, Wikipedia, and YouTube are essential, but they're still relatively new. Few really saw SecondLife coming as a virtual marketplace. Still yet, only the early adopters are talking about Twitter. But change online is swift, and the smart marketer keeps up with what's hot. The last thing you want to do is look outdated. Just don't sell out your core identity in the process. While that's just ten guidelines out of many, Mom always had one rule that ruled them all: Use your head, dodo bird! This is a thinking man's game. Indeed it is. Good luck with your campaigns.


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