Keeping Promises

Keeping promises is an expression of integrity and builds trust. This is one of the most potent principles to apply in successful startup building as well as successful life building.

The damage done by breaking promises is tremendous. When we, as individuals and as organizations, promise one thing and do something else, we erode the precious benefit of the doubt that those who count on us bestowed on us as an initial gift. The costs spiral. And it may be that you will never fully recover once the seed of doubt is planted.

Promises

To think about keeping promises in a business context, let’s start by reflecting on what a promise is:  a statement of intent, a pledge to do something, a basis for an expectation. When you say to someone, “I will call you back,” you are setting their expectation to expect your call.  If you say, “I will call you back today,” you set an even more precise expectation. If you call them back within those expectations, that is a promise kept.  If you do not call as promised, you can create frustration, disappointment, and a loss of trust. Lest you think my description is overly dramatic, my father recently shared a story about a senior shuttle business owner he called about getting a ride to the airport. She answered his call but told him she would call him back once she was out of the grocery store. When she had not called him back by the end of the next day, he was frustrated. From his perspective, the call was time-sensitive as he was trying to get his trip planned.  And, as the hours extended, he was beginning to wonder if he should trust her business to pick him up when promised if she could not follow through with a phone call.

Promises may be big or little – and businesses make many of them. “Someone will be with you in 5 minutes.” “We will refund your money.” “This product will help improve your company’s efficiency.” “We will send you the data as soon as it is available.” “I will take care of you.”

Promises happen at both the individual and organizational levels. Product marketing materials and websites are full of promises about what to expect from a product, a company, a conference, an investor. When you or one of your team, as representatives of your company, promise something, then the person you promised expects the company to follow through. When you personally promise to take care of something, the person you promised expects you to follow through. It builds trust when promises are consistently made and kept.  

Some promises are implicit. When I buy a new product, the implicit promise is that the product will work as advertised.  If the car I purchased advertises the availability of many features on the car’s associated smartphone app, I expect that those features will work. If they do not, then the implicit promise has been broken – and I feel some level of betrayal. When I raise money for my startup, I promise my investors to use the funds for the purposes described when I raised it – and not for something else entirely.

Position to keep promises by setting accurate expectations

The key to positioning to keep promises is to realize that it is the expectations that are set that often determine how a person feels about a particular interaction. If I go to a fancy restaurant that claims to have the best prime rib, I anticipate receiving excellent beef, side dishes, and service – and will be disappointed if those expectations are not met. Of course, it is those very same expectations that allow a fancy restaurant to demand premium prices. On the other hand, if I go to a fast-food restaurant like McDonald’s, the promise is very different. Instead of promising the best beef, McDonald’s has made their value proposition around speed and consistency of experience. I am not disappointed when McDonald’s does not deliver the best beef, but I would be disappointed if it took 45 minutes to get my food.  The point is to remember that the promise(s) made set expectations in the mind of the receiver. And how they feel about the interaction depends entirely on whether those expectations are met, partially met, or not met at all.

Therein lies the art of making and keeping promises.  The temptation is to entice or please the receiver by promising what they are asking for or hoping will happen. “I will call you right back” is a dangerous promise unless we can keep it! “We will do this surgery to save your loved one’s life” is another dangerous promise because it implies a level of control that does not exist in surgery.

You can set yourself up for success by avoiding overpromising. When you do promise, do it accurately or even conservatively.  Build in a buffer to maximize your chances of delivering on what you promised whenever possible.  When I am setting the expectations of my customers, suppliers, investors, and partners, I try hard to build in room for the unexpected delay or problem to occur so that our team can still deliver even if everything along the path of that delivery does not go smoothly.

In parallel, I focus on building systems and processes that enable us to consistently make and keep our organizational promises. When we follow them, we avoid disappointing others – and create a reputation for trustworthy follow-through that builds value over time. Often this means that our internal standards for execution are more aggressive than what we promise externally. Our philosophy is that it is better to underpromise and overdeliver to create delight and confidence in others who rely on us. We work hard on the little indicators of trustworthy promise-keeping by calling people back when we say we will, sending the information we promised we would, and following through on our commitments. And, if we cannot meet our standards for some reason, we try to get out in front of the failure by proactively letting the person know and resetting expectations.

Recovering from broken promises

Expectation management is an art – and overpromising sets you up to fail. However, even if you underpromise, sometimes things will not work out as planned.

If (when) you do fail, own it and communicate it, which often takes the sting out of failure. When you (or your organization) mess up, start by apologizing.  An apology (“I am so sorry this happened”) helps defuse the situation – and then make sure that the next promise is kept. “I will do x, y, z to resolve this.” Know that a proactive response to managing a failure can restore or even increase trust if handled well.

The very essence of integrity is the ability to make and keep meaningful promises. This is the sticky glue that creates loyalty and the lubricant that facilitates relationships. Learn how to make keeping promises part of your startup’s DNA.