Promise less than you can deliver

I was reminded of this important principle as my son was taken into surgery to have his appendix removed this week. I noticed a woman getting annoyed with the hospital staff and chatted to her about what was wrong. She had been told her husband's operaton would only take 30 minutes and it had been 90 minutes now. She was very worried.

We've had four surgeries in our family in the last three years. All have gone well but, in each case, it has been a lot longer than we were told before the person returns from the operation. Every time we've worried that something has gone wrong.

I think two things are happening. First, we are given a best case estimate because the surgeon wants to reassure us now. Second we are given the time from the surgeon's perspective, not that of the customer - we have to wait for the patient to come round from the anaesthetic before we see them.

Make them feel good after the service, not now
We are all tempted to do it: "It will only take 5 minutes", "We will have the report with you by the end of the day". But reassurance now leads to frustration later, if we can't deliver on it. It is always best to under-promise.

If you are in an aeroplane waiting to take off and the pilot tells you it will be a 45 minutes wait, but it turns out to be 35 minutes - you feel pleased, and you feel the pilot has delivered on his promise. But if she says 15 minutes and it turns out to be 25, you feel frustrated and let down.

I changed the local taxi firm we used when I found one that would actually you how long the taxi would be, instead of always saying "Its just round the corner". And I again remind myself to do the same, to make a promise I can take a delight in beating.

My son is doing fine by the way, touch wood (though he was late, of course, back from the operation). And the Royal London (an NHS hospital in East London) is just marvellous - friendly, helpful, responsive, informed.

Truly Great Customer Service: Learning From Bernie

We have got the builders in at home, Bernie and his gang. And they are rather amazing, they keep finding extra things to do. They changed the lock that used to stick, have fixed the window that has had a crack in it for years and sorted the leak from the shower. All for no extra charge. It is, of course, an inspired approach. None of that costs them much but it really delights us. I may have no idea whether their brickwork is better than the next guys but I was already all set to recommend them.

So what unexpected extras can you provide, just to delight your customers?

But it didn't stop with the little things. This week he's had one of his men spend 4 days re-pointing the back of the house. Again, no extra charge. This morning he discovered dry rot in the floorboards and he says he'll sort that too. Now this is getting ridiculous. But Bernie explained: "I hate charging extra so I build in some contingency in the original quote."

Would that approach work for you? Make the quote a bit higher and find some serious extras to include once you get started, that really meet the needs of the customer.

The result: Bernie hasn't had to search for work for years and won't need to even in the current climate. Everybody recommends him. Me included: if you want his details, just get in touch (henry@happy.co.uk). Though he only works in North London, and doesn't actually stray far beyond the streets of Stoke Newington and Crouch End.