Last month I was talking about strong brands and my take on what I think is crucial to becoming a strong brand. I would like to get into this a bit more, especially as it relates to (brand) promises and promises in general.

I’m sure there are cultural differences in how people around the world are dealing with the importance of keeping a promise. If I tell you I’ll be there at 8 pm, you can pretty much expect me to be there at 8 pm. Before I make the commitment to be there, I have usually thought about my day, my time and what it is I have going on before 8 pm in order to make my appointment with you. Since I respect you enough to care, it is important for me to make sure you don’t have to wait.

That’s pretty much where it starts, in my opinion.

For some people, 8 pm means 10 pm, 11 pm or the following Monday. Some show up in time, some are late, some don’t show up at all and some call and tell you they are sick, their kids are sick, their mother had a Pilates accident or their dog has diarrhea.

Whatever they say or whatever their excuse is, they have not kept a promise or commitment they made to you and depending on how you personally feel about it, you either don’t care, you’re disappointed or even pissed. A simple thing like showing in up on time, though is probably not a big deal compared to broken promises on a larger scale.

I have recently started to look into re-financing my mortgage. I contacted a couple of companies based on their advertising, filled out online forms (guaranteeing that they’d beat my current interest rate) and was hopeful to hear what they have to offer once we start to talk personally.

First of all, it seems to be not as easy to personally speak with someone anymore who’s offering you something. If you do get through the thickening jungle of answering machines, voice mail forwarding systems and operators who don’t know what they are talking about, if they actually care enough to ask, you may end up talking to somebody who has no recollection of what the offered deal was. The deal may have changed “just yesterday” or “you didn’t read the fine print” or you “misunderstood” something.

Credit card companies are a good one, too. You know what I’m talking about.

I’ll spare you the politics here.

Such situations in life are what we experience and live through on an increasingly regular basis. We have gotten to a point, where we are starting to stop bothering and accept the fact that nothing is what it seems anymore. Despite that we do not have a personal relationship, for instance, with a mortgage company or any particular government, we still are disappointed and feel fooled at times, which in the end makes us turn away and stop giving it any support or energy.

The same exact thing happens when someone makes a purchase and has a problem with the product after the purchase. The higher the price is that was paid for something, the more disappointed the person will likely become.

Whatever the problem is and whether it’s a real a problem or one just thinks he has one, someone is looking for help.

Most companies have a department called “Customer Service”, which is usually dealing with customers who have a problem and provides after sale services. What really happens there is that somebody is supposed to help fix a problem you’re having because what you got didn’t match what you were supposed to get. A promise made before the deal was closed was not kept and you are disappointed, angry or even mad.

Customer Service departments are one of the places where (brand) promises are challenged, kept or not kept. Nobody can disregard (anymore) to take care of problems after the sale because otherwise someone else will and you’ve just lost a customer forever. The number of customers you lose will have a greater impact on the future well being of your company and its revenue stream than the number of new customers you’re winning over from your competitors.

What I’m trying to say is: We have to go the extra mile. We have to set up our organizations and structures in a way that they can deal with problems and solve them in a timely fashion with a true and honest interest of the customer in mind. We need to take care of people who have problems.

We also have to appoint associates representing us very thoughtfully and carefully so that our product (and brand) doesn’t get hurt by someone we only have limited control over. We need to take all errors and wrong doings serious and avoid breaking promises or not keeping our commitments at all times. This goes for our employees as well as for our customers.

I decided years ago that I won’t deal with individuals or companies anymore who do not keep their commitments and promises. They are not worth my time…or yours.

All the best,

Peter