Empty Promises lead to Wishes
Every successful business whether it is online or off is based off of three main principles: good product, customer service, and trust. If you have these main items in place, then all of the other items will come in line sooner or later. I realize that there are many other factors in running a good business, but you cannot run one with having a good product. If what you sell is something that no one needs, then your business will fail. If you have a great product, but you provide horrible customer service, your business will fail. It will take some time with bad customer service, but it tends to lean toward failure. If you do not have trust with your customers, your business will fail. If customers cannot trust what you say, then they will be dissatisfied and leave. They will tend to spread the word about your failing trust, which can cause a mass exodus from your company.
Today, I am going to focus on building trust. This is one thing that I have done in all of my companies and continue to do day in and day out. Building trust is actually fairly easy to do, but it can be hard to keep. The best way to build trust with your customers is to make promises and keep them. If you keep the promises that you make with your customers, then they will be happy and will continue to be happy as you are providing the service that you said you would. Unfortunately, there are not many companies that keep the promises that they make anymore.
If you have ever run a business, then you know this first hand. There are many companies out there that will promise you the world, but only deliver Hawaii. This happens more times than I can count when dealing with online service companies. When you are trying to start up your online business, there are many vendors that can assist with every aspect of your business. Sometimes it is easier to hire a third party than to work your fingers to the bone on a subject that you might not know much about. The main thing that I stress here is that you research what each company tells you before you sign or start anything. It can take you an extra hour or two to really drive deep into the company that is offering you something and find out if they have any skeletons in the closet. With the world of online reviews growing at a huge pace, I am sure you can find something about every company you come across. Take the time to really read the reviews and comments about the company, as it could save you a lot of money and headache in the future.
Never let any company provide you with outlandish promises. If it is too good to be true, then it is probably not going to happen. Most of these companies thrive off of people that have not fully researched what they want. This enables them to tell you what you want and then promise you great things. Most often empty promises lead to you wishing you would have taken the time to research their claims. I have been burned by this multiple times in the first ecommerce company that I created. After the third time, I finally learned and have never let a company promise me anything. I take the time in the beginning to research and dig in the dirt before even contacting the company that I am looking to hire. This enables me to really push facts at them when they are promising me things. I absolutely hate empty promises, and you should to.
One of the biggest mistakes an new business owner or entrepreneur can make is allow companies to take advantage of them. I know many people that have lost their businesses because they put too much trust into a third party vendor. It is nice to trust people, but you always have to make sure to be on your guard. Every company wants to make money in any way possible. If this means promising things that they cannot deliver in order to sign a client, then so be it. If you don’t allow yourself to be taken advantage of, then you are going to be ahead of the game. Empty promises can take many different forms, so you have to remember to take your time with decisions. If someone is trying to rush you to make a decision, then chances are you don’t want to work with them. It is relatively easy to take a step back and ask yourself, can they really deliver this? Always remember my motto that empty promises will lead to wishes, and not the good genie in a bottle type.