This is a fundamental rule in consulting and in fact, in any business – be certain to set expectations correctly, so that you can over-deliver, always. If you promise the moon and don’t deliver it, at a minimum, you will have an unhappy customer; at worse, you will have litigation and a very unpleasant, costly situation. That is not to say that you should constantly promise so little that you can’t help but exceed your promise – that will impress no one. It is to say however, that you should be very careful in setting the expectations of your clients and customers. Perhaps more important, you must stay in touch very regularly during the course of the project / ongoing relationship, and make sure that you have your finger on the pulse of progress and the mood of your client. If you do not, you will receive that call that no entrepreneur wants to receive – that of a disgruntled customer. If you do receive that call, especially if it’s from a critical customer, you must do everything in your power to rectify the situation. As you know, new client acquisition is typically the most difficult and costly aspect of most businesses. Don’t commit the cardinal sin of losing a client due to over-promising and under-delivering, or perhaps worse yet, not paying attention to the changing needs of your customers.
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