Do What You Say

I don’t think it can ever be emphasized enough how important it is to do what you say you’re going to do — not just in your business, but also in everyday life. It’s actually one of the simplest ways to build your reputation with the people around you. I shouldn’t have to tell you how important this is with your customers.

We’ve published articles on this topic, including a column this past year from Patrick Quigley that talked about setting realistic expectations for your customers, and one a couple of years ago from Jim Anderson on the idea of “underpromise and overdeliver.“

It’s no secret everyone is busy — overextended sometimes — and sometimes there just isn’t enough time to get to everything. It’s not an excuse, of course, because everyone is busy. You can’t use the excuse that you were busy when you didn’t get to something because someone else just as busy as you might be able to find the time to do it instead.

The trick, I suppose, is to find your limitations and know realistically what you can and can’t do, which is easier said than done in this world where you have to try to be everything to everybody. Instead of trying hard to be everything, you’ve got to listen to the people and focus on doing the things they want. Find out what’s important to the people you with whom you interact and focus on that.

Along the same lines as doing what you say you’re going to do is the old adage, “practice what you preach.” These really do go hand in hand.

I’ll admit I’m guilty of sometimes not following this advice. For example, when I attended the National Pest Management Association’s (NPMA’s) Academy back in July, a great deal of the sessions focused on communicating with the customer of tomorrow. In particular, there were sessions that honed in on the importance of blogging.

I was pumped up about blogging when I got back from Academy. I knew we had to start blogs here at Pest Management Professional magazine (PMP). As soon as I returned to the office, I told Frank Andorka, my friend and colleague, that we needed to start blogging. He, of course overwhelmed himself, was resistant at first.

As the editorial director of PMP, we keep Frank pretty busy, and I knew he thought the last thing he had time for was to post daily blog entries. I pushed him though and reiterated the importance of using this medium to connect with our readers.

I went so far as to immediately start posting blog entries myself on our PMP Community site until I had time to set up a proper blog. Here, though, is where I strayed from doing what I said I was going to do. I became busier (I know, not an excuse) and stopped blogging.

Meanwhile, Frank did find the time to start his blog and he’s kept at it ever since. He’s built up a readership and has gotten tremendous response from his blog. Frank is now the one bugging me to get my blog going and I became the one resisting.

I don’t know what took me so long to realize I was not delivering what I said I would. But, today I’m happy to announce that I too have officially started my blog.

I don’t know if I’ll be posting as often as Frank does (sometimes 3-4 times a day!), but I will post regularly. That’s a promise.

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Tags: Blogging, Frank Andorka, Goals, NPMA, PMP Contributors