How to underpromise and overdeliver...

Out of all the different business segments I have transactions with the catalog industry is constantly at the top when it comes to exceeding my expectations as a customer. Here is a good example.

A couple weeks ago I received a catalog from "Penzeys Spices" (www.penzeys.com), and as you can tell from the name they are a catalog company that deals in culinary spices. As I've gotten older I've found a greater appreciation for what quality spices do for a meal... but anyway. My wife and I went though the catalog, jotted down some products and placed an order for $40 worth of stuff. The box arrived yesterday.

The first thing I noticed when opening the box was the packing slip on top. The computer generated packing list was signed by two people, one with a "Thank You". While they didn't identify their positions I assume one was the "picker" and the other the "packer". The signed packing slip was a nice touch.

The second thing I noticed was that they included a "shipping" catalog. A shipping catalog is just a copy of the companies catalog tossed in with the rest of the order. At one catalog company I worked with, we use to "create" a shipping catalog by just making a new cover for an existing catalog.

This part is pretty important. Having a shipping catalog is perhaps the best reason in the world, for any type of business what so ever, to create a catalog. The response rates to shipping catalogs are astronomical... I've seen the numbers for several types of businesses and "shipping" or "delivery" or "fulfillment" catalogs can mean a big difference for your bottom line. I'm shocked that few businesses outside the catalog industry use them. They make the job of upselling or cross-selling so much easier.

As I pulled the items out of the box and unwrapped them I soon found I had unwrapped 5 items--while I knew darned well we only ordered 4. I picked up the "odd" item and found it to be a bottle of Italian Dressing herbs that could be used to make our own dressings. I looked at the packing list to see if I got hosed and found the bottle of Italian herbs to be a "freebie" for just placing an order.

The hand written "Thank You" was good. The addition of the shipping catalog enthralled me as a marketing geek. But the "free" bottle of spices put me over the edge. They exceeded by expectations as a customer. How often do the companies you deal with exceed your expectations? Probably not many. Everyone seems to do just enough to get by or to meet the level of the competition.

I'm ashamed to admit we did exactly that with our retail store... that's probably why we no longer have a retail store. We didn't do anything to exceed the expectations of the customer. We did what everyone else did. Unfortunately most retail, restaurants and other face to face type businesses commit the same sin. They are in the perfect position to underpromise and overdeliver but few do...

The catalog companies realizing they don't have the same face to face contact go all out to overdeliver. Amazon seems to overdeliver but few Internet based companies or individuals I deal with ever do. I don't consider a follow-up email to be an overwhelming event... and certainly not something that will separate one company from another.

What was the last company you dealt with that knocked your socks off?

Take care,

Mike Winicki