Page 132 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

Quick Ideas 103 to 104

104

When Do You Need It?

While giving a guided tour of his Phoenix-based promo-
tional item company, Jim was explaining how deadlines have
changed, and how much faster our lives move. Just a decade
ago he said an order would come in for custom printed items
like business cards or coffee mugs, and his company would be
excited if they could complete the order and ship it back to the
customer in ten days. Today, these orders often come in with
the first mail at 8 a.m., and are finished and headed out of the
plant by 10 a.m. It’s a fast-paced world.

One of the secrets to

meeting and exceeding your Assignment
deadlines is not telling them

when you can do something Work first to get their

for them, but asking them ideal deadline, and then if

when they would like to have necessary, you can negotiate

it. You have to understand on the actual deadline with

their timeframe. Oftentimes which you both can live.

their deadline may not be

nearly as soon or as critical

as you think. They may need something in a week, but you

thought they would want it in a day. There are two main ben-

efits that come from properly assessing a customer’s needs.

The first is the opportunity to exceed their expectation and get

it there more quickly than needed. The second is to schedule

your work and your production to meet their needs, not yours.

Epilogue
In today’s fast-paced world, the ongoing practice of un-
der-promise and over-deliver will win you more customers than
you can possibly imagine.

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