I clearly remember the last time I fell in love on sight.
Beautiful, polished, full of promise and excitement: logic be damnedāI was absolutely infatuated. It took seven days to make it happen.
As quickly as it started, it fizzled. This was no prince. This was a glitchy frog. A glitchy frog who was emotionally unavailable and unwilling to address any real problems.
His name was ReMarkable.
And the whole ordeal was a powerful reminder:
"Underpromise and overdeliver" (words their CEO once used) is garbage advice. It's fundamentally flawed despite becoming business gospel.
ReMarkable has some of the worst, most unresponsive customer service I've seen, despite the beautiful marketing. The carpet didn't match the drapes.*
Most companies are so busy planning how to exceed expectations that they're forgetting to meet the basic ones.
The Overpromise Brigade:
- Streaming services promising "unlimited entertainment" but delivering buffering and bad recommendations
- Airlines' "customer first" messaging while basic comfort becomes a luxury upgrade
- Tech companies promising "revolutionary AI" but can't get their chatbots to understand basic queries
- Food delivery apps promising "30 minutes or less" while your food plays tourist around the city
Vs The Rare Honest Ones:
- Patagonia ("This jacket may last too long" and "don't buy this jacket"- actual marketing)
- Everlane (Their "Radical Transparency" isn't just marketing. They break down their costs, show their factories, and are direct about availability and restocking)
- Project Fi (Google's phone service that tells you when you're paying too much)
These companies can afford to be honest...because they actually deliver.
The Case for Congruency
We don't need more underpromise and overdelivery talk. What we need is for companies to simply deliver on their basic promises.
The math on customer retention vs. constant churn:
When you lose a customer, you're not just losing their revenue ā you're burning through 5-25x more money trying to replace them.
Think about it: marketing costs, sales resources, onboarding time, and the productivity hit your team takes constantly training new people instead of serving existing customers well. It's like trying to fill a leaky bucket instead of just fixing the holes.
How accurate promises create sustainable business models:
When you promise only what you can deliver, you can price your services based on reality, not fantasy. You're not padding costs to cover surprise "delight moments" or scrambling to fulfill promises that destroy your margins. Your operations become predictable, your cash flow stabilizes, and suddenly you can make actual strategic decisions instead of constantly putting out fires.
The hidden cost of surprise and delight (when basic needs aren't met):
Banks love to brag about their "surprise and delight" programs ā sending birthday cards while their app crashes every other weekend.
Disney+ drops billions on new content while their basic search function remains garbage.
It's not just wasteful; it's actively harmful. These companies are essentially telling customers, "We'd rather wow you occasionally than serve you consistently." And customers are responding by walking away.
I've been on both sides of this equation. When you're constantly trying to exceed expectations, you're living in a perpetual state of anxiety. Every interaction becomes a potential disappointment if you don't somehow make it "special." But here's what I've learned: consistent delivery creates trust, and trust creates loyalty.
And loyalty? That's what lets you sleep at night instead of wondering which customer you're going to disappoint tomorrow.
The Math of Trust
- According to Forbes, a 5% increase in customer retention can increase profits by 25% to 95%. This illustrates the power of keeping promises and maintaining customers.
- The latest Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report (2023) found that 61% of customers would switch to a competitor after just one bad experience, jumping to 76% after two.
- ProfitWell's research across 3,000+ companies shows that companies delivering on their core promise (measured through NPS scores) have churn rates 10-30% lower than companies that don't.
Example: Netflix vs. Quibiāone promised exactly what it would deliver, the other promised to revolutionize entertainment and shut down within 6 months (ain't no one revolutionizing, disrupting, or changing any gameāpuh-lease).
The Hidden Costs of the Delight Model
Ironically, I've heard of companies spending millions on "surprise and delight" programs while their basic service deteriorates.
Like when I used to bank with a local credit union that sent "handwritten" birthday cards while their app was down every other weekend.
Or when I worked as a temp inside a premium consultancy firm that would have regular conversations about the resource drain of constantly trying to one-up their last "wow" moment. (where I also developed a deep disdain for muffin baskets)
If you compare Meta's "move fast and break things" mentality vs. Vanguard's "boring but reliable" approach, you can draw some pretty educated conclusions. I can quickly create a list of 20 recent fiery complaints about Meta. I'm not sure if anyone is writing sonnets about Vanguard, but they've not earned even a small amount of the vitriol that Meta has.
Sustainable Business Reality
Businesses that promise accurately can:
- Price their services correctly (no need to pad for "extras")
- Train their teams effectively (clear expectations = clear training)
- Scale without breaking (you're not constantly patching holes)
- Build genuine customer relationships (no smoke and mirrors)
Before Southwest Airlines tried to compete with the legacy carriers, they promised low fares and decent service, nothing more, and built a loyal customer base as a result.
I suspect there's also a cognitive load element. I would imagine that business owners who promise accurately sleep better, teams who know exactly what's expected perform better, and customers who know what they're getting stay longer.
TL;DR: Stop trying to exceed expectations. Just meet them consistently. Then, if you want to do more, great. But nail the basics first.
And hey, if you want to audit your promises vs. your actual delivery, talk to me. I'm super good at it.
Onward,
April
*I know. But that's how I'm choosing to describe the disconnect between marketing and experience.
