As a consultant, I often review notes from previous client meetings, in order to follow up on discussions and commitments.  I also have to be able to remember agreements from vendors, just as I have to keep track of my own promises.
 
It's no surprise, then, that I'm a big note-taker.  Not on a laptop, but handwritten.  Maybe that's a sign of my age, but I have better recall of something I've written than of something I've typed.
 
All of this leads to my ongoing amazement, when people in meetings agree to do whatever, without writing to themselves so much as a sentence of what they just offered to do!  Of course texting doesn't help.  "Hey, can someone help me?  I can't decipher what I wrote!"
 
Too many owners of small and growing businesses tell me that the people in their companies have great ideas, but there's no implementation.  Part of that is someone making a suggestion, someone else acknowledging what a good idea it is and the facilitator immediately saying, "We're off track.  Could we stay on the topic, please," as he or she leaves the worthy suggestion in the dust.
 
Poor implementation is more than that, however.  How can you implement something, when you've forgotten what it was that you were supposed to do? With all the daily stresses we're exposed to, how can we be expected to have total recall without writing anything down?
 
How good are you at keeping promises you've recently made to clients or customers?  Did you close a conversation or email with, "I'll call you tomorrow," only to forget your commitment, because of not writing or typing what you just said?
 
The devil is in the details.
 
Where am I going with this?  Simple.  Since there are so many people out there making promises on which they'll probably not deliver, you have a great marketing opportunity.
 
Let's say a client asks you a question, to which you don't have an answer.  You reply that it's a fair question, and you'll call back with an answer by 5:00 p.m. on the following day.  You conscientiously write the question down and set about finding a resource within your company or on the Internet to lead you to the answer.  Then you call your client back the next day before 5:00 p.m.
 
Your client is totally impressed, since he or she never really expected to hear from you again on this issue.  You've demonstrated a command of details, and you've made the client feel important enough that you took the time to address the inquiry.
 
There is scarcely better marketing that you can do.  Getting the answer took all of five minutes and didn't cost you a dime.  And you so impressed your client, that he or she is creating buzz about your company's great customer service!
 
Sales Managers, take note:  did you give your salespeople an assignment and a date by which you expected the assignment to be completed?  Did you then follow-up to see that they completed the assignment, or did you let the due date come and go, because you were so busy?
 
If you had written down both what you assigned and the timeline, you could have shown your sales staff that, when you asked them to do something, you weren't kidding.  Of course if the due date came and went, your salespeople won't adhere to a deadline ever again.
 
The devil is in the details.
 
It's time to be a bit more careful about assignments, commitments and promises, because tending to them diligently is great marketing, commands respect and creates buzz.  You might even hear a customer say, "You know, I know ABC Inc. isn't the cheapest; they do what they say they're going to do, however, and save me time.  In the long run, that also saves me money."
 
See?  Great marketing, one client or customer at a time.

 

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