The dictionary defines a “promise” as “a declaration assuring that one will or will not do something, a vow”.

What might happen if your closest friend made promises to you but never kept them? Would his or her action, or lack of it, help your friendship flourish or would it serve to destroy trust and respect?

If the latter is your likely response, relate this decision to your employees that took so long to recruit and your customers that took what felt like forever to acquire and can prove even more difficult to retain with increased competition in the marketplace.

What judgments might your employees and customers be making that will negatively impact on your relationship with them?

The REAL issue is that when people feel let down, they rarely say anything, choosing to keep quiet rather than discuss the problem, as they don’t want to make the situation worse.

So what happens over time is:

Ø  Your employees leave you mentally (you get disengagement)

Ø  And your customers leave you physically (you get ‘churn’)

Both of these are MASSIVE hidden costs in every business that needn’t be there.