Overpromise & Overdeliver

The old cliché in business is that smart companies underpromise and overdeliver. But in a crowded marketplace, underpromising is a one-way ticket to oblivion.

How did extraordinary companies like TiVo, Best Buy, The Container Store, American Girl, and Washington Mutual come out of nowhere to virtually take over their respective markets from bigger and wealthier competitors? Not by spending a fortune on marketing. All they did was keep their promises . . . and not just any promises, but dangerously ambitious promises. These companies used a radical new formula: They overpromised to lure customers in and then overdelivered to keep them.

In Overpromise and Overdeliver, marketing guru Rick Barrera uses groundbreaking research and case studies to show how these word-of-mouth-driven successes have mastered what he calls TouchPoint Branding—the art of making sure that every point of contact between a company and its customers is well executed and fulfills an over-the-top brand promise. Barrera explains how TouchPoint Branding’s three major components—Product TouchPoints, System TouchPoints, and Human TouchPoints—can create dramatic market differentiation.

The companies featured in this book start with an extraordinary product (like the iPod), supported by smoothly running systems (like the Sumerset Houseboats Web site), and add satisfying human contact (like the luxury service at a Ritz-Carlton hotel).

In a crowded business environment where everyone seems to be shouting the same message at peak volume, overpromising and overdelivering is the best way to stand out. Barrera offers powerful and easy-to-apply lessons not only for senior managers but also for individuals at any level—for anyone who wants to create unshakable customer loyalty.