Breaking the habit of overpromising: An action research on managing commitment drift at Estatoora

• Main Author: Paz, Jason S.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2020
• Subjects: Customer services—Quality control; Branding (Marketing); Industrial efficiency; Business Administration, Management, and Operations
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/6199; https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/context/etd_masteral/article/13265/viewcontent/Paz_Jason_11696931_1Edited.pdf
• Institution: De La Salle University

People love promises. They give us a certain sense of assurance on something especially when it comes to relationships, work commitments, purchases, business deals, and many others. As for those businesses inclined with offering products and services, it’s not unusual to make promises to customers with or without a binding contract, thinking that gaining trust is first and foremost, more important. From marketing, branding, positioning, up to sales and service support, overpromises affect the front and back-end of the sales funnel, as people are a bit cynical about business commitments. To make matters worse, failure to keep the promise may result in a poor public image and financial loss. Promises, in general, are not bad, but the habit of overcommitting has consequences if not handled properly. To analyze such a situation, business leaders should assess through this chain of questions: (1) how does overpromising impact the organization in all aspects, (2) how can this affect their relationship with clients, and most importantly, (3) what can the organization do to avoid broken promises and deliver commitments accordingly. In this action research, we explored how systematic factors such as short-termism, complexity, reactivity, and operational issues contribute to the “commitment drift” in business, which in turn damages public trust. We understood and learned the underlying reasons of a service company in making promises and analyzed the elements that contribute to under-delivered commitments. Lastly, this action research tried to solve the problem of our company, Estatoora; scrutinized the reasons that result in overpromising to its partners and stakeholders, and carefully developed the necessary measures and practices to improve service and gain positive customer feedback.