Dear All,

I've heard other consultants advise "under-promise and over-deliver". Is that a good approach?

This is often sage advice, but "under-promising" might not be the best way to secure business and please your client. A better approach might be to make a meaningful, realistic promise of delivery and then work very hard to over-deliver on that promise.

There are many ways to do this. You can single out one facet of the assignment on which you can make a strong commitment, perhaps even making your fee partially or totally contingent on its delivery.

Avoid under-promising on a deliverable thinking you will look really great later - you might not be granted an opportunity to deliver on it at all.

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