From Hot Coffee to Hot Mess: Building Trust After Broken Promises

Imagine that a new coffee shop is built in your neighborhood. From your perspective, it seems perfect. You love coffee, and the new shop is on your route to work. Plus, the new place will have a drive-thru.?

Could it get any better??

Over the next several months, you watch the coffee shop's construction and look forward to your first cup of coffee from the new establishment. One day, a banner appeared in the front of the building announcing that the store would "Open next Monday at 5 a.m."?

You realize you have an important meeting next Monday morning that requires you to be in the office early. It's as if the coffee shop is opening to meet your needs. You make a mental note to leave your home a few minutes early on Monday to grab your first cup of joe from your new favorite place.?

Monday morning arrives, and you leave your house ten minutes early, allowing enough time to swing by and grab a hot cup of coffee. As you pull into the parking lot, something seems wrong. The place is dark, and the parking lot is empty. Hoping against hope, you roll up to the drive-thru only to find a written note taped to the menu board. It reads, "Opening delayed until Wednesday. We hope to see you then!"

You're disappointed, but you figure they didn't mean to get it wrong; something must have happened to throw off the grand opening plan. You drive off disappointed but commit to returning later in the week.??

On Wednesday, you are back in the parking lot, and everything appears to be up and running. Lights are on, people are milling about, and cars are waiting in the drive-thru line. "Now we're talking," you say to yourself.?

When it's your turn to order, the speaker emits a pleasant voice that warmly greets you and asks for your order. You keep it simple, asking for a medium cup of black coffee. The employee tells you that your order comes to 79 cents and directs you to pull up to the first window. "Wow, that's a bargain, you think to yourself. They may not have opened on time but redeemed themselves with their pricing." You pull around to the window and are greeted with, "That will be $3.58, please." Your pleasure turns to frustration.??

"$3.58? When I ordered, you said that it would be 79 cents. How did the price jump nearly three dollars in less than two minutes?" You ask.?

The person at the window is embarrassed and explains that the new computer system is having some trouble and that it gave her the wrong amount when she entered your order.?

Your frustration turns to empathy, and your demeanor softens.?She's just doing her job,?you remind yourself. As the employee swipes your credit, the aroma of fresh coffee wafts through the open window. Your nose notices, and you are reminded that coffee is coming soon. All will be okay.

You pull forward to the second window, grab your cup, put it into the drink holder, and pull away. A minute or two later, you reach over to take a sip and find that your hot coffee is hot chocolate. You hit a new level of frustration. Not only did they fail to open on time, but they also misquoted the price and gave you the wrong item.??

At that moment, you vow that the new coffee shop will no longer be your favorite place. You decide to tell anyone who will listen about the lousy service you received. Throughout the next couple of weeks, that's precisely what you do. Nearly every time you share the story, those who have visited the place express a similar sentiment. They, too, were frustrated by inaccurate service.?

Six months later, you drive by the place, and a new banner is out front that reads, "Out of business."?

This story illustrates a critical point. While you may not be managing a coffee shop or have experienced such extreme service failures, there have been times when you've set expectations and then fallen short in meeting them.

Consider these 3 questions

1. How have you managed expectations in your role, and can you recall when you failed to meet them?
2. What steps can you take to ensure your commitments and promises are realistic and achievable to maintain trust with your team?
3. How can you rebuild trust if you fail to meet expectations or commitments?

Dependability as a leader is not just about being right or wrong; it's fundamentally about fostering trust. Committing to a decision, project, or schedule and not following through erodes the trust in your professional relationships. Conversely, consistently fulfilling your promises is like making deposits into a trust account. Regularly meeting expectations boosts this 'account balance,' strengthening faith in your reliability.

If this account is frequently overdrawn due to unmet commitments, trust is depleted, and people start losing confidence in you.?

Make it a great day!

Patrick