I’m not usually one to make new year’s resolutions, but 2014 was the year that I really wanted to WOW my customers at Tiny Hands.

If you’ve ever made a purchase from my shop, you’ll probably know about my two-week made to order policy.

My handmade jewelry take a lot of time to make (up to three days!) and I just couldn’t see any other way around it.

But these days with Amazon and other big online retailers raising the bar on what’s considered normal for delivery time, two weeks in addition to shipping time is WAY too long to make you wait for your order.

I’m always looking to improve the customer experience while sustaining my business along the way.

I’m not going to commit myself to a business where I have 24 hour/7 days a week phone support but I did have other plans.

After reading Mike Michalowicz’s The Pumpkin Plan, I’ve been feeling so strongly about this wonderful concept.

Under promise + over deliver

This meant I needed to cut down on my turnaround time.

All of 2013, I invested time, money and energy into hiring a team of assistants that now help me make my jewelry and do shipping for me.

Prior to hiring help, I was shipping once every week or every two weeks.

Sometimes more frequently when an order was reaching its two-week policy deadline.

Over the holidays and sales events, I was always spending my entire work day doing shipping.

At the end of the week I never spent a single hour marketing my business, which is essential for getting more sales.

What’s changed for me

Now, my assistant ships twice a week for me, and each day she ships out 40 orders or more on average.

My assistants are helping me crank out the jewelry so I always have them in stock and ready to ship!

When an order gets placed on Saturday, it ships on Monday and arrives at its destination on Thursday.

Instead of waiting three weeks, my customer now waits for a few days.

I’m seeing a huge increase in repeat customers as well

Can you imagine the excitement you get when you buy something really cool online?

That excitement starts to die down after a long time.

When I can deliver their order while there’s still that excitement, that wins me major points.

My customer hasn’t forgotten about me. I’m keeping myself top of mind.

My customer is happy with their experience shopping with me, and tells their friends about my shop.

Word of mouth, the best kind of marketing, right?

What about you?

You’ve got to give your customers a reason to talk about you.

What have you done, or what can you do in your business to under promise and over deliver?