Strategic Under-Promise & Dramatic Over-Delivery (SUDO): A Practical Guide

Let’s start off with a simple explanation of SUDO…

(Note: A SUDO example with templates is provided free here)

Imagine you have a lemonade stand.

Here’s how SUDO works:

From Your Side (The Creator):

1. You tell your clients “I’ll give you a cup of lemonade” (that’s the Under-Promise part)
2. But when they come to buy, you surprise them by:
   • Giving them a bigger cup than they expected
   • Adding a free cookie
   • Making the lemonade extra special with a fancy straw
     (that’s the Over-Delivery part)

From The Client’s Side (The Receiver):

• They expect just normal lemonade
• They get excited when they receive more than they thought
• They tell their friends “Wow! This lemonade stand is amazing!”
• They keep coming back because they know they’ll always get something special

Real Business Example:

• Promise: “I’ll help you get more clients”
• Actually Deliver:
  • Help them get more clients (what you promised)
  • PLUS teach them cool new ways to sell
  • PLUS introduce them to other helpful business friends
  • PLUS give them special tools they weren’t expecting

Why It Works:

1. People feel happy because they got more than they expected
2. Happy clients tell other people about your business
3. They trust you more because you always give extra value
4. They become loyal clients because they know you’ll always do more than you say

It’s like when someone asks for a high-five, but you give them a high-five AND a candy – they’ll remember that and smile!

Let’s dig in a little deeper now. What are some specific ways you can implement SUDO?

Key Principles and Examples:

1. Project Estimation

• Strategic Approach: Account for all three complexity types
  • Known knowns (familiar tasks)
  • Known unknowns (identified challenges)
  • Unknown unknowns (hidden complexities)
• Example: When estimating a 3-month project, add 25-30% buffer time and communicate a 4-month timeline, then deliver in 3.5 months. We recommend doing this in pretty much all cases.

2. Internal Expectations Management

• Strategic Approach: Clear scope definition, including what’s excluded. This can help your sales positioning and the presentment of choices through varying programs and fees.
• Example: For a new CRM implementation
  • Under-promise: Commit to basic contact management and sales pipeline
  • Over-deliver: Include automated reporting and email integration features, plus extended / detailed reporting

3. External Communication

• Strategic Approach: Focus on current capabilities, not future promises
• Example: HubSpot’s approach
  • Under-promise: Only showcase existing features to potential clients
  • Over-deliver: Surprise customers with additional functionality post-purchase. These can be free additions or upsells at a reduced rate for taking action now (read: fast)

4. Product Roadmap Communication

• Strategic Approach: Sell current value, not future potential
• Example: B2B Software Release
  • Under-promise: Commit to core functionality
  • Over-deliver: Launch with additional integrations and customization options

5. Customer Experience Enhancement

• Strategic Approach: Focus on unexpected delights
• Examples of dramatic over-delivery:
  • Subtle UI animations that enhance user experience
  • Personalized onboarding messages
  • Unexpected feature improvements
  • Superior customer support response times

Success Factors:

1. Realistic Assessment

• Calculate conservative timelines
• Include buffer for unexpected challenges
• Consider team capacity realistically

2. Clear Communication

• Document scope explicitly
• Highlight exclusions clearly
• Maintain transparent progress updates

3. Value Addition

• Identify opportunities for unexpected benefits
• Plan strategic feature additions
• Focus on quality over quantity

By following the SUDO approach, organizations can build trust, exceed expectations, and maintain sustainable growth while avoiding the pitfalls of over-promising and under-delivering.

If you want to learn more, contact us here.