Moving isn't the easiest thing in the world. When you move from one home to another, you're basically transferring your entire life (and your family's life) to a new destination. As I was putting some stuff into storage this week, it brought up some memories of our previous experience, when we moved into our current home a few years ago.
What we moved into our new home, we had too much stuff (more specifically, too much HEAVY stuff) to move by ourselves, so, like most people, we had to hire a moving company. Out of all the movers we contacted, only one of them called us back, but they did a terrific sales job. He told me how all of their movers were bonded, how reliable they were, how careful they were, etc. etc. Most importantly, he promised me that they'd be at our home "sometime between 11 AM and 1 PM" to help us move.
11 AM arrived, and as you'd expect, the movers weren't on time, but no big deal -- they said they be there between 11 and 1...
12 PM... No movers.
1 PM... No movers.
2 PM... Still no movers, but when I call the moving company, he tells me that the truck got stuck in traffic, and promises me that they'll be there "in half an hour."
3 PM... No movers, and my calls go to voicemail.
4 PM... No movers, and no return phone call. I finally get through to a customer service representative, and he tells me that the truck had a mechanical problem, but will be there in "half an hour."
5:15 PM... No movers, and no return phone calls, but I get a promise that they will be there "first thing" tomorrow morning, between 8 and 9 AM.
Next day...
8 AM... No movers.
9 AM... No movers.
10:14 AM... Finally, only 23 hours and 46 minutes later than expected, the movers arrive!
Now let me ask... Regardless of how great a job they do moving our items from Point A to Point B, do you think I'll ever use their moving company again? Do you think I'll ever recommend their moving company to any of my friends or colleagues? If you asked me for a moving company recommendation, do you think I'd be neutral, or do you think I'd tell you to stay far away from this company?
The reason that I'd never trust them again isn't because the truck was late. I understand that trucks can get stuck in unexpected traffic or that they can break down... That's not a big deal.
The problem is that they PROMISED me the truck would be there, and then when they learned they couldn't keep their promise, they didn't do anything about it. If they'd simply called me to let me know the truck was running late, I could have rescheduled other errands I had planned, and gone on about my day. The truth is, I didn't necessarily need them to be at the house at 11 AM or 1 PM. They could have come by at 3 PM or 5 PM or even 8 PM that evening, it wouldn't have mattered.
What I really needed was to be able to trust that they would show up, and to know that I could count on them to keep their promises.
what's any of that got to do with winning cases and persuading judges
Here's a good rule of thumb for making promises in opening statement: It's better to underpromise and overdeliver. Make it easier than they thought it would be, and the judges will thank you for it. Make it more difficult than you promised them it would be, and they'll hold it against you until they reach their verdict. As a lawyer, your word should be your bond, both inside and outside the courtroom. Break it at your own peril!
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