Once upon a time, a company was manufacturing
custom-made bags of jute, for industrial consumption. They
always honored their delivery deadlines. The CEO wanted to
highlight this feature of his company. One obvious way was
to obtain testimonials of satisfied customers. But the CEO
wanted a more subtle and effective way.

He held several brain-storming sessions with his staff,
who came up with numerous methods, of stating the fact
that they never failed on their delivery commitments;
however, the CEO was not satisfied. So, he invited a
consultant.

After studying the requirements of the CEO, the
consultant suggested to print the following on all invoices:

Date of order taken:
Expected date of delivery:
Actual date of delivery:

The CEO agreed. By this simple change, the company
subtly informed its customers that honoring delivery
commitments were taken seriously. As it was printed on
invoices, it became a constant and recurring feature. This
raised the image of the company, which in turn increased
sales.

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Excerpt from the book “Once Upon A Time: 100 Management Stories” by Rajen Jani