Recently a colleague called me at precisely 11 a.m. for a scheduled conversation. I was impressed. More often than not, someone says they’ll call at 11 and the phone rings 5 or 10 minutes later. I was impressed by this person’s promptness and professionalism.

“It makes me crazy,” I shared, “when I ask someone to call me back in literally 2 minutes knowing that I can take the call on a different line or phone then, and they call back 10 or 15 minutes later and I’m no longer available.”

In a competitive environment for selling and serving customers, clients and shareholders, precision also matters. When we invest time and money, we don’t want vague promises like “I’ll get back to you” (when?), “we are focused on improving earnings” (what are you doing?) or “this will grow your business” (how much?). The more precise the promise and the performance, the more powerful the value proposition.

Eliminate ambiguity. Clarify the things that matter to your clients: time, actions and results. And find out what precision can do to increase your effectiveness.