Can You Deliver On Your Brand's Promises?

So yesterday I got an e-mail from a WooThemes customer, which read:

"Thank you for your answer! This confirms your superior support reputation."

My immediate reaction was to smile, because the customer was happy, and this is something that we proactively strive to achieve at Woo. But then, I realized how easily that could've worked out differently too if the customer didn't have a great experience with us.

If someone heard that you were a great company to work with (and decides to use your product / service / app because of that) and they then experience the exact opposite, it's not only a neutral outcome. Instead that customer has an exponentially bad experience, because their expectation was that much more / better than they got.

As a company, you weren't thus competing on neutral footing; you had to deliver (at least) on par with your reputation and thus the expectation of that customer. Anything less than those lofty goals and you've failed that customer in their expectation & perception of how things would be when they take the plunge to work with you.

So here's the thing then... What does your brand & reputation promise? Can you live up those promises? Can you actually execute?

Or are you just great at marketing and have essentially set up all your future customers to be disappointed?