Meet Customer Expectations

Meet Customer Expectations

Does the thought of meeting customer demand intimidate you? When you have a good product or service, customers will want this, that and the other – all of which can interrupt other business processes. But customer expectations are what drives your business and keeps them coming back. Here, we look at customer expectations and how to handle them.

Solicit Expectations

Believe it or not, some businesses never bother to find out what their customers want. They assume they already know, which is a huge mistake. If you want to grow your business, you must find out what your customers expect of you and then give it to them. The only way to find out what customers expect from you is to ask them.

So set a target of approaching a certain number of customers each day and ask something like, “If I were to ask you what your top three expectations from us are, what would they be?” Put out a survey and ask customers to submit their comments. Make it an anonymous survey and you’ll get honest feedback.

What Customers Expect

What are customers likely expect from you? Here are some possible answers:

• Fast and efficient service
• Competitive prices
• Quality products
• Sufficient stock to meet demand
• Trained staff
• Being treated politely and with respect
• Prompt correspondence 
• A clear complaints procedure
• Clean and well maintained premises

Planning Accommodation

Armed with a list of expectations, your next step is to review them and see which ones you are currently meeting. You may think you’re meeting certain expectations, but this is an opportunity for a quick reality check. The list you’re left with are expectations you’re not delivering. Looking at each of them in turn, ask whether you can meet them. You might encounter an over-exuberant customer who just expects too much. If you can’t realistically meet an expectation, delete it.

What remains is a number of core customer expectations which you can meet with some proper planning. Sit down with a pen and paper, and plan  what needs to be done to achieve what your customers expect of you. Get your staff together and all commit to putting them all into action.

You’ve Listened!

Never forget to provide customers with some feedback. It shows you care. Put up a notice somewhere that thanks everyone for their participation. List the expectations you’re working on and outline what you’ve done. At least once a quarter, re-visit your original list and check that you’re still delivering on those expectations.

What You Can Expect

If you’ve followed through on the above steps, you, in turn, can expect:

• Customers likely to return more often.
• Customers who are more likely to remain loyal. 
• Customers who will spend more.
• Customers who will generate referrals.

Some pretty compelling reasons to put an expectations program in place no matter how demanding customers can be!

External Resources:

1. Going Beyond Your Good Service to Exceed the Customer’s Expectation
2. Customer Expectation Management: Success Without Exception
3. Identifying & Meeting Customer Expectations