Customer Expectations and Top Performers
Being deeply connected with the customer experience is much more than identifying that you’ll take care of the customer. Often forgotten or easily misunderstood is that customer expectations are set by everyone they interact with, not just you or your organization.
Customer Expectations
When you are accustomed to being asked, “Did you save room for dessert?” You might not order if you aren’t asked.
When your packages arrive in two days or less, anything longer might be too long.
Experiences set customer expectations. It is not a slogan, tag line, or your mission statement.
The same is true internally in organizations. The boss or the department that you serve will base every interaction on the best experiences they have had. If they have had excellence before you, the bar might be set high.
Opportunities to Perform
Some might suggest that customers are trainable. The quality, speed, and value that they receive repeatedly will likely become their expectation. They learn what to expect, when, and how.
The organization that follows through, is appropriately fast, and provides the greatest value might also be the one that customers use to compare with everyone else.
Your performance in your job role might also be held to a similar comparison against other top performers.
What this really means is that every interaction, every touch point, it’s an opportunity. An opportunity that will be measured against what they expect. Any person or organization who sets the bar higher might become the one to beat.
Best Performance
Your customer service is not is good as what you say it is. It is only as good as what the customer expects.
In a world of fast paced, technology driven performance the best scenario might be having to meet or exceed your previous best performance.
Otherwise, you’ll have to live with the expectation set by someone else.
– DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and corporate trainer that specializes in helping businesses and individuals accelerate their leadership, their team, and their success. He is a four-time author and some of his work includes, Forgotten Respect, Navigating A Multigenerational Workforce and Pivot and Accelerate, The Next Move Is Yours! Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
