This month’s Business Blaze speaker Amy Woodall debunked the myth of exceeding customer expectations in her presentation on how not to meet customer expectations. Confusing? Let me explain.
Exceeding customer expectations is the mantra of the unimaginative – the phrase, even if you mean it, has no potency. According to Woodall, do the following and prove your company is different.
- Be a Disruptor. If your competition is doing it then you should not be doing it. Be different by changing customer expectations. Woodall considers Nordstrom a disruptor company. Nordstrom makes returns easier in the retail industry where it is traditionally difficult to return items.
- Understand customer expectations. Do you know what your customers expectations are? Many companies make the mistake of assuming they know what their customers want and, in doing so, fail to provide what their customers need. Woodall suggests that you ask customers about their expectations.
- Screw up customer interactions (on purpose). You will learn much from this. Unhappy customers are a wealth of information. Getting feedback from an unhappy customer is not a good experience but it is a useful one because it gives you the opportunity to improve the customer experience. If no one is complaining, be worried.
- Give them bad news. Let your customers know your weaknesses. Let customers know ahead of time what to expect – even the ugly stuff. Your customers will be much more forgiving and you’ll be able to manage expectations.
Want to hear more from Amy? Join her for “Why People Suck: How to Deal with Seemingly Difficult People” on May 14th, 8:00 – 10:30 AM at Sandler Training, Trustpointe.
