Expectations
February 2nd, 2017 // 4:35 am @ Scott Manning
Oh, there are so many directions I could take this article. But today, I’m talking about one thing… a critical factor to your success in EFFECTIVE MARKETING and SELLING.
That is the expectations of your customers, patients and clients.
That’s right, the people you sell to and provide service to do have expectations of everything you do, everything you say, everything they experience from your communication, service, interaction and marketing.
You have certainly heard the expression “under-promise and over-deliver” and while that sounds wonderful, it is a tough strategy in a world full of over-promising-competition. Of course, we all like to promise more, more, more and woo our customers; but this isn’t always practical either. After you’ve got their money, now you have to maintain your relationship with them.
We’ve all said “false advertising” before as a joke usually where you expected something entirely different than what you received. But, the reality is, your ability to make things count with your customers and convince them to support you beyond the initial sale (with referrals and continued ascension up the ladder of value), is tied to how you deliver whatever you say, promise and, most importantly, what the customer expects.
I’d like to break this down into a couple things for you to implement into your business and customer experience strategy.
First, the key to managing expectations is to be clear about what your customer, patients, clients will go through. With as much detail as possible, you want to paint the picture of their experience. This is actually extremely useful in selling because people don’t buy what they don’t believe or understand, so when you explain what will happen to them it combats both of these.
Next, expectations can be managed best by quick and immediate interaction. I call this a New Customer (or Patient or Client) Experience. This is a carefully designed process that you take them through, that includes everything from a Thank You note after purchase to a follow-up phone call to upsell to a survey to a request for referrals to surprise gift, and whatever else should happen within 7 days and over 90 days.
The reality is, people remember what happened most recently and look forward to what is happening next. Use that to your advantage by reminding them of what they’ve already experience and build up what they are about to experience.
Finally, a key piece in managing expectations is to communicate. Yes, I know it sounds like relationship advice and I guess that is exactly what it is, relationship advice for your customers, patients and clients.
If you follow these guidelines you will increase customer satisfaction which leads to more referrals, more spending, more raving fans and more forgiving attitudes when you do drop the ball (which you will, we all do, that’s why this is so important). It is preventative measures and proactive communication that wins… not waiting until a problem has risen.
Ask me how I know.
The answer: from experience, of course. I teach it and still learn the hard way.
Here is your plan of action:
– Explain what they will go through.
– Give them a great experience (and quickly).
– And communicate…always
…you can only over communicate when you are trying to make up with your spouse, otherwise there is no such thing as over communication. As I always say, the person who shows up the most makes the most money.
Expectations; everybody has them you have no choice but to manage them.
Category : Blog
