The other day I had a conversation with a close friend who was talking to me about the frustration she was experiencing with people’s expectations of the level of service she was providing to them and how they were placing unrealistic demands upon her. The problem was it was holding her back from being able to perform her own duties and adding considerable stress to her own life. This is not an uncommon situation for many of us, particularly those who are conscientious about there job, are of a giving nature or who hold an attitude of giving. We hear a lot of talk about customer service and customer relationship management and how it is generally poorly delivered. Whilst I would agree with this in many circumstances, what I want to share with you here is how some people actually over deliver, just as my poor friend has been doing with all of the best intentions.
The issue is that we fail to manage our customer expectations. Before going any further I want to touch on a point of definition. When I talk customer I am refer to anyone to whom you provide a service. I am not limiting my definition to simply those who by product or service from you. There is a far wider audience of stakeholders with whom you have some sort of relationship, to whom you provide a service of some form. You provide a purchasing service to your suppliers, you have a relationship with alliance partners, and you even have a relationship with your competitors. At all times you should endeavour to conduct yourself ethically and in so doing manage the expectations of that particular relationship. So how can we go about this? Quite simply it can be described as setting in place services that are standard and those that are extra – we can call this the Standard & Extras model.
It works on the premise that if we have a standard level of service that we are expected to meet we can manage the expectations of those to whom we provide that service. In delivering to this level the other party will be satisfied because we have done exactly as we are expected to – nothing extraordinary, nothing to be disappointed about. The reaction will be flat. If we fall below that standard then we are viewed as performing ineffectively, below what is expected of us and we are obliged to deliver. Our relationship with the other party will be viewed negatively – not good. They will feel that we have failed to perform.
If however, you go the extra yard, you provide a level of service beyond what is expected, they will be impressed, they will be feeling good, energised about your performance. Now what happens if you continue to do this on a regular basis? Well of course you will be seen as providing this level of service as a standard ! You have now just redefined your standard of service by raising the bar. Very soon that feeling of positive energy will dissipate to be relaced by one of flat enthusiasm for the extra work you are doing. This is exactly where my friend is. Now the problem for her is that she has to maintain this higher level of service in order to keep the customers and any other stakeholder enthusiastic about her work and in order to get them feeling positive she has to raise the bar even higher. End result – Customer happy; friend burnt out and stressed to the max.
Giving extra service is not the problem and anyone in service knows you need to be able to do this. The issue lies with managing the expectations. When you do provide a higher level of service – let them know. Tell them that you are doing this as an extra. Don’t provide them with the opportunity to believe that this is what they can expect all the time – unless this is what you intend to create. This is just one of the many aspects with which I work on with my clients as a business coach. If you would like to find out more about how we work with clients in achieving true success in their business, please visit our web site at www.superbcoaching.com.au or contact us direct to arrange a discussion around your needs with no obligation on your part. We actually love talking with people who wish to be successful.
