Managing Your Customer's Expectations

What happens when you decide to take a closer look at the expectations your customers and clients have with regards to your company? Managing customer expectations is one way to improve your customer service, and, therefore, your bottom line. Examine these six ways to master what your customers want out of your business.

1. Understanding

Before you manage customer expectations, you have to understand what people expect by finding out how they see your company. Delve deeper into your customers' minds by employing feedback surveys, reading reviews of your business, talking with customers, looking at your competition and examining the needs of your customers. Once you find out what customers come to expect from your firm, it's time to exceed those expectations.

2. Consistency

You have to recreate the same experience over and over again to ensure customer expectations remain the same for everyone. Returning, loyal customers, the ones who keep repeat business and revenue flowing to your company, want the same high level of support and service every time they interact with your company.

3. Training

Training your front-line customer service staff is the best way to create a consistent experience. This training starts from the first day an employee works for your firm. This way, you catch and eliminate any bad habits first before they make any problems. Everyone, from the CEO down to the newest entry-level worker, should know what customer experience to deliver to fulfill customer expectations.

4. Studying

Study the competition's customer service principles, and see what you can learn. Study others' return policies, terms of service and pricing. Feedback surveys are also a great way to find out what a competitor does. Customers from a rival firm may expect a 60-day return policy versus your 30-day policy. If a longer return period is an industry standard, perhaps you should adapt to that longer policy instead.

5. Communication

Consistent communication is a vital part of managing customer expectations. Messages on social media, email, over the phone and on an FAQ page should all remain the same with regards to solving problems, showing your offerings and explaining your services. Once you create consistent communication, it becomes second nature to your employees.

6. Delivery

Delivering extraordinary customer service to every person your employees encounter is essential. All of the previous five steps in this method lead to the final and most important step. If you don't wow your customers at every turn, they may go to another company that does deliver exceptional customer service.

Managing customer expectations is one way to improve your customer service, retain more loyal customers and earn more money. After that, your customer base grows from word-of-mouth as your firm develops into an industry leader.

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