Under Promise, Over Deliver
Under Promise, over Deliver is a mantra heard quoted around the world when discussing Customer Service.
However, most people don’t actually know how to take this a step further and deliver on the promises.
The key to this mantra is setting up your customers with clear expectations of what to expect from your service because if you do not set the expectations than you give the power to the customer to create their own expectations and this can be very dangerous for 2 main reasons:
The first being the reason of the customer creating a much higher level of expectation than they will be receiving. This can give the customer a sour taste in their mouth when they receive the product if it doesn’t match their self created expectations.
The 2nd reason is that a customer can become worried about their purchase or product and start second guessing themselves. It can cause stress and this instantly makes them relate your company with that stressed feeling they received when they didn’t know what to expect. Even if they are happy with the end result, without the set expectations they may still feel this same level of anxiety the next time they go to purchase from you or when they next have trouble using your product.
How to set expectations
So how can you set the expectations so that you are not letting the customers pull their hair out with anxiety or let them come to their own conclusions?
Start by being honest with your product and always add some leeway to your estimates. For example, if you are able to ship your product to a customer on average within 5-10 days, then mention a shipping time of 10-14 days. By doing this, it sets the expectation for delivery time and actually allows you to ‘wow’ the customer because on average a customer will receive their order before the expected time. This also gives you a great buffer in-case things do go wrong…. and things do.. go.. wrong!
Try to steer clear of fine print. Fine print is a necessary evil of business, but when you can avoid it, avoid it. Try to have as much detailed information about the process your customers will go through in order to complete their transaction with you. Do this in easy to understand words and don’t try to confuse customers with big words. Direct and to the point will always win customers over in the end.
A great tip I learned from Mike McDerment (of Freshbooks.com) is to never let a customer know that something new is going to be launching and to not tell customers about upcoming features or products. This advice alone has saved me hundreds of times from upsetting customers. If you have a new feature or product launching and you tell a customer the date or type of product that is going to be launched, it sets an expectation from the customer. But what happens when your team decides to push that launch date back or pull the product/feature indefinitely? You have created an expectation that cannot be kept causing damage to your customer’s experience.
Sometimes things don’t always go as planned and you aren’t able to deliver on the expectations you already set. This is ok, and although it will upset the customer a little, reach out and set new expectations. It may be a small sting for the customer at first, but pales in comparison had your customer needed to reach out to you to figure out why their expectations were not met.
Setting a customers expectations is one of the most important things to do when setting up your Customer Experience. It keeps your company in control of the experience and sets guide lines that both you and your customer have a clear understanding of what you can and can’t do for them and will save you hours of time when discussing why a customer cannot receive unreasonable requests.
Let me know if you know any great companies that set clear expectations and often surpass those expectations. I would love to hear from you in the comments.