Managing Expectations for Overflowing Business Success
I am making a prediction that the economy is absolutely pulling out of any recession and moving into a state of overflowing wealth and prosperity. How do I know that? Am I reading into the stock reports? No. Am I sitting on shareholder reporting calls? No. Am I an economic analyst in my spare time? No, no and no. My crystal ball in using the powers of observation. As the Director of Marketing for Carbonview Research I have the pleasure to work with suppliers, vendors and consultants of many types. I also have the ability to observe the way staff work with their partners and solutions groups. What i find absolutely amazing is that it is an absolute rarity that expectations are ever managed! If you ask a vendor to help with a new project they might get back and they might not. They might tell you they’ll have a proposal the next morning when your really lucky to see it by the next week! When engaging with a supplier they may promise a solutions update for the next morning and of course when you look for your update it’s not there. Oh! Well there must at least be a simple one line email explaining why and when they plan to implement right? Nope. In fact, its likely your outreach email to them gets one of those OUT OF OFFICE replies. Well, that makes it ok then. They had off today. No need to manage my expectations.
Is this article sounding a bit skewed to the negative? Ok, well then let me give you three tips to how and why you will make more money managing expectations.
Beat Expectations and Reap Rewards
Recently, I went to a larger sporting goods store to buy some sneakers. I’ve got some issues with flat feet and finding anyone more knowledgeable than I am about the issue (been dealing with this for 38 years) is rare. In fact I would say that my expectation was not really to expect anything. What i found was a person (young guy – probably high school) who was super passionate about fitting people properly. This kid knew his shit! I got a great pair of sneakers, sent a Facebook post about it and told just about everyone in my Triathlon club.
Keep the Ball in your Court and do More Repeat Business
Are you a consultant? Have you worked with consultants? I was a consultant for many years and the biggest thing I did that made my clients happy was keeping the ball in my court as much as humanly possible. You’ve had that vendor right? They like to put the ball back in your court all the time asking you to fill out a new form, get you a logo or whatever the heck it might be. That way they can always blame any hold-up’s on you? Work with me and after every communication I’ll ask you what you need from me. I shouldn’t have to put the ball back in the court for you. Pick the damn thing up and slam it home! I’ll refer the heck out of you for it!
Simply Manage Expectations Truthfully
Want to keep clients happy? Manage their expectations, don’t lie and under-communicate. When you tell me you’ll send me an email tomorrow, do it. If you’re not by a computer then call me, text me, tweet me. I don’t care. See I am the type of person that will actually go to work for you if you do a good job. I’ll see to it that you get every referral that passes my desk. I’ll invite you on a podcast to help spread the word. Whatever! Use common sense here. Drop the ball once – shame on you. Drop the ball twice – Shame on me. Drop the ball three times and you’ll be looking for a new gig.
What else is more important than managing expectations?????
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