Businesses Must Manage Customers’ Expectations by Being Totally Transparent
Today businesses are operating with a set of unconventional circumstances. There are a few obstacles nearly every business in all industries has in common: staff shortages and supply chain issues. As a result, both are significantly contributing to why overall customer satisfaction is at its lowest point in 15 years.
While both factors may be out of companies control for the short term, it does not have to ruin the customer’s experience and satisfaction. By being totally transparent with your customers and managing customer’s expectations up front, your customers will have a great deal more empathy and patience for your situation.
Managing Customer Expectations
Recently I had two identical dining experiences at two different restaurants, however one left me extremely frustrated while the other was a pleasant experience. I was furious with the first restaurant experience because we waited an unusual amount of time for our meals to come to our table. When I asked our server, she mentioned that they should be right out. I responded agitated, “Please just box them up and bring the check.”
The next time we went out to dinner, both the hostess and server mentioned that they were currently short-staffed in the kitchen, experiencing abnormally longer times to get the meals out to the tables, and they were extremely sorry for any inconvenience this may cause. I responded, “I totally understand, that is ok, we are perfectly fine enjoying some wine and in no hurry.” The food eventually came, and we enjoyed it and left happy. When I thought about it afterwards, both restaurants delivered our food in about the same amount of time. However, because the staff at the second restaurant was transparent and apologetic, it made us extremely understanding.
Out of Stock
Dave Murray, The DiJulius Group’s Senior Customer Experience Consultant, shared with me a story about how one of his clients, a product manufacturer, was having a dramatic increase in customer (retailer) complaints because of their supply chain shortages. After digging deeper into the situation, Dave found out that the customers were not made aware of their out-of-stock orders until they received their shipments and found missing products in their order and then saw “out of stock” on the packaging slip. This was a point of frustration for the manufacturer’s customer (retailer) because they had promised their consumers they would have their products for them.
Once Dave helped them create a non-negotiable system that would immediately alert the retailers about any products that were out-of-stock when they were ordered, versus when it was received, customer complaints went down dramatically.
How can your business better manage customer expectations by being totally transparent with your customer base?
Episode 057: “I’ll Be Back” with Shep Hyken
Chief Revolution Officer John DiJulius of the DiJulius Group talks with bestselling author Shep Hyken, on his newest book, I’ll Be Back – How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again. Shep talks about how to turn customers into repeat customers and turn repeat customers into loyal customers. Shep’s book released this week, September 21st. Listen to Podcast 57.
The Customer Service Revolution is in 2 Weeks!
If you can’t join us in-person, you MUST join us virtually. The lineup of subject matter experts is exactly what you and your leadership team need to be inspired to build a strategy to make 2022 your most successful year ever. Your virtual ticket will allow you to listen to all the recordings until November 1st, 2021. Register today!
Our Incredible Lineup of Speakers for the Revolution and their Topics:
- Scott Blanchard, President, The Ken Blanchard Companies – The Art and New Science of Leadership
- John DiJulius, Chief Revolution Officer – CX Strong
- Dan Gingiss, Author – How A Remarkable Customer Experience Can Be Your Best Sales and Marketing Strategy
- Johnny Jennings, Chief of Police Charlotte – Transforming an Organization into a Customer-Focused Culture
- Ron Lovett, Author – Outrageous Employee Empowerment
- Lisa Lutoff-Perlo, CEO Celebrity Cruise Lines – Revolutionizing an Industry Through Inspired Hospitality | Service Excellence with a Purpose
- Jack Mackey, Sales Expert – You can Market all you like, but people Believe what they Experience
- Scott McKain, Author – The Ultimate Customer Experience: Delivering What Customers Really Want
- Alden Mills, Former Navy Seal – Build Unstoppable Teams: 4 Essential Actions of High-Performance Leadership
- Dave Murray, Senior CX Consultant – A Key to Customer Service Consistency
- Jess Pischel, CX Consultant – Retain your Top Talent in an Employee Market
- Mike Rayburn, Musician – What if?
- DJ Santiago, Author – Believing in Your Dreams
