Managing customer expectations no easy job

Managing customer expectations no easy job

Taufik Hidayat
Contributor
Jakarta

When business is thriving and customers are lining up for your
products, you feel deeply contented and think that you are going
in the right direction. But when there is a downturn in the
market and your customers switch over to the competition, you are
suddenly awakened and startled by this harsh new reality.

Only then do you start to contemplate and think over what may
have gone wrong. Businesspeople often erroneously assume that the
price of their products is enough to keep customers loyal. They
also often take the service element for granted. Then they make
the worst of all blunders. They do not retain their customers by
implementing the appropriate retrieval plan, instead rushing to
launch new advertising and promotional campaigns, which will
mostly result in a batch of new and probably fickle customers.

Then the businesspeople are snared by a different vicious
circle. The new customers' loyalty is not maintained because they
have not revamped their basic philosophy, which did not work
yesterday. So customers come and go. Indeed the majority of them
leave, while those who stay cannot be expected to contribute to a
company's profitability.

For these type of hit-and-miss companies, retaining customers
is a grueling task. Theoretically, at least, they are aware that
customer satisfaction is of paramount importance. In reality,
however, it is a step beyond simple satisfaction. Various surveys
on customer satisfaction have revealed that even the most
satisfied customer can switch over to the competitor's brand.
Several surveys came up with the terrifying data that almost 80
percent of those who change brands said they were relatively
satisfied with their previous brand.

Today, many major companies -- owners of leading brands --
realize that they have to go beyond "simple or basic customer
satisfaction", because the tangible elements of the products or
services they provide can be copied by competitors. Hence, "me-
too" satisfaction exists alongside "me-too" products that flood
the currently globalized market.

Just like the English proverb, "Good is not good, when better
is expected", the toughest competition is in providing the
highest level of satisfaction, which means providing more than
the concrete benefits of a product.

Take star-rated hotels, for example. At all points of contact,
from the friendly bellboy to the entire staff, including the
manager, every one is ready to attend to your needs courteously
with the highest level of professionalism. Your satisfaction
during your stay is also enhanced with all sorts of perks, like
welcome drink and fruits, free vouchers for the use of the
hotel's karaoke room, spa, fitness center, swimming pool as well
as taking care of your transportation needs and ticket bookings
and so forth. Some also send you a birthday card. All of these
things and more have been specially prepared to ensure lasting
satisfaction.

The ensuing result is, naturally, that the satisfied customer
is transformed into one of the most effective means of
communication: positive word-of-mouth. This centuries old and
most basic tool of advertising has for years been recognized as
the most powerful "arsenal" by even today's modern companies.

Customer satisfaction is not simply meeting a customer's basic
requirements. That is level one. The second level is providing a
customer with services that entice him to become a loyal user or
a repeat purchaser. The third level -- used by marketers of many
major brands -- contains features that exceed a customer's
expectation. Here the element of "delightful surprises" is
intended to work in cementing customer loyalty and transforming
it into a durable relationship.

Customer expectations, more than satisfying basic needs or
creating a one-time satisfaction experience, should be something
more than "value for their money". While initially this seems to
affect a company's production and marketing costs, in the long
run, with a growing customer base that leads to a higher number
of sales and profits, the effort is more than worthwhile.

Another aspect of customer satisfaction to remember is that it
is very dynamic. Customers with higher educations and, most
importantly, vast experience expect more. What satisfied them
yesterday may not be that satisfying today.

To gauge a company's performance, as well as consumers'
attitudes in relation to customer satisfaction, regular surveys
are needed. These surveys also should reveal the company's
strengths and weaknesses, making the marketer's job easier in
creating and implementing the highest level of service
excellence.

Managing customer expectation is nothing more than keeping the
promises a company has made. Naturally, disappointments on the
part of customers are often the result of sky-high promises that
exist or are mentioned in a company's advertisements and other
promotional materials. Often, some companies forget or tend to
belittle the disastrous impact of negative word-of-mouth by the
"unpaid media" -- dissatisfied customers.

One of the solutions for companies that have been lagging
behind in the area of customer satisfaction is for their
marketers and the entire customer service team to implement, and
not only create, claims or promises for their communications
materials. Prior to agreeing to a seemingly exaggerated promise,
they should challenge themselves and ask the question: "Are we
really up to this statement? Can we deliver?" If the honest
answer is "no" or "not yet", then why not gear up the entire
company, its infrastructure, hardware and software and so forth,
for the upcoming mission to gain profits by providing customers
with satisfaction "level three".

Maybe a statement by American hockey player Paul Coffey, the
highest scoring defenseman in NHL history, is relevant. "Staying
on top takes continued and relentless effort. Being good needs
hard work, but becoming the best and staying the best requires
unceasingly arduous work."

Coffey's credo took him to the top. And a number of companies
have also risen to the top by putting customer satisfaction above
anything else. Though it is not easy, it remains the only way to
keep your company from being beaten black and blue.