When it comes to B2B customer management, managing customer expectations is the most important first step in developing new customer relationships and partnerships. However, a number of companies adopt approaches that are predicated on exceeding customer expectations. To this extent, the focus is on going above and beyond what customers would expect in terms of service. However, the question then becomes, how does a company exceed expectations without first discussing those expectations? Doesn't it just make sense to set the table first?
Service Expectations are Based on Prior Experiences
When thinking of customer expectations, think of your own as a consumer. Your service expectations are based on prior experiences and are matched to the type purchase you make and the type of business you buy from. When you go to a restaurant, you expect a certain level of service comparable to what you’ve experienced as a customer in other restaurants.
Anything falling short of these expectations are seen as not meeting your service requirements. However, in B2B customer management, the service abilities of one company are almost always different from its competition. So, the question remains, should your business concentrate on managing or exceeding expectations?
The above is taken from a more recent post entitled: The Impossible Customer: Everything Begins & Ends with Your B2B Approach
Manage Expectations First!
When it comes to B2B sales, your company must first start with managing your customer’s expectations. Discussing what your company can, and can not provide, is the basis for establishing your company’s service criteria. It’s about coming to an agreement with your customer about how they should measure your service capabilities. Discussing it first allows them to understand what your company’s core competencies are.
If your company doesn’t take the time to first discuss your customer’s service requirements, the customer will decide for themselves how best to measure your company’s performance. Not discussing your company’s service competencies will force your customer to measure your performance based on their own prior experiences with your competition. In this sense, if your company can’t match those service capabilities, you’ll be dead in the water. Once you let your customer down, they’ll forever dictate all future conditions of business.
Your company will now be forced to go above and beyond its abilities in order to satisfy this customer’s requirements. Essentially, you’re now providing the level of service your company would consider to be “exceeding customer expectations”, except in this case, your company is merely trying to reach your customer’s minimal level of acceptable service! Therefore, the most important step is to discuss your company’s service abilities with your customer.
Periodically Exceed Customer Expectations
In B2B sales, exceeding a customer’s service expectations is only possible once you’ve clearly defined your company’s standard service levels. Once your customer understands your company’s service standards, they’ll forever judge your performance based on those standards. When you exceed those standards, they’ll understand that your company has gone above and beyond its standard practices. However, the focus is not to continually exceed the customer’s expectations, but to periodically exceed those expectations. Now, I am not implying your company do just enough to keep the customer’s business. Nor am I implying your company shouldn’t try to improve its service levels. What I am implying is that your company must first concentrate on managing your customer’s expectations on service.
Once you’ve come to an agreement, your company can then put plans in motion to impress that customer by exceeding their requirements. In this sense, improve your company’s service capabilities on the back-end, and once that’s done, wow your customer with your company’s upgraded service levels.
In B2B sales, it’s often extremely difficult to exceed a customer’s expectations. This is especially true when your company hasn’t taken the time to discuss how they should measure your service criteria. Remember, if your company doesn’t take the time to properly address the customer’s preconceived notions on service, they’ll raise the bar so high your company will never be able to attain the level they expect.
While you may find there’s no synergy between what your company can offer, and what your customer expects, it’s far better to know that beforehand than to start down that road of forever chasing the level of service expectations your company simply can’t attain.
The above video explains how to go about charging business-to-business (B2B) customers on product returns. It is taken from: B2B Restocking Fees: Three Simple Steps to Covering Carrying Costs
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