How To Manage Those Expectations

There are three key components of building trust: credibility, relationships and reliability. And to build great trust through reliability it is all about expectation setting. I love to talk about expectation setting, I could literally discuss the benefits for hours, I see it as hugely undervalued and something that’s rarely used correctly across many industries.  Key Takeaways Exceeding expectations builds trust with clients It takes the right mindset to manage expectations Under promise and over deliver

Under Promise : Over Deliver Setting realistic expectations with customers and clients, and then meeting or exceeding them, can really help build trust for the long term.  It is all about under promise and over deliver. However most companies do the opposite, thinking that over promising will keep the customer happy, which it does temporarily but not long time.

Setting Expectations When setting expectations, I tell my team to really think about the following:

- What other work have you already committed to?

- How important is this new task? 

- How long will it take you to complete? 

- When do you think you will be able to complete it? 

- Add on some unexpected emergency time. 

Then, the most important thing, which is the bit most people fail at, to meet or exceed the expectation every time.

Being a customer waiting for a response, can be one of the most frustrating experiences, particularly when it is about a mortgage, and one of the biggest expenses most of us will ever have.

If something unexpected comes up and you know you need to push your response time back, make sure you still update the customer within the original time scale, and then ensure you prioritise them when you next can. 

If clients do not hear from us, they will assume they are forgotten, unimportant and not cared about. None of these are traits I would ever want my clients to feel about me or my team. 

Simple Is Best

The above seems simple and it’s easy to do, but so many businesses seem to fail at it time and time again. Not just in this industry, across industries too. 

In my opinion expectation setting effectively is one of the most important skills to learn in order to be successful.