A few years ago, I received an email from one of my sales coaching clients letting me know that they were terminating my contract. I asked for a brief explanation as to why. They indicated that three main factors led to their decision. First, I wasn’t holding their team accountable. Second, I seemed to review the same material each week and third, I hadn’t taught them anything about social media.
I was shocked to hear the rationale behind their decision. I would never agree to hold a sales team accountable (it’s their manager’s job), I review the fundamentals each week until the team begins to put them into practice and I can barely login to my Twitter account.
So, what happened?
The reason this client became dissatisfied with my services had nothing to do with performance. They terminated my contract because I wasn’t meeting their expectations. It doesn’t matter that I never agreed to these expectations, what matters is that at some point I stopped paying attention to what they really wanted and instead focused on what I thought was important. This type of miscommunication leads to most arguments, both personal and professional.
In theory, exceeding expectations is a simple concept – find out what someone expects and make sure you always deliver a little bit more. However, it can be very difficult to consistently execute this straightforward idea because we get so focused on ourselves.
If you are interested in growing your business, you had better become an expert in not only meeting, but also exceeding the expectations of your prospects, customers, vendors and employees. Here’s a three-step process to get you started.
First, you need to set expectations. By “set” I mean that you should help them understand exactly what you feel is a reasonable expectation from your company. This is different than simply “understanding” expectations and the distinction is important. Often, your prospects, clients and employees will set unreasonable and unattainable expectations if you let them.
Next, build a set of uncomplicated systems for exceeding these expectations. For example, if you own an accounting firm and have set the expectation that taxes will be completed by April 15, you had better have a system in place to collect your client’s information by mid-March. In addition, you’ll want these systems to be as automated as possible.
Finally, measure your results. In other words, from time to time you need to make certain that you are exceeding the expectations you set. It’s also a good idea to review these results with your prospect, client and/or employee on a regular basis. You’ll be amazed at how quickly people forget conversations and allow expectations to drift.
There you go – three simple steps for helping you exceed expectations.
As with most things in life, the solution is simple. You just need to execute.
To learn more about CJ, visit www.goreachmore.com or call 576-8492.