In today’s blog post, I will discuss expectations. Each and every one of us has it within us. In the case of an exam, for example, we expect a certain grade, and if we fail to meet the expectations, we are saddened or even horrified. However, when we exceed our expectations, we are filled with joy.
In the same way, this applies to customers as well. Your customers have their own expectations when it comes to buying your product. The only way to make sure your customers are satisfied is to exceed their expectations. However, if you fail to meet their expectations, they may not return and they may feel unsatisfied.
In order to manage these expectations, it is important to be aware of them, yet challenging, but certainly attainable. The customer will be disappointed if their expectation outweighs the value of your product at the time of delivery. In the event that you set them too low, however, they will not even consider buying from you.
What should be the expectation here, and where should it be placed? As the product is sold to the customer, it must strike a balance where the customer not only buys your product, but also gets pleasantly surprised by the quality of it. The expectation should be that the product should be of high quality and should meet or exceed the customer’s expectations. The customer should be provided with an experience that will make them want to buy from the company again in the future.
When Apple released their first generation iPhone, it exceeded their customers’ expectations leading to a massive success in sales. But the same cannot be said for the second generation iPhone. The Secong Gen iPhone was far stronger, faster than the first but it didn’t go above the customer’s expectations, which damaged the company’s reputation.