The customer expectations about a service are influenced by multiple factors. However, few key components that have a significant impact on customer expectations as discussed below:
Past Customer Experience: One of the most considerable factors influencing customer expectations is prior experience with an organization. If the customers are highly satisfied, higher levels of expectations are set that are required to be maintained. However, if prior experience has been inadequate, customers tend to lack confidence in the organization, and expectations get declined.
Customer Interactions: Every piece of outgoing interaction from an organization has an impact on customer expectations. Web pages, blog postings, tweets, print advertising, emails, radio, and television adverts mold the expectations of the customers from a service. Thus, it is essential to have a clear, honest, consistent, and unambiguous interaction with the customers.
Word of Mouth and Customer Reviews: The internet is an excellent research tool, hence the possibilities of customers having conducted out basic research before making the purchase remain high. The customers have potentially read or acquainted with the reviews about business offerings online or any social platform. The conclusions, customers conclude from these sources influence their expectations.
Past Experience with Other Companies: Individual experiences with other companies have a vast influence on customer expectations. Irrespective of whether or not other companies are in the same niche, customers expect all organizations or corporations to provide the same high standards of efficient customer service.
Strategies for Managing Service Expectations
For effective management of services, organizations are required to execute the following mechanisms:
Ensuring the information provided on the website is complete, correct, consistent, and up-to-date.
The language used on the company website and in all interactions has to be appropriate for the customers without any technical jargon. The customers have to be engaged in the right language and voice tone.
The communication on social networking channels has to be timely and responsive. The stated information has to be positive, honest, and accurate.
Promotion and advertising should not be dishonest or misleading.
Any printed promotional documents such as pamphlets, flyers, and brochures are required to be honest, accurate, and precise.
Any form of visual messaging and vodcast from an organization has to be aligned with other communication forms.
Customer service agents and staff involved in direct customer interactions must be appropriately skilled and trained. The provided information must be in alignment with the other communication platforms, and their style or manner must be appropriate.
The customers should be acquainted with the waiting time. In today’s era, people expect instant responses, but it is not always realistic, particularly when dealing with a global customer base. Informing the customers about the waiting time enables in setting effective expectations and avoiding discontentment.
Concluding Note
In today’s business culture, customer gratification has become a priority. Nowadays, customers are more knowledgeable and have heightened expectations than ever before. When customer expectations remain unmet, it leads to disappointment and conflict between the organizational employees and customers. Setting customer expectations at an early stage is an efficient way to build trust and retain customers in the long term. For a business to enjoy the benefits of loyal customers, expectations are required to be met a majority of times. It is important that these customer expectations sync with the service offerings, and the businesses can consistently deliver the same.
