>>by Ray Miller

The first rule of stellar service delivery is: Service is all about expectations..

You buy a product; you expect it to work the first time. You go to a discount supplier, you expect the quality to be less than the high end dealer, but you still expect what you buy to work, first time every time. When it comes to products, expectations are pretty clear. People expect a good quality product based on the price they are willing to pay for it. When it comes to service, expectations can get a little fuzzy.

When a customer begins a relationship with you he or she already has a specific set of expectations. These expectations are based on their perceptions of you, your company and your industry. They are formed through personal past experience, and the experience of others with whom the customer interacts.

Consider the last time you went into a self-service gas station. What did you expect? Other than the pump to be working, not much else right? After all - you are doing all the work. You have the opportunity to Satisfy, Dissatisfy or Impress-and two of these are bad. Delivering below expectations is obviously bad, but in the context of creating loyalty, so is simply satisfying customers, because they are getting nothing more or less than they expect.

If it exceeds your expectations, you’re impressed, and If the service you receive meets your expectations you are satisfied.

If it is below your expectations…well, you know. Creating customer value and loyalty comes from consistently exceeding expectations.

Prof. Benjamin Schneider and Prof. David E. Bowen published an article called “Understanding Customer Delight and Outrage”.

Delight and outrage?
That may sound a bit melodramatic but this concept is critically important to providing basic customer service. Consider this hypothetical bell curve measuring the quality of service delivery in general: Basically, most service falls into the median of the curve - the take it or leave it level of service. If you provide this level of service the customer will be satisfied.

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