A customer's satisfaction is strongly linked to their expectations of your service. However, this perspective is sometimes neglected by service managers when designing offers. How can this be better taken into account?
We are familiar with this discussion from quality management: What is actually good service quality and when should we speak of poor service? To clarify this question - as with so many things in service - the customer perspective is crucial!
Of course, in day-to-day business, you always evaluate your own performance from an ego perspective. In practice, people are often content to define certain metrics and key figures and then assess whether they can be satisfied with themselves. You may also look left and right at your competitors to get your bearings. However, your customers may evaluate you according to their own standards. It is therefore just as important to regularly reflect on your service provision from the customer's perspective.
Correctly classify the customer's requirements
It is not always relevant for the customer that you are the absolute frontrunner in this or that area. Your delivery quality must be very close to the expected delivery quality for you to get a "thumbs up".
This can sometimes feel very unfair. This is because the customer does not know your internal perspective and may have unrealistic expectations. In extreme cases, you can exceed your benchmarks and key figures and still be punished with disgruntled business partners.
Perhaps you are setting the bar too high and forcing the customer to pay for a service level that is far too high, even though they were actually looking for a standard offer. Or you invest a lot in your service level at a price that is not optimal for you. Neither is desirable! In one scenario the customer is not happy, in the other they are not.
How do I correctly assess the desired service level of a customer?
Expectations naturally vary greatly from customer to customer and are influenced by individual needs. In addition, the idea of what would be feasible at a certain price plays an equally important role for your business partners. His desired service level is made up of these two points.
If you hit this desired service level, you would, in the logic of the Net promoter score achieve 9 or 10 out of 10 points. You are then in the range of Service Excellence and surprises the customer with a level of service that they would not have expected. If we actually manage to generate additional added value, the customer will fall around our necks. If you then manage to provide these surprise services at a reasonable price, we will even be in the Champions League.
Below this is the tolerance zone. At the lower edge is the level that the customer would describe as just adequate. This is the level that they actually expect from you based on the implicit and explicit promises. A neutral rating of 7 to 8 in relation to the Net Promoter Score means that the customer is not jumping for joy, but is still basically satisfied with your work. Expectations and the results you deliver are on a par here. On the other hand, we do not want to accept a score between 1 and 6. Because from the customer's perspective, we are in the area of poor service quality. The customer is dissatisfied.
How can I influence my result in relation to the Net Promoter Score?
The first point has already been mentioned: Know your customers' needs as well as possible and tailor the level of service you offer accordingly! To do this, you need to communicate regularly with your business partners and maintain a close relationship with them.
Also bear in mind that your own communication also has a major influence on expectations. If you promise the moon, you will also be measured against your moon goals and may fall flat on your face in retrospect. Honest and comprehensive communication about what you can achieve is an advantage. But of course, customer expectations are also influenced by what your competitors deliver and what experience they have already had with your department.
If you align your service level with the needs of your customers and their expectations and not with what you think their needs and expectations are, you can generate more satisfied customers with fewer and more targeted resources. Your margins and sales will thank you for these efforts. However, it is not always intuitive for service professionals to look at their own small service world from the customer's perspective. This requires a certain amount of discipline on a day-to-day basis. But those who make this effort will always achieve better results!
And as a final recommendation, we would like to point out that optimization is not an end in itself. Make sure that your service level meets customer expectations and does not significantly exceed them. If you do, there will be no willingness to buy and no positive effect on customer satisfaction. The trick is to meet or slightly exceed expectations. Then you are working in the optimal cost range and have satisfied customers.
