Entrepreneur -- Anyone who’s been to Sonic knows what unmet expectations feel like. If you’re a small business owner, you’ve probably come to hate the verb “expect” more than any other. Customers have a whole lot of dreams about what you can deliver, and it’s all too easy to come up short when someone has their eyes to the sky.
In the tech world, expectations are especially killer. Terms like “the cloud” don’t help. Clouds are huge fluffy things that float and take on a million, ever-changing forms, so you can’t blame people for thinking that anything is possible in this industry. But when you’re operating on a budget, you can’t fulfill every whim, so part of the responsibility—and surely thrill—of owning a business is learning to set and then meet your clients’ expectations.
1. Attract the Right Business
As the voice of your product, you have the power to draw the kind of customers you want, and that starts with your brand. If you spout yourself as a full-service operation that holds the customer’s hand from
2. Understand Your Clients
Once you gain someone’s business, the expectation game really begins. You’ll get clients who love you (referrals, anyone?) and clients who really… don’t. Treat them as case studies. Let them vent. Learn what went wrong. These people will help you grow more than your biggest fans, even if you end up losing their business. Biting the bullet and asking honestly, “Where did we screw up?” will indulge them and enlighten you. To initiate these conversations, you need a method of taking your clients’ temperature before they’re fuming. Periodic check-ins, whether digital or in-person, give your customers the sense that they’ve been heard, plus provide you with regular insight on how you’re faring.
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