Positioning Your Customer - It’s What They Expect That Matters

By Action Coach Dave Beam

One of the first issues that I address with a new coaching client is customer communication. The fact is that every customer that buys from you comes to you with expectations concerning the service he is about to receive. Those expectations have been created based on many sources of information. His past experience with you is a major contributor to his expectation. If he has been referred, then his expectation is formed based on what he has been told. Your marketing and advertising also creates an expectation. If this customer has worked with your competitor, he will definitely have expectations based on that experience. The fact is, he enters your business with beliefs and an expected outcome.

If you exceed that expectation, you will be a great business. If you fail to meet his expectation, then you will have a disappointed customer. He may let you know about his dissatisfaction, but in most cases, you won’t even know why he didn’t come back to buy from you again. He will just disappear and take a negative story about your business with him. And this all could have been prevented.

If you do not position customers, they will evaluate your business based on their own beliefs. Great business owners learn how to take ownership of their customer’s expectations by positioning. Great businesses know how to rid the customer of his expectations, and replace them with a great agreement. Positioning is all about asking great questions, listening to your customer’s current expectations, and then creating an agreement that defines a great outcome. Once you have a good understanding of what they expect, you can work with them to create a new story based on your current capacity, products and capabilities. Most people love to work with other people to create successful outcomes. It is your job to create a system of communication and train your team to create those outcomes with every customer. When you create outcomes that consistently come to pass, you also create raving fan customers that refer you all day long. It’s the old adage – always under-promise and over-deliver. However, that only works if your customer clearly understands what you are promising!

Get started today by asking your customer what they expect and listen. Then create an exciting outcome based on what they want and what you can really deliver.