Over Deliver = Exceed Client Expectations
Are you planning effectively to exceed your clients’ expectations? Are you maximizing your project management software and internal processes to ensure that you have sufficient time to deliver every stage of your project on time? It is important to be prudent when scheduling, so build in a contingency percentage into every task to ensure you have a runway for the unexpected. Good planning can help you raise the bar on customer satisfaction. At the same time, if you are exceeding client expectations, this trickles down as feedback to the team and in turn increases morale, as staff are proud to be associated with excellence.
You will find with good planning that, more often than not, the contingency you have created may not need to be utilized and you will be able to deliver early. Only make promises that are attainable. When you exceed expectations, you deliver with the ‘wow’ factor. Clients value great service, so exceeding their expectations in turn yields repeat business and increased ROI.
Competence is determined by your ability to perform successfully and efficiently. The objective is that you never deliver short nor late – a high-performance tactic that you want to instill in your daily practice. Always aim to deliver early, better than promised, on (or better still) under budget. In this competitive market economy, bringing in new clients is an obvious objective, but ‘wowing’ and retaining them cannot be underestimated.
Easy ways to exceed customer expectations – yes, all common sense:
- Be prompt, engaged and present in meetings
- Put in the time to develop your client relationships
- Ask questions, and then, more questions, so you fully understand what is expected
- Deliver exceptional service and quality
- Clearly communicate what you can and cannot provide to avoid misunderstandings around expectations
- Put yourself in your clients’ shoes – what would you need to be ‘wowed’?
- Acknowledge and thank your clients for the opportunity to have their business
To help you maximize client satisfaction and your personal and professional success in the year ahead, I’m offering a one-day workshop on Tuesday, December 11, 2018 in Vancouver – Organize and Kickstart Your Planning for 2019 – limited space is available.
At the workshop you will:
- Design a personal plan for the upcoming year to increase your focus, productivity and results.
- Learn high-performance tactics and hacks to enable you to work smarter, not harder or more hours.
- Design your year ahead to be the best year ever!
