It’s a cold Friday night, and you’re ordering pizza from a popular local restaurant. Everyone has told you how great their pizza is, and you decide to give them a try. You call to place your order for delivery and the person on the phone lets you know it’ll be delivered within 30-45 minutes.
An hour later, you have yet to see any pizza. Finally, a disgruntled delivery driver arrives. They half-heartedly tell you they are sorry because the restaurant is completely swamped with orders. Feeling borderline famished, you open the box to find that the pizza you ordered has five pieces of pepperoni on it. You eat it anyway out of pure frustration and hunger and vow to never order from this establishment ever again.
We, as consumers, have all dealt with a similar situation one time or another. This story came down to the failure of a business to set accurate and proper customer expectations and fulfill them. Setting proper expectations is key to the success of any business, and glass & glazing contractors aren’t exempt from this principle. Read on, and you will learn how to cultivate long-lasting, favorable, and sometimes even friendly relationships with your customers.
The Advantage Drafting team put together four secrets to successfully setting and maintaining customer expectations. We call this “The Four C’s”.
THE FIRST “C”: COMMUNICATION
You have heard it time and again: “The secret to a successful relationship is communication!” A relationship between a business and a customer is considerably like a marriage. Maintaining communication is essential in both.
Effective communication is key to maintaining healthy and ongoing relationships with customers.
Successful communication of your company’s values and mission statements promotes brand recognition and helps you stand out among competitors. Taking company values and putting them into action ensures what you do as a company will be in agreement with your mission statement. As a result, your customers know exactly what to expect when working with you.
Advantage Drafting’s mission is to be the most dependable drafting service in the world.
Being dependable, in our terms, means that we consistently provide high quality shop drawings in a timely manner. Our mission permeates into everything we do as a company and is further broken down into core values that uphold our mission. For example, one of our core values that are geared toward our mission is “extreme ownership”, which empowers every team member to hold themselves accountable for their role and performance in team function. We depend on each other to take ownership and have integrity in our work. As a result, team members put forth effort to produce the high quality shop drawings our customers depend on.
THE SECOND “C”: CLARITY
We strive to be as clear as possible to avoid friction when working with clients. When providing a product or service to your customer, it is vital to provide as much information as you can regarding what your customer can expect to be receiving from your company, whether it is a service, a product, or a combination of the two.
Consumer markets are oversaturated. Being as clear and transparent as possible can set you apart from the competition.
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rs can see through companies that give them the runaround or say what they think they need to hear versus the truth. There is a very high probability that companies that do not practice providing clarity also struggle with maintaining long-term customer relationships. Clarity allows companies to take ownership over what they do. Providing open and honest dialogue through every step of the service or buying process helps customers understand what they can expect to receive and, as a result, peace of mind.
Let’s go back to the pepperoni pizza from earlier. If clarity had been provided, it would have prevented the failure in setting customer expectations. The person receiving the order could have been upfront and forthright in explaining that they were very busy while providing a more realistic wait time. As a result, you would have been content or, at the very least, prepared for waiting the additional time it ended up taking since that was what you expected.
Advantage Drafting follows through on clarity by providing full disclosure on every step of the process with our clients.
For example, upon quoting, customers receive a full highlighted scope of work along with the terms of the service and lead time for the production of the drawings. We strive to provide the most accurate lead times according to the scope of work, complexity of the drawings, and current workload of our staff.
Then, once shop drawings are delivered, we clearly advise on the next steps and provide a chart that shows the revision or billing schedule along with how many revisions they have remaining for each project without incurring any additional charges. This way, our customers understand what to expect throughout the entire process.
THE THIRD “C”: CONSISTENCY
This brings us the third “C” for “Consistency” or being consistent. Being consistent breeds trust with your customer. When a company creates expectations and builds an identity behind them, every subsequent action should be consistent with that identity. As you build trust with your customers, it’s up to you and your team to maintain that trust. A break from the expectations you establish is a break in the trust you’ve worked so hard to build with your customer.
Every step in the customer experience should be consistent with the values and goals that the company uses as its foundation.
Take our pizza story, for example. Based on the restaurant’s expectations provided, you were led to believe that their pizza and service were great. However, when you opened the box to find your inadequately dressed pizza, it completely changed your perception of them. That one inconsistency that the restaurant had, regardless of others’ opinions or expectations of their previous experiences, caused you to lower your expectations of the quality of their food and services.
Advantage Drafting strives to provide consistency.
We measure how consistent our service is by using reports that analyze key metrics. An example of maintaining consistency is delivering our drawings within the expected delivery window. Advantage Drafting aims for over 95% accuracy in delivering shop drawing projects awarded by the estimated window of time at project kickoff. Each month we review our metrics to see if we achieved or exceeded our goal of 95% or more (and we do). As a result, our customers have an accurate expectation of on-time delivery and clear communication through the process.
THE FOURTH “C”: CONSIDERATION
Now, number four of our four “C’s” to successfully set customer expectations – “consideration.” While setting company standards is essential, it’s also imperative that a company considers the customer’s needs. These two things should coexist.
Being mindful of what your customers want should influence what you offer. Customers appreciate being heard and are eager to support companies that are willing to adjust.
This does not mean a pizza restaurant should start serving brunch because a customer requested such. But, if you find that the customer’s expectations and experiences aren’t in line, it may be time to seek a new approach.
For example, at Advantage Drafting, we have recently changed our revision policy to be more favorable to our customers in response to customer feedback and suggestions. In turn, this adjustment has improved our customer expectations and relationships.
Customer expectations can evolve based on circumstances. We are all still dealing with COVID-19’s impact. Market conditions and the economy directly impact how we should be setting our expectations for customers. If we fail to consider outside influences as well, then we fail our customers.
CONCLUSION
By now, we hope you understand the power of utilizing the 4 C’s to build successful relationships with your customers.
Each of these topics holds its weight, but you create a solid foundation for successfully building customer expectations when combined.
Now, go grab a slice of pepperoni pizza and develop your own set of customer expectations using “The Four C’s”!
Advantage Drafting would love to hear your success stories or even some learning experiences. Comment below and share!
We would also like the opportunity to show you how strongly we feel about providing an exceptional experience for our customers. Click here to request a quote for your commercial glazing or metal panel shop drawings today!
