Business expectations are like dating…
We expect certain things from businesses we interact with. We expect products that we purchase to work, and if not, that they can be returned. We expect business hours to be 9am-5pm. We expect customer service to actually be service. We expect a company to have an easy to find phone number, email and website. We expect our cell phone to make and receive calls, emails, text, etc without fail. We expect businesses to know their products and how they work. We expect a business to have product in stock.
And we expect to judge businesses by whether or not they meet these expectations. Businesses or business interactions that fail to meet the expectations sometimes suffer the consequences of sales lowering, angry customers and bad publicity. But sadly, it has also led to people lowering their expectations and accepting bad business practices. Worse, they continue to use the bad businesses rather than finding someone who exceeds expectations. Many people no longer expect businesses to be open 9-5, or that someone will be available. We have come to expect hard to find phone numbers, and even worse, we have accepted poor customer service as normal. This is unacceptable. Just because it has become ‘normal’ for customer service to fall short, or products not working as they should, does not mean we should be okay with it.
The only way I can compare it is by looking at relationships. We all have expectations of the people we interact with. For me, when I was dating, I expected my boyfriends to
- Be on time
- Be honest
- Be dedicated
- Be courteous
- Be realistic
And if I encounter someone who fell short of my expectations, they didn’t stay in my life for long. I don’t change expectations or lower them, I get rid of the person who didn’t meet them. Of course, I am not heartless, so I would usually talk with them about the issue (something that is also rarely done in issues with businesses!) and try to get it resolved. If it still couldn’t get resolved, we parted ways, and tried to find someone who would meet our expectations. An no surprise, by keeping my expectations and not settling for less, I found my perfect match.
Me and my Hubby, photo taken by Sipper Photography
So why do we continue to use businesses that fall short of our expectations? Why don’t we find a business that is our perfect match?
If we stop accepting bad service, they’ll have two choices: fail or change. Either way, it’s a win.
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