What Did You Expect?

Having just purchased a new car, I recently received a call asking if I would take a satisfaction survey.  Because feedback is what we’re all about – of course I agreed.  I also asked who was in charge of that part of the show, and, I really should have asked how to spell it, because I never actually found them online.  But, while searching for them, I found a report by Accenture called “High Performance in the Age of Customer Centricity.” Even though I had to give away some personal information in order to be allowed download it, it was worth doing, as they had some interesting findings to share.  One statement that really caught my attention was:

“Our analysis suggests that how often consumers felt their real expectations were met appears to be a better indicator of their likelihood of leaving or remaining loyal.”

This is also what we have learned with our work on DesignFacilitator’s Client Feedback Tool.  What matters most is not how well they thought you served your client, but how well you performed compared to their expectations.   Comparing what they expected to what they actually received measures their feelings in a way that a “very satisfied – not at all satisfied” scale simply cannot capture.  Take for example a crab cake I ordered at Second Empire Restaurant.  It was fantastic, but was it $18 worth of fantastic? Actually, yes it was. This says a lot because, as one of the highest rated restaurants in our area, my expectations were extremely high, and yet they still impressed me.  

Stereotypes of car dealers and dealerships abound, and since this was my first new car buying experience, those stereotypes were what I expected.  I winced walking in the door.  It wasn’t loads of fun, but since I was expecting the worst, I thought it really went quite well.  Now I have a better opinion of (some) car salesmen, a new car, and higher expectations for the next time around.  

To download the report mentioned above, visit: https://www.accenture.com/Global/Registration/Accenture2008SurveyRequest.htm