Much like a marriage, a customer-company relationship can fall victim to unspoken expectations and the emotional consequences of not meeting those expectations. Active listening allows companies to create honest, two-way communications that uncover and address these expectations thus elevating the customer experience.
As in a marriage, honest two-way communication is needed in the customer-company relationship to ensure great customer experiences. Unfortunately, companies aren't listening well. On the flip side, customers too need to do a better job of expressing their expectations.
Recently, I had a conversation with a colleague about the customer, their expectations, and how that may match, or not match, what the company intends to provide. In this conversation the parallels of the customer-company relationship and marriage became apparent. We start the relationship with some sort of contract, or vows. Some interactions, such as buying a TV, have explicit terms; others, such as buying bread, not explicit but present. Often, we bring to the new relationship an entire set of assumptions and preconceived notions about the company and our relationship with it.
Customers Have Unspoken Expectations Even in Explicit Transactions
When you look at it from the company’s point of view, it’s a business transaction. The company provides XYZ in exchange for money. But as a customer I expect ABC and possibly even LMNOP. Unfortunately, we never speak about my expectations nor what the company was willing to provide.
In a complex relationship like the bank and a mortgage services provider, these assumptions are often numerous and erroneous, often resulting in missteps and numerous incidents of poor customer experience. Continuing reading this article in full >>>
