Service vs Expectations
I was talking with a manager of one of the world’s airlines some weeks ago. In the past, this manager had worked for a Low-Cost Carrier (LCC), but was now working for a “regular” (i.e. non-LCC) airline. One of the comments the manager made was that the LCC’s customers seemed more prepared to accept delays and other incidents that we might consider “poor service”.
It made me realise: expectations are driven partly by cost. How many times have I seen comments on a product on Amazon where the reviewer said words to the effect of “I shouldn’t have expected too much, seeing as I didn’t pay much…”, or “For the price I paid, I would have expected better…”
In 2014, I wrote about setting expectations, but never dreamt I’d come back to this four years later. Perhaps not much has changed. Price does dictate how customers expect our product or service to turn out. The more we pay, the more we expect.
Getting back to our airline manager, this person had clearly seen this lesson in action. The expression "You get what you pay for” resonated with them and they were now working for an airline that had invested considerable time, effort and money into training, systems and the fleet of aircraft they had. Speaking recently with someone at their home, they commented that the cabin service on this airline was unexpectedly high. This was the result of that investment (and the higher prices that the airline was charging passengers as a result).
To say that people “aren't prepared to pay” for good service or products is to oversimplify the situation. None of us want to pay more than we have to, and we certainly don't want to pay for poor service or poor-quality products. The only conclusion I can draw is that, if we feel we’re getting valuethen the service or product provider has done what we asked.
I have spent more than half my life delivering change in different world markets from the most developed to “emerging” economies. With more than 20 years in international financial services around the world running different operations and lending businesses, I started my own Consultancy to provide solutions for improving performance, productivity and risk management. I work with individuals, small businesses, charities, quoted companies and academic institutions across the world. An international speaker, trainer, author and fund-raiser, I can be contacted by email. My websiteprovides a full picture of my portfolio of services. For strategic questions that you should be asking yourself, follow me at @wkm610.
Labels: Customer Care, Selling, Strategy
posted by William Martin @ 17:56
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