Sales & Customer Growth
Customers rarely leave because of the product alone. They leave because of the gap.
A customer arrives with an idea of how things should go: the speed, the price, the way they are treated. Sales conversations, ads and past experience all shape that idea. When reality falls short, the customer is disappointed, even if the work was good. This session helps owners find out what customers expect and decide what they can honestly promise.
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Satisfaction is the distance between what was expected and what was experienced.
A customer who expected delivery in two days and received it in three is unhappy, while one who expected a week is pleased by the same delivery. The service did not change. The expectation did. Owners who understand this stop chasing perfection everywhere, and start managing the few expectations that matter most.
Expectations come from many places: what the salesperson said, what a competitor does, what the customer last experienced elsewhere, and what they assume without ever saying. This session is about making them visible so they can be met, reset or declined.
What the session covers
30 topics across 6 areas. Six parts, from finding out to setting right.
Where Expectations Come FromNot only from you.5
- What you, your staff and your marketing have said
- What competitors and large online services have taught customers to expect
- Past experience, recommendations and reviews
- Price, which sets its own expectations about quality and service
- Things the customer assumes and never mentions
What Customers Usually ExpectThe ones that matter most are often simple.5
Participants compare this list with what their own customers have actually said, and see where their assumptions differ.
- Speed of reply and of delivery
- Accuracy, including the right item or bill
- Being kept informed without having to ask
- Courtesy and respect for their time
- A fair way to put things right
Different customers expect different things. A retail buyer and a business buyer rarely want the same from you.
Finding OutAsk, listen and look for patterns.5
- Questions to ask before a sale: what matters most to you, and what went wrong last time?
- Questions to ask afterwards, and how soon
- Listening to enquiries, complaints and messages for repeated themes
- Talking to customers who left, and those who stayed
- Using staff who face customers as a source of information
Making Promises You Can KeepA promise is a commitment.5
- Honest delivery times that include some margin
- Saying what is and is not included
- Avoiding vague words such as soon, shortly or ASAP
- Fewer promises, kept every time
- Promising less in a hurry to close a sale
Over-promising wins the sale and costs the customer. It is rarely a good trade.
Closing the GapWhen reality falls short.5
- Spotting the gap early, before the customer raises it
- Telling the customer first, with a new date and a reason
- Offering something fair, where the miss was yours
- Deciding which expectations to meet, reset or politely decline
- Keeping records so the same gap does not recur
Keeping Everyone AlignedThe team has to say the same thing.5
- What the salesperson promises and what delivery can do
- Written standards for response time and delivery
- Briefing new staff on what customers are told
- Reviewing promises quarterly against actual results
- Updating the website, brochure or messages when things change
What participants work on
- A list of promises they currently make, in writing
- A comparison of each promise with what actually happens
- Three questions for new customers and three for returning ones
- A revised promise on delivery or response time
- A plan to ask five customers what they expect
Questions that reveal the current state
- What do you promise customers, in so many words?
- How often is that promise kept?
- What is the most common thing customers are disappointed about?
- What do customers assume that you have never said?
- When did you last ask a customer what they expected?
How the session runs
Two to three hours, in a small group. A practitioner who has managed customer relationships explains how they find out what customers want and how they set promises they can meet. Participants then write down what they promise, compare it with what happens, and rewrite one promise. Bring a recent complaint, a review or a message in which a customer said they were disappointed.
What your students leave with
- A list of what their customers expect, in the customers' own words
- A clear view of where their promises exceed what they deliver
- A set of promises they are confident they can keep
- Questions to ask a customer before and after a sale
- A way to tell different customer groups apart by what they expect
- A small change they will make to one promise this month
Scheduled sessions
Nothing scheduled yet
Sessions are arranged with a college once a date is agreed. Ask us and we will find the right person for it.
A student rather than a college? See what is coming up, or ask your placement team to host this.
Find out what customers expect, and promise only what you will deliver.
Tell us who your students are and what stage they are at. Sessions are free for participants.