Excellent customer service and high customer satisfaction must start with understanding customer expectations. Whether your customers are internal (i.e., HR, Finance, Marketing business users) or external, you need to know who your customers are and what their goals are before launching any business initiative. If not, you’ll never win. Pulling from her industry experience in Government, Legal, Education and Healthcare, Strategic Engagement Manager Shannon Duplessis will use the Sparkhound Assessment Model (SAM) approach to show how to assess client needs, agree upon desired expectations and results, and then develop the right KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) to measure success.
2. A LITTLE ABOUT ME
Professional Stats
10+ years in State Government IT
5+ years with Sparkhound
PMP Certified
Personal Interests
I used to be a runner…primarily half marathons
Now, I coach middle school track and co-host
my own event, “Run, Drink, Repeat!”
I do volunteer work throughout the community
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3. AGENDA
What are Customer Expectations … and Why You Should Manage Them
Tips for Managing Expectations
The Customer Expectation Management Process
What To Do When Things Go Wrong: Two Communication Techniques
5. DEFINITIONS OF RELATED TERMS
Customer Expectations - the total perceived benefits a customer
expects from a company's product or service
Customer Service – the process of ensuring customer satisfaction
Customer Satisfaction – a measure of how products or services
meet or surpass customer expectation
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Expectation + Service = Satisfaction
6. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO MANAGE
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High customer satisfaction
Improved customer loyalty
Increased sales
Additional client referrals
8. IDENTIFY STAKEHOLDERS
There are several types of Stakeholders. ALL need to be considered
Primary – directly affected by project
Secondary – indirectly affected by project
Key - may belong to either or neither of the first two groups. Can have a positive
or negative effect on an effort, or who are important within or to an organization,
agency, or institution engaged in an effort.
Create a stakeholder roster to capture their level of impact and
their needs
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13. PRIORITIZE EXPECTATIONS
Customer expectations can have two levels
Desired - the level of service the customer hopes to obtain
Sufficient - the service level which the customer finds acceptable
Expectation prioritization should be
communicated to the entire project
team including the client stakeholders
Expectations are at the center of the
Project Management Diamond
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14. OUR METHOD FOR IDENTIFYING & PRIORITIZING EXPECTATIONS
Sparkhound Assessment Model (SAM)
A proven methodology to align IT with Business Unit goals and objectives
Key stakeholders needs are addressed from Business Unit and Departments
Key performance indicators are identified to measure success
Key information and process workflows are identified to streamline operations
Addresses People, Process & Technology for improved efficiency
Defines information requirements of each stakeholder
Why SAM?
Reduce the risk of “missing the target” by providing a stronger understanding of
the clients business challenges and creating solutions that align with organizational
needs
Provide a clear road map to show “as is” and “to be” vision
Ensure the investment in IT is optimized to meet client requirements and avoid
poor implementations
16. TIPS FOR MANAGING EXPECTATIONS
Honesty
Communication
Consistency
Relationship Building
Reporting
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17. HONESTY
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Make promises that are realistic and achievable
Under promise/over deliver in order to maintain control of
expectations
It is important that you understand how to say NO to the customer
Your customer will feel as if the business goes above and beyond for
them rather than feeling like a promise has come up short
18. COMMUNICATION
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Be proactive and consistent in your communication
Be readily available to your customers
Plan communication and let the customer know the plan
Reiterate expectations back to the customer for validation
19. CONSISTENCY
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In all aspects of the customer relationship:
Communication
Reporting
Service
Builds trust
Promotes a long-lasting relationship
A lack of consistency can cause confusion
20. RELATIONSHIP BUILDING
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Relationships are important.
Customers want ongoing, personalized relationships with the familiar
representatives from the company.
You should try to understand the ins and outs of the customer.
Know their values. Know not only WHAT they are buying but WHY
they are buying it.
21. REPORTING
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Reports give the client a clear understanding of work that was done
over the course of the reporting period and what is planned for the
coming period.
Reporting does not have to be very long or complicated.
Consistency and clear communication is key to reporting.
23. WHAT TO DO WHEN THINGS GO WRONG?
Admit it. Immediately. Bad news is not like fine wine … it does not
get better with time.
Have an action plan. Let the customer know that you have a plan to
put things back on track. This shows initiative and an investment in
the success of the project and the relationship.
Reset expectations.
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24. COMMUNICATION: FEEL, FELT & FOUND
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It is a technique of validating, relating and solving a problem so that you
overcome an objection
Feel - “I understand how you feel.” This wording lets a customer know
that you heard him or her and can relate.
Felt - “I/Other people have felt that way.” You are letting the customer
know that this initial thought is common, meaning that the situation
can change.
Found - “What they/I found, however, was that after doing ‘X’ was
that ‘Y” happened.
Create a sample stakeholder roster to see and talk thru
Create a sample stakeholder roster to see and talk thru
Insert a graphic of the stakeholder roster with expectations listed
Insert a graphic of the stakeholder roster with expectations listed
so now we have a list of expectations….let’s dive a little deeper.
Going thru the exercise of actually defining these expectations clarifies them to the client team and allows you to really understand why this is an expectation to the client.
As you can see from this picture each person on the team can have a different interpretation of the same expectation.
Now that we have expectations identified and defined we need to prioritize them.
Sparkhound uses a proven assessment model to elicit expectations and to drive the conversations around defining and prioritizing
People – understanding the customer’s needs and assessment of current systems, processes and technology
Process – understanding of the integration and workflows between departments and system functions
Technology – understanding of the technology platforms and utilization of the information delivery capabilities
That which is measured is managed. Shannon’s version of Pearson’s law (that which is measured is improved)
If you are able to measure your teams performance against your clients expectations you will be able to know if you are winning or losing. And if you are able to watch the trends you may be able to head off negative expectation impacts before your customer even knows about it.
You will find that your measurements are combination of expectations and project constraints. Ex- budget stats, time line, scope, etc.
Now that expectations are set you job continues……with management throughout the project life-cycle!
Companies are supposed to be accurate and dependable and provide the service they promised
Don’t misrepresent resource ability
Companies should not offer services that they cannot deliver
Here is some advice that you won’t get often. It’s ok to say no to the customer. In fact there are times that you should say no. now…I’ll follow that up with some additional advice…it’s important that you explain to them why the answer is no. There will be far more damage to the trust relationship by agreeing to provide a service that cannot be delivered.
Consistency is key and should be carried throughout the relationship
Reports can be as simple as an email to the client describing the work completed and planned.
From time to time you are going to fail to meet customer expectations.
This could be for a number of reasons…
poor customer service,
under-trained staff,
incorrectly set expectations, or
even changing expectations.
The key here is how you react to your client, put an action plan into place, and reset their expectations.
Owning up to mistakes and communicating a solution with the client is a way to establish trust.
There are also a couple techniques I’d like to share to help turn the corner on a bad situation.