How to Meet Customers’ Expectations in Changing Times

When we are clearly in changing, uncertain, and ambiguous times it can be really challenging to know how to continue to meet (and even exceed) our customers' expectations. This can be especially true if we can’t see them face-to-face. That is unless we know how to exceed their expectations no matter what’s going on in the world.

Whatever your service or product, you can always meet and exceed your customers' expectations if you keep two principles in the forefront of your mind.

Meet Them Where They’re At

The first principle to always remember is to meet your customers where they are at. We need to meet them as they are, where they are regardless of what is going on in the world. And we do this best by remembering what we are really offering them: convenience, luxury, uniqueness, their best life, community, etc.

When circumstances change for our customers, their needs might change as well. Maybe just in the short term, but maybe also for the long term. But when we know the true meaning behind what we offer our customers then we might simply need to repackage how we offer this to them.

For example, if you are a hairstylist, you are not simply offering your customers a good haircut, you’re helping them feel amazing about themselves. You’re helping them look their best! So, when you get to see your clients face-to-face that might be a haircut or a color. And when you can’t see your clients face-to-face you might do this through virtual appointments where you give them tips about how to do this on their own through new hairstyles or using a different product until you can see them face-to-face again.

The "why" behind what you offer your customers might not change, but the how often does in changing times. And there are countless ways to pivot how you package your services, and what you’re really offering your customers when the environments around us change. Yes, sometimes you will need to offer entirely new products and services, but more often than not, you simply need to change how you package your services. It’s not so much the “why” you do what you do that has to change, simply the “how” of what you do.

By keeping in touch with your customers and regularly finding out what they want (and need), you will be able to not just meet their expectations but exceed them because you will be meeting them as they are where they are even in changing times.

Eliminate the Barriers

The second principle to embrace when wanting to meet and exceed your customers' expectations no matter what is happening in the world is to eliminate all the barriers between you and them.  When our environment is constantly changing around us, new barriers to our services and products are constantly popping up.

Here’s what I mean by that: if there are any hurdles that your customers have to jump over, go around, or duck under in order to get to you, your service, or your product, that's a barrier. Because let’s face it, all of us like to travel on the path of least resistance. So, it’s our responsibility to remove the barriers between us and them so that we can make a lasting impact in their life!

The barriers to you might be communication styles, language, location (or lack thereof), the experience you provide, not having an online presence, trying to meet them where you want them to be (not where they are today), or any number of other things.

So how do we eliminate the barriers? We put your customers first and we adapt. Again, not necessarily the why, but the how. We put our customers first by showing up where they are and meeting them there rather than making them jump over hurdles to get to us.  We put our customers first by providing for their wants rather than providing what we believe they need. We put our customers first by committing to serving them rather than our egos.

Remember When You Started

Remember when you first started your role as a leader, pastor, or business owner? You likely knew everything about the people you wanted to reach with your service or product. You knew what they liked and didn’t like, what they wanted, what they needed, how to communicate with them effectively. And you met them as they were where they were.

Since then, people’s needs and wants have changed, how they find new ways to meet their needs have changed, how they communicate has changed.  Since then, the only thing that likely hasn’t changed is how you do things.

Meeting and exceeding our customers' expectations simply requires us to continue meeting them where they are at and eliminating all the barriers to us. Sometimes a pandemic helps remind us of the core value of putting our customers first. Because making a lasting impact in their life is the reason we’re here to begin with.