BEYOND HOME

21/08/2008

John Bottom

customer satisfaction

Honest expectations

Allow me to share two experiences today which underline how customer satisfaction is all about expectation.

It happened when I took my car in for a service. The service representative smiled warmly and made a point of explaining to me that they would clean the car, inside and out, as part of the service. Fantastic. I wasn't expecting it so, at that point, my satisfaction went up. Good old Citroen. But when I collected it, I had the same dusty old dashboard, leaf-littered footwells and child-smeared windows.

Now here's the point. Even though they had done a perfectly good job of what I'd asked them to do (the service), I was disappointed in them. Bad Citroen. I felt like I wanted to complain. And that dissatisfaction only came from the fact that they had mentioned it and raised my expectations - when they didn't need to! (It wasn't like I was going to take my business elsewhere.)

And this got me thinking about whether we do the same on our web pages. How often have you clicked because you've been promised something only to be let down? Wouldn't a little more honesty have been better in the long run? I think it is our duty to be vigilant of this however much we want to talk up the benefits.

And remember there can also be merit in underpromising (perhaps better described as overdelivering). As a copywriter, I find it hard to tone down the sales copy sometimes, but it makes people feel really good about your brand when you get more than you expected.

Which is exactly how I felt when the garage rang to say I had been overcharged by £90. They were very sorry, Sir, and would credit my card instantly. Sorry? I was delighted. Good old Citroen.