Expectations Up, Customer Service Down

By Rowan Jackson MVO FRSA

Since the pandemic, our research indicates that customer expectations have risen steadily. This is shown in the “zones of tolerance” scores that we have from our clients’ customers. However, another post-pandemic trend is the increasing number of press reports showing a decline in customer service. These articles, including this one from the Institute of Customer Service, support what we are seeing in our work.

What is going on? Why are expectations so important?

There's a reasonably simple explanation. The pandemic forced us all, as consumers, to change our buying habits. We expected, and got, many more deliveries to our homes. We discovered that we could compare different suppliers. They, of course, knew this and sharpened up their efficiency. By doing so they changed our expectations. We knew that it could be done by X, so why can't it be done by Y as well? This is the thought process that everyone uses. For example, a client opened two bank accounts and asked both to provide online banking. One bank took 7 weeks to do this, the other took 7 minutes. This client now expects all banks to provide the same level of responsiveness. Slow responses are no longer tolerated.

It's important to define what an expectation is.

From the customer's perspective, an expectation defines an element or an attribute of an ideal interaction with their supplier and its products and services. This interaction includes all the elements of value, the quality of the product, the quality of the service and the amount we pay. There are two types of expectations. An ideal one is what we would like to happen and is forward-looking. By clever research we can find out what this ideal looks like. Contrary to what many organisations think, customers do not tend to ask for the earth. They are brutally realistic and tend to take their ideal from experiences of other suppliers, possibly in a different sector. For example, a flight on Virgin Atlantic would suggest that we would expect to have a similar experience on Virgin Trains. Sadly, those of us who have done both know that this is not true.

The second type of expectation is the predicted variety. If the bank client attends her local branch at 10:00 on a Saturday morning she predicts a queue of 20 people waiting to get in. That is not her ideal. Her ideal is that the bank opens at 9:00 on a Saturday so that, by the time she arrives at 10:00, the queue will have gone.

What is happening with the decline in customer service?

If an expectation of an ideal goes up, as the data suggests that it is, then unless organisations are aware of the change in expectations, they won't take the right action to improve service and it stays the same. If the standard expected goes up and the service does not change, then we perceive a decline in service. Moreover, since COVID, we have all seen a rapid advances in technology enabling organisations with a continuous improvement mentality to improve efficiency. This is particularly so with how fast they respond to customer demands. Our research shows a decrease of customers tolerance for slow responses. It also shows that many organisations perform at near to the minimum acceptable performance level and some even below this level. Their customers are in the “zone of Indifference” and may be tempted to take their business elsewhere.

Of course, to improve, an organisation needs to know what their customers’ ideal expectations, and the associated minimum acceptable performance levels, are and how well they perform against the ideal. It is then easier to take laser-focused, prioritised action to improve. If they do not do this, they will lose out to competitors who do. The leading organisations in the sector take appropriate action and steal a competitive advantage.

To discover how to transform your customer and employee retention strategy, schedule a call with us today: https://lnkd.in/gm7pDYrt

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