May the 4th be with you!

Welcome to the May edition of this newsletter. I'm not a massive Star Wars fan, but I love the way today's date has become associated with them. So May the 4th be with you!

Thank you for tuning into this, the third edition of the Back to Humanity newsletter. I skipped last month, there was simply too much other work to do! So, I hope you'll find this one full of ideas you can put into practice immediately to make things better for your colleagues and your customers.

In this edition I share some practical tips on how to create trust with your customers and your colleagues - creating a FORCE in customer and employee experience (can you see what I did there!). We'll explore 'the Service Standard' and psychological contract. A couple of understated but super powerful things you could be doing to help create fewer complaints and more transparent and progressive conversations with peers.

First of all - you might like to attend / read / watch...

Tomorrow 5th May. Join me as I talk about all things 'Expectations' at 2pm with Clare Fanner at the Law Marketing Club: https://bit.ly/3Fg6Ydi. That's a free webinar.

19 May. The BAD conference. In person. I was given the tip off about this event from a UX specialist. It's all about behavioural science and how that influences the experience design process. Find more info here: https://bit.ly/3FfkHRR

10 June. NudgeStock is back! This is another behavioural science event and it's the brainchild of Rory Sutherland. That needs no further introduction really. Find more info here: https://bit.ly/3s7MHSc

I love the School of Life - they run outstanding courses, debates and thought provoking events. Here's one all about self awareness - called Self Knowledge. https://bit.ly/3LKxIoO. These folk have also launched an app! Find out more here: https://www.theschooloflife.com/app/

My partner stumbled across TED-ed clips while he was searching for something else online and this has prompted me to mention these to you. Before we knew it we were listening to a clip about how to take a good nap and why isn't not good for us to sit for too long. https://ed.ted.com. Is a phenomenal source of fascinating insight into so many things. Available to you 24/7. Have fun!

Creating trust with your customers and your colleagues.

The Service Standard

I've done quite a bit of work for a client over the last few weeks on the topic of Service Standard, articulating what the customer can expect from you as a list of promises you will keep every time without fail. To be honest I thought that this work was just too basic at first, we've got transformation projects to do after all.(smiley face!)..but when you think about it, expectations management is the foundation for all types of relationships in life.

When you get married you exchange vows, when you buy a house or a flat there are contracts to sign stating clearly what you will do and what the other party will do. When you go into business with someone you state what you expect from one another.

These examples focus on expectations. What one party can expect from the other. The fact is as a species we have expectations. They are formed primarily when we are growing up as we are influenced by authority figures around us. They shape our values, beliefs and our attitude. All of us have different and we carry those expectations around with us all of the time in and use them to make decisions about how we will behave.

Why wouldn't you tell your customer what they should expect? When we set out our expectations before the investment from the customer (time and money), they have a choice to go with you knowing what the deal is. NO we won't proceed, they won't meet my expectations. Or, YES, they will meet my expectations, in fact if they do what they say they will, they will exceed my expectations, I will work with these guys. If you don't make your expectations clear, they will just bring their own and it's pot luck whether they match. Risky and we don't like the uncertainty that brings.

When you are designing your Service Standards, they MUST be focused on what the customer values, not what you as a business think is important or necessary. You can make your Service Standards strict or you can provide principles. Strict means "we will respond to your request within 48 hours" (it's in black and white) or with principles, "we will do what it takes to ensure you're happy when we refund you" (which means you can flex your response according to the different expectations different customers may have - remember we carry different expectations around).

Finally - here is a link to a Service Standard I've been introduced to in recently. Again, I wonder if you'll think it's too basic. I like the tone and the openness. I think that they set the bar for the relationship and help provide a proactive stance on expectations management! https://bit.ly/3OWonMB

What does your Service Standard look like? Do your customers know about them? Does your organisation know how to deliver to the Standard?

The psychological contract

So we have covered expectations management with customers. What about colleagues. This examples comes from my own professional experience. I was in my second week at Avios and my bosses boss asked for an 'expectations setting' meeting with me. I should come to the session with my expectations of her and she would share her expectations of me.

She explained how she expected me to behave in order for her to make good decisions, to remain professional and propel my own career. She mentioned things like 'always text me to let me know if anything goes wrong and what you intend to do about it - high level details' that way I am informed and don't hear about it from someone else. She said 'imagine you are the boss here, the decisions you are making are for your business' and when you make big decisions, let me know what they are and briefly why you have made them - I will support you always but I will need to know your rationale.

These are only a few that I can remember. The overall experience is far clearer. I recall thinking it's good to know where she is coming from as I am more likely to do things the way she wants them done rather than this being guesswork, me getting it wrong and wasting time correcting my mistakes. This approach would mean less conflict as she has made her expectations clear. It's now my choice whether I follow them or not. Rather than guesswork.

It was nerve-racking telling my bosses boss what my expectations were of her but empowering and liberating at the same time! Telling her to give me things to stretch my thinking and giving me the heads up on major decisions helped me to be proactive with my work.

The meeting lasted 30 minutes and saved hours, days and even weeks of course correction, disappointment and difficult conversations. Little did I know, 17 years on, that this conversation was a thing. It's a 'psychological contract' - here's some more info on it https://bit.ly/3imGePf. The fact is our work contract is a list of tasks and responsibilities. We don't get any brief on how we are expected to do this work to get on. I'm not saying that we should be carbon copies of our bosses, but in the first six months, having this psychological contract gives you the confidence to make more progress than trying to 'feel your way'!

I believe that setting out expectations with your customers and your colleagues can give you more confidence to get on with your work without the risk of uncertainty - May the 4th be with you!

Up for grabs

In the last edition of this newsletter, I offered a week at my apartment by the sea. www.stayatwatergatebay.com and there was an incredible response. There was certainly oxytocin flowing when the winner confirmed their plans. This month, in the spirit of setting expectations for yourself, I'm offering a free personalised journal from Papier. Simply tell me how you manage expectations with your customers for your chance to win: https://forms.gle/rKqTjjYzXnUjvAzK8 I'll liaise with the winner to make sure that the design is to their taste.

Want to know more?

This newsletter is brought to you by Sandra Thompson, Founder of the Ei Evolution, a CX and EX consultancy. You can follow Sandra here: https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/cxeisandra/ and find out more about what she does here: https://www.eievolution.com