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What Are Customer Expectations?

Customer expectations are the customer defined attributes of your product or service you must meet or exceed to achieve customer satisfaction.

Are There Different Types of Customer Expectations?

There are two types of customer expectations, expressed and implied.

Expressed Customer Expectations are:
· Written, e.g., terms of a contract.
· Spoken, e.g., voice of the customer.

Implied Customer Expectations are:
· Too difficult for the customer to clearly communicate.
· Not written or spoken, but very basic to the product or service, e.g., the customer expects wheels on a car.

How Are Customer Expectations Identified?

Here are several methods to help identify your customer expectations.
· Market research
· Contractual agreements
· Focus groups
· Phone calls
· Satisfaction surveys
· Site visits
· Warranty records
· Informal discussions
· News media · competitive benchmarking

Do Customer Expectations Change Over Time?

Customer expectations change over time due to enhancements to products or services by competitors, technological innovations, or improved performance of your process.

It is important to periodically update your knowledge of customer expectations. The same methods used to identify your customer expectations can be used to update them.

We can meet customer requirements but fail to meet their expectations. This is where customer surveys (of whatever kind) can help. Many times expectations are not meet due to the preceptions companies create via advertising (internet,brochures,commercials,etc) and the sales force.

Many times we unknowingly set ourselves up not to meet expectations by "helping a customer out". E.G. a customer know your lead time is 10 days, but just this one time we do some adjusting and are able to deliver in 3. the customer may expect this more often or wonder why the lead time cannot be cut to 7.

Expectations tend to move up over time. Many customer are lost to not meeting expectations. COMMUNICATION :D

I often use restaurant examples for this. The server takes your order, including how “well” the food is to be prepared. We assume everyone knows what “medium well” or “over easy” means. These are the stated requirements. Yes, I want cream and sugar in my coffee (but how much?).

Our implied requirements are that we expect the food to be delivered on a plate, and silverware will be provided (except at “Medieval Times”, where customers must eat with their hands). We expect the dishes to be clean and the lettuce on the salad to be fresh.

When our requirements (stated and unstated) are met, we reward the server with a tip. When they are not met, we still reward the server with a tip. Well, I don’t. I have been known to deliberately not leave a tip, or worse. Once I left a dime tip for a meal because the server stood there and talked with other servers while my food was waiting for pickup. She got snippy when I mentioned the delay to her. I made a point to tell her about the tip as I was leaving. (probably not a good social thing to do – bring it to everyone’s attention) I would have been really ticked if I had received a form letter/customer satisfaction survey later.

It is important for us to determine our customer’s expectations and their delights. The Kano (spelling?) model is a good tool to help us in that area. Many of the customer delights today will become expectations tomorrow. We need to be able to recognize this before it happens and find a new “delight” before our great performance becomes mediocre.

Very good points... and I agree with all of them.

I have just one little monkey wrench for the gears...

How does someone know what customer expectations (e.g. specifications for a product) really are if the customer accepts a product that is slightly out of spec but with a concession?

Is the spec still valid? Are customer expectations actually lower than what has been stated?

Anyone want to tackle this?

Cheers!!!

Originally posted by Michael T
Very good points... and I agree with all of them.

I have just one little monkey wrench for the gears...

How does someone know what customer expectations (e.g. specifications for a product) really are if the customer accepts a product that is slightly out of spec but with a concession?

Is the spec still valid? Are customer expectations actually lower than what has been stated?

Anyone want to tackle this?

Cheers!!!

Good point. Many machinists would say no, the new spec is whatever is the worst condition that the customer accepts.

However I must say, yes the spec remains valid until the customer changes it. The fact that the customer issued a deviation approval could mean many things.
There may be built in redundancies in the system that would allow this component to be out slightly as long as other components are in spec. There may be safety factors involved which have to be evaluated on a case by case basis.

In any event, the spec remains in force until the customer decides to change it. You may suggest that if the spec could be changed it might improve production and perhaps even lower the price of the part, but the customer spec remains the goal for satisfaction.

Just My humble opinion

James

Monkey wrench number two: does the customer know what he wants(expects)? A slight tangent, perhaps, but more for the mix.

Regards,

Kevin

I don't know how well this really fits, but I'll throw it in anyway. When the customer expectation question comes up I'm reminded of a training course I went through (can't even remember what it was about) in which the trainer mentioned that he once had a video golf game that he loved. If anyone had asked, he would have given if perfect marks, the highest rating he could think of, and considered himself a customer of the manufacturer for life.

Then he tried a new game by another manufacturer. He liked the new one so much better that he immediately forgot about the first one.

I don't really have a moral to this story. Just a comment.

Alf

Alf's comments support Monkey Wrench #2 rather well, I think. How about the group?

Kev

Originally posted by Kevin Mader
Monkey wrench number two: does the customer know what he wants(expects)? A slight tangent, perhaps, but more for the mix.
In case of machined components and such, it is 'probably' easier to define and understand what the customer wants.
I do a lot of custom software development. In almost all cases, I have found that the customers are not really able to specify their exact requirements.. There is always a vast difference between what they WANT, what they NEED and what they CAN get ! At times, the job of defining specs can become more tedious than developing that software. :)

Atul,

Great response!!

Kevin

Now we're talking... :vfunny: :vfunny: managing customer expectations!!!

How do customers know what they want if we don't tell them?
How do we know what the customers want if we don't ask them?
Interesting conundrum isn't it?

The Swiss were approached with quartz watch technology first, but didn't think that customers would be interested in it, but along came the Japanese - - and boom! Quartz digital watches were all the rage.

Like Dr. Kano indicates - what was "exciting" quality yesterday is "must be" quality today. 7 or 8 years ago, having internet connection in your hotel room was "exciting" quality. Now, no business person would stay at a hotel that didn't have internet connection. Or... even the lowest priced cars offered by Daiwoo, Hundai, etc. are offering as standard equipment -- power windows, power door locks, tilt steering... All were hallmarks of "luxury" cars 10 years ago and all were "optional" equipment.

Originally posted by Kevin Mader

Monkey wrench number two: does the customer know what he wants(expects)? A slight tangent, perhaps, but more for the mix.How about expectations changing to stir things up? You buy a car and have certain expectations, but after a while you ALWAYS find something where you say something to yourself like: "....if those :ca: heads would have put the tach a bit more up and to the left, it wouldn't he hidden by the steering wheel spoke..." and things like that.

I vote that the customer rarely really knows what they want entirely. What they can identify they do. In addition, they may later find out that what they wanted was not really 'what they wanted'. Like buying an SUV years ago. Nice, but after a while, hard ride and other negative aspects reveal themselves. (Let's go for another engineering change!)

As an aside:
> The Swiss were approached with quartz watch technology
> first, but didn't think that customers would be interested
> in it, but along came the Japanese - - and boom! Quartz
> digital watches were all the rage.

I think a Swiss company developed it and displayed it at a convention or something and hadn't even patented it. Seiko picked up on it whilst at the convention, patented it and - are still making megabucks. Yup - the Swiss lost some business there, not to mention patent royalties.

Joel Arthur Barker in his book, Paradigms says that an organization requires these three things to remain competitive: Excellence, innovation, and anticipation. He goes on to state that excellence will be less advantageous in the 21st century (his book is some 12 years old) because all organizations will require it (not so much in the past). However, innovation and anticipation are essential. He asserts that to be innovative and capable of anticipating future needs, one needs to understand paradigms. This is further supported by Harry S. Dent in his book, The Great Jobs Ahead. I highly recommend both books.

The Swiss example is powerful. From a near monopoly, they lost almost everything. The Japanese, however, went from less than 1% to over a third of the world’s market.

Marc,
Changes, Last moment changes (and sometimes even after you deliver...Oh!I never thought its going to look like this, can you change this blue color here please?...) are the order of the day in my business. Even after both parties sign and seal specs. The worst part is nobody wants to pay extra for extra work!:(.
Yes, it is anticipation that keeps us from making losses !
-Atul.

Originally posted by Atul Khandekar

Changes, Last moment changes (and sometimes even after you deliver...Oh!I never thought its going to look like this, can you change this blue color here please?...) are the order of the day in my business. Even after both parties sign and seal specs. The worst part is nobody wants to pay extra for extra work! :( .

Yes, it is anticipation that keeps us from making losses!This is the reason for a 'robust' contract review process / system. When I went to work for Cincinnati Electronics some years back I was supposed to do finite element analysis modeling. It was at CE that I gained a good understanding of contracts. The moment I walked in the door the first day on the job I was told the environmental laboratory was loosing money and they decided they wanted me to 'take a look'. Why, I'm not sure to today. I had no background to do it. But, I took a look and found their contracts were written in such a way as to really give customers a lot of slack. I started quoting and attaching conditions to quotes and accepted orders. This was with CE's Environmental Test Labs before they moved to mason, OH. Bottom line is at one time they could afford the lab, but at that time they were contracting out time on their shakers and other test equipment - like explosive atmosphere. Note that 'Environmental' here is used in context of a laboratory which tests 'devices' in all sorts of environments - not testing as it would be in what we typically think of as 'environmental'. Bottom line is we gave them sweetheart deals by not specifically calling out some 'restrictions' and 'conditions'.

To top it off, whilst I was at CE they were involved in bidding on a very large government contract - which they eventually lost. To do the bid alone cost CE several million. My part was related to environmental testing aspects of the bid package. That said, I have seen the top side of the bidding process where you're essentially stating your promises (deliverables) and aspects related to the Request for Quote (what the customer says they want).

I even tried to convey some of that in several presentations here, like in the ISO implementation files, with respect to implementation projects. The bottom line is time goes on and as more things become known, we fine tune, so to speak, what we want or need. I've seen it in every company and in every project I have ever worked with - it's part of life. There will be running changes. The only way to protect yourself against losses is to be sure to identify the areas - such as running changes - and address them and how they will be handled (including who is financially responsible for what).

Bottom line is a tight contract review system - one that 'learns' from mistakes - is important. but - no matter what, expectations (and often what may be defined as 'needs') will change no matter what we plan for. In the same vein, can't predict and have a response plan for every contingency.

Business is a bitch, isn't it? :thedeal:

We recently experienced a situation that falls right in here with Marc’s post. As a startup company trying to get our place on the map, we were taking the hits for things that were not our fault. Looking at the contract and original proposal, the customers didn’t have a leg to stand on. We gave some relief in the name of Customer relations. However, we just received some material back that was severely damaged due to Customer abuse. They wanted concessions because we had given them to this Customer before. They claimed the equipment never operated as it should have. This, even though we test all equipment before it leaves. We also send a Service person to do the installation and insure that it operates as contracted. Only after the Customer has seen the final result, they decide that they also wanted it to do this and that. Whoever worked on the equipment was a hack. Their concession request was denied with much apprehension on our part because they are a well known company with ties to other similar companies that could affect our business if they choose to bad mouth us.

End result: A purchase order was released to us to repair/replace “defective” equipment, as required. We received a brand new order with a very tight contract. This now is the norm for all our customers. Our company finally decided that we wouldn’t survive if we continue to operate this way. A thorough Contract Review is extremely important. Live and Learn. Yea, Marc said that. I just wanted to second the motion!
:ko: :smokin:

As I read thru this >> The I'm reminded of a classic story.... a very serious call I took form a customer about a year ago now..

Without a bunch of details > asking that our company accept return (and return charges) for parts that they admitted were not in any way out of specification > also nothing in the way of packaging -color or subjective aspects -- wrong with them EXCEPT they had over ordered them 3 years prior and had not been able to sell them...

All too often my thoghts turn toward thinking that "CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS" can - an in some companies "will" be interpreted as a free hand to apply a bit of supplier abuse.

In my last job > The major customers "EXPECTED" and actually for 2 years running "GOT" a 3.5% across the board price reduction >>> reasoning --- we the customer asked you to become ISO registered & now that you have achieved that -- you must be functioning more effeciently. The 3.5% is out cut for driving you toward it "PARTNER":bonk: :frust: