All About Expectations
It’s amazing, really. Meet expectations and you’re fine. Exceed them … you’re in great shape. Fall short of them … Well, we all know what happens then.
But at the same time, whenever an agency representative brings up the issue of "managing expectations," a client’s inclination is to think, "Oh, baby! Here we go! This is where the agency tells me I can’t expect much."
That is NOT the kind of expectation you want to meet!
I had a recent conversation with a client, to whom I said, following his instructions to us, "We will try our very best." It was a sincere comment to him. We intended to give the initiative our best efforts to achieve success.
He responded by saying, "That’s what people say when they are trying to prepare you for disappointment."
So how do we manage expectations without sounding like we are offering a protective disclaimer on behalf of our firm? And just as important a question … Have we brought this upon ourselves?
The truth is those two questions are connected. We’ve all been around agencies staffed by people who spend just as much time and energy trying to make mediocre results look good as they spend actually trying to secure results. And so how can we be trusted when we introduce the "managing expectations" conversation, if we lack credibility going in?
The only solution I see for this is to be brutally honest, not only with our clients, but with ourselves, about how we are performing on every single campaign. If we do a great job, then sure, let’s make the results look as positive as possible to our clients. But if we don’t get the job done, then we have to be up-front with those same clients and say, "We didn’t accomplish what you asked us to accomplish."
If we as an industry can hold to that standard, I think you’ll agree that the topic of managing expectations will be a much more useful, not to mention more meaningful, conversation with our clients.
What do you think? Let me know: glenn@ruderfinn.co.il
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