Manage your clients’ expectations

If there is one key phrase in customer service I believe it’s that.
I would like to think I am a loyal customer to my suppliers and when I have to change I feel uncomfortable and really don’t like it. In fact, for me, the emotion of losing a client or changing a supplier is very similar.There is failure in the air.

I had been working with someone where the deal was he did a certain amount of work each month at a fixed fee. He is an expert in his field and I believe I was getting value for money. At the start of this month I got 2 invoices. When I queried this I was told how much extra work had been done. I didn’t dispute that, although I didn’t know exactly what I was getting for my money each time. What I tried to explain was I would have expected to have been asked permission to do this work in advance of our normal arrangements. When my supplier couldn’t see my point I thought, ’Let’s shake hands and move on.’ We need certainty in our lives and, in business, no shocks. We need to keep the customer informed all the way through the relationship, in other words manage their expectations.