Great Expectations - Are Managed

Because of the snow, there has been a great deal of media coverage devoted to service performance in the last few days:

• Airports
• Eurostar
• Postal Services
• On-line Shopping
• Rail Services
• Road Transport

All of these areas have been affected by the recent poor weather. BA and BAA have come in for a fair amount of criticism - particularly in terms of their communication (or otherwise) with people stranded at a major airport.

One firm made me think about these issues in marketing terms. I ordered several items from Amazon last week - and was assured that delivery would take place in time for Christmas. When I re-visited the site on Monday (nearly 5 working days before Christmas) - the message was clear. It will not arrive in time for Christmas.

Amazon took responsibility for managing my expectations. And (as far as I know) - over-delivered - the parcels shipped to my home have all arrived in plenty of time - all apart from one that is not a gift.

Our local Pizza firm, in the next village is another great example of good expectation management. They always tell me that delivery will take place "Within the hour" - and most of the time manage a 34-45 minute delivery time. The main point is - they set expectations and then over-deliver on them - a bit. And that makes me loyal.

So, how do you communicate with your customers? Do you manage expectations properly? Are you guilty of letting people find things out the hard way?