Around 80% of consumers rely on reviews to make a decision but will read fewer than ten reviews to make that decision. This means businesses can lose out based on a couple of negative comments, despite having an agglomeration of glowing endorsements. So, how can you make sure you are receiving only stellar reviews that win sales?

Of course, you could improve products and services by implementing previous clients’ feedback. But you can also set customer expectations correctly from the start.

Why Setting Customer Expectations Is Vital

Too many businesses apply effort, time and money into marketing campaigns without considering the customer experience. They overly focus on driving home brand messages, low prices, discounts and quality, without considering how these benefits play out in the bigger picture.

You can tell a potential customer that they are buying a product that does A, B and C, but when it only does A and B effectively, the customer has a negative experience and may leave a damaging review. This can develop into angry exchanges with employees and result in employee disengagement, a lack of productivity and even costly staff turnover.

By making sure what you offer is in line with what you provide, you can build trust with your consumers. This loyalty helps promote your brand and retain customers. Not to forget that fishing for new customers costs more and offers fewer financial rewards than keeping your current buyers happy.

Three Key Ways to Set Customer Expectations

With the importance of setting customer expectations apparent, here are three of the best customer experience strategies for you to embrace:

#1: Customer Journey Mapping

Customer journey mapping is working out what your customers experience when inquiring and buying from you. By mapping out their journey through your sales funnel, you can pinpoint weak areas, inconveniences and inefficient steps. Enhancing their experience early will allow you to set their expectations from the outset.

#2: Avoid Nasty Surprises

Stories of customers being led down the garden path are on every corner of the internet.  Eye-watering service fees of R1300 for spaghetti is just one example and many businesses try to squeeze more from their customers without their knowledge. It is more beneficial to inform all customers about extra fees and what is not included in services from the start. Setting expectations with hidden information will only result in poor customer experiences.

#3: Actively Educate Customers

Not only should your marketing be honest to inform clients and customers exactly what they are (and not) receiving from you, but you should go the extra mile to educate them about your offerings. This can be achieved by creating blogs, video content and infographics to complement your marketing material.

Get Help Setting Your Customers and Client Expectations

If you need help setting your customer expectations or to develop a CX strategy, speak to our friendly team at nlighten. We are a group of doers and thinkers, providing turnkey customer experience solutions to small and large businesses.

See what our own customers had to say about our work and get in touch with us soon!

View the previous nlighten article by Nathalie Schooling: Data Rich, Insight Poor?

nlighten. enhancing customer experience: www.nlightencx.com