Expectations are the Root of All Disappointment

** Misaligned Expectations are the root of All Disappointment**

Expectation management is easily one of the most important aspects of anything sales related. You need to constantly be focusing on expectation management.

The good news is, expectation management comes down to communication. Open and honest communication. It’s very doable. Sometimes its a pain in the ass and you have to have tough conversations or share unfortunate news, but if you stay on top of everything, its very doable.

This type of behavior is illustrated in everyday life frequently. Often times people are most upset when expectations are misaligned. If you’re working with someone you assuming has a budget of $100k, and their budget is $1k - people get upset. Expectations were not properly aligned for both parties to be successful.

Make sure you go above and beyond at every point possible to ensure that everyone is on the same page. This goes a LONG WAY with your clientele.

Let’s circle back to the open and honest approach. This part of the communication is VITAL in a sales roll. If there is a particular product that is tough to get working, or you have difficulty delivering, make sure you make that known on the front end. If there is a particular individual that you struggle to get support from, make that known to your client, or perhaps avoid selling that solution altogether. Saying / making things like this known will go incredibly far with your client.

People tend to have short memories when you help them. They NEVER FORGET when they feel burned.

The SYSTEMS BIBLE by John Gall, does an excellent job of communicating the breakdowns between people and companies. Quick read, hilarious, and well worth checking out. Here are a few of my favorite quotes that have to do with human beings and systems (corporations) at large:

THINGS (THINGS GENERALLY/ ALL THINGS/ THE WHOLE WORKS) ARE INDEED NOT WORKING VERY WELL. IN FACT, THEY NEVER DID

IF ANYTHING CAN GO WRONG, IT WILL

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO NOT COMMUNICATE

THE MEANING OF A COMMUNICATION IS THE BEHAVIOR THAT RESULTS

Now, think about your experience. How true are the above points? So true! The rules apply to everything and everyone - family, friends, corporations, everyone.

We’re imperfect. The companies we work for are imperfect. The systems we’re a part of are not working well, and indeed they never did! The solutions we offer are imperfect. It’s a part of life, and certainly a part of your job. Know that. Understand your client knows that. It’s your job to MANAGE EXPECTATIONS and broken systems as best as possible!

Here are the best ways to manage expectations:

1 - Figure out ROOT CAUSE

The single most important aspect of managing expectations is making sure you have the correct expectations in mind. ASK QUESTIONS.
Financially driven? Is this strictly a timing issues? Long term or short term vision? Are they currently down, causing mission critical failures, etc?
Figure out what is most vitally important to your client for each particular scenario and work around that point.

2 - Have a concrete understanding of the timeline

This is by far the most common misstep and needs to be avoided.
Does this REALLY need to be done today? Or can it potentially wait?

3 - Under-promise and Over-deliver

Self explanatory here. If you think something is possible in 5 days, set expectations it’ll take about 7-10. No one gets upset with early delivery. They get mad the second its late.

4 - Over-communicate (both good AND bad news)

In the above circumstance, lets say you were an idiot and accidentally gave them a 5 day delivery time. 4 day in, you realize that it is indeed going to take 7 days. What do you do in that scenario? IMMEDIATELY TELL THEM ITS GOING TO BE LATE.
Now, you’re likely going to have a relatively unhappy person on the other end of the phone, but potentially not! It’s amazing how much more willing people are to work with you as long as you are communicating and keeping them in the loop.
Your life will improve dramatically by simply communicating when things are happening behind the scenes, both good and bad. Implement this practice immediately, both personally and professionally.

Perception is reality.

In sales, we operate in a world of gray - there is little black and white. Because of this gray area, we’re able to create realities in the sales world. By setting proper expectations and then managing those expectations on a daily basis, your reality, and your clients reality is going to be a positive one 🙂

There is a particular quote that makes perfect sense for expectation management. Read this and let it sink in :

We judge ourselves on our thoughts, we judge others on their actions.

Let that sink in.

We judge ourselves on our thoughts, we judge others on their actions.

See the disconnect there? It’s IMPOSSIBLE to know what other people are thinking, so we can only watch and judge by what they do. Your job as a salesperson is to remove inconsistency in that space. Curate their thoughts to BE THE REALITY. You make this possible by instilling the correct expectations at all times.

Properly manage expectations by:

Figuring out the Root Cause
Understanding the Timeline
Under-promising and Over-delivering
Over-communicating (both good and bad news)