I was having coffee with my sister-in-law the other day, at a delightful café which we occasionally use. We sat outside as we wanted to watch the world go by while we chatted, even though it was quite cool. It was mid morning and I had eaten an early breakfast so I ordered a bacon sandwich with my coffee. I’ve had bacon sandwiches at a wide variety of places ranging from simple cafés, to decent hotels. Many good, some indifferent and the occasional one very poor. Today’s was exceptional, certainly one of the best I have ever had. So much so that after checking that it wasn’t only the appearance that was good – a large bite confirmed it tasted good too – I took the attached picture. The picture shows the splendid offering in all it’s glory, including evidence of my quality testing!
Now this got me thinking at how often we are surprised by the quality of the service or product we are purchasing. My guess is most of the time it is about what we expect, and it therefore becomes a mere commodity. Sometimes it is below the standard we were expecting, and we may grumble a little, probably just to ourselves, and then progress on our way. Sometimes it is well below what we were expecting and we will either complain, or decide not to buy from this supplier again. It is rare we have our expectations exceeded – when we do it is such a delight, as it was on this lovely spring morning. A comment of praise was soon passed to the person looking after us.
Now this got me thinking about the services or products we are buying on a regular basis. Are we happy or have we got into a rut of accepting mediocrity? Not really happy but not disappointed enough to either discuss the issue with the provider, or change.
It also got me thinking about the service I provide to my clients – am I still delighting them? Perhaps I need to ask them, rather than assume that they will let me know if I am letting my standard drop. Or if I am not upping my game for them to remain delighted.
So are you asking some questions:
- Am I getting services and products I am really happy with?
- If I am not happy have I discussed it with the people who could change things?
- If the service is exceptional have I thanked them?
- Are my services and products seen as a commodity, or are they delighting the people I serve?
- Do I need to ask my customers or clients if they are happy?
- What else could I do to make the impact of what I do exceptional?
Food for thought – well it was once I had finished such a wonderful sandwich. I hope it feeds your mind enough to seek some answers too.
My best wishes,
Peter
