Metrics_ How to Improve Key Business Results - Martin Klubeck [75]
If there's a failure to meet expectations, determine if the occurrence can be prevented in the future. Perhaps a change in process or procedure can eliminate the occurrence.
If results exceed expectations, determine if the occurrence can be replicated—within manageable costs. Since exceeding expectations is not normal, chances are that something else was sacrificed to achieve this level of service or product quality. Either a different service was neglected, extra time was required, or extra expenses were invested. If this is not true, it would not be an anomaly, it would be the norm. And it would be within the customers' expectations.
There is a small nuance differentiating targets and the upper limit of expectations. If you consistently exceed expectations, then either your determination of what the customer expects is not ambitious enough or your service/product quality levels are such that the customer will truly expect more from you.
The scenario I gave about my expectations in re-setting my password was true. But if I were to discuss my expectations of a third-party delivery for a product I bought online vs. my expectations for Amazon.com's Prime sales (two-day, free delivery), they would be extremely different. As would be my expectations if I paid for overnight delivery vs. standard shipping. Overall though, whenever I see that a product I purchased is supplied by Amazon (vs. a third-party choice), I have higher expectations of the speed of delivery and the quality of the packaging.
The same will happen with your customers if you consistently exceed expectations. The question is: can you afford to do so consistently? The best-case scenario is that you are exceeding expectations because of a change to your processes or procedures. If your continuous process improvement efforts (Total Quality Management, Kaizen, or Six Sigma, for example) are successful, you may be delivering better and faster than before, without degrading other services or increasing costs.
If this were a “target,” management would look at even one occurrence in which you exceeded the target and demand that you do so increasingly often each year. Or it may raise the target the next year.
When you exceed expectations, it is as much an anomaly as when you fail to meet them. Granted, the customer is not dissatisfied, but you will still need to investigate the causes, because your organization may not be able to afford these anomalies. Therefore, don't automatically applaud them as a good thing. Leadership must be as curious about the causes behind exceeding expectations as about failing to meet them. Granted, exceeding suggests that you are not running the business into the ground (Efficiency Measures) or that you are not causing poor customer experiences in other service or product areas. But this is why you cannot afford to push for or reward exceeding expectations.
Meeting expectations is truly the preference.
A more thorough representation of the measure would make the expectations band stand out. And don't use the classic green is good and red is bad style. Figure 8-3 presents a clearer picture of the expectations for cases to be resolved within eight work hours.
Figure 8-3. Neutrally colored expectations
Discovering Expectations
Many times when I'm helping a department define their metrics, the managers don't know the customers' expectations. I usually push and prod with questions like, “What would make your customers dissatisfied?” Or, “What would make them take notice?” I'll use their customer satisfaction surveys (remember, almost everyone already has