Customer dissatisfaction comes primarily from missed expectations. You expect hot coffee but it is cold. You expect stocks to go up but they fall. You expect the car to run but it dies.

The answer is to set expectations; but there has to be a balance between giving the customer the most likely outcome and preparing them for the worst possible outcome. Also, it is in our nature to exaggerate what we hear, because we expect that we are being told lies. If someone says two days, you think four days. Someone says it will only cost 1000 dollars, then you think 2000 because cost overruns typically double.

What if you ship something overseas and it typically takes four days but could take four weeks? Do you tell the customer to expect it in four weeks? Obviously, if 99% of the time it gets there in four days you say four days.

My philosophy is that you strive to set expectations based only on facts. If you do not know how long it will take to make something do not give a date based on a wild guess. Make it an educated guess. The moment facts are revealed that will change that expectation from truth to fiction then you should inform the customer…but only if it truly will most likely change the outcome from the expectation.

As an example, let us decide to build a house in eight weeks. In week two, there are delays that will most likely cause the house to be delayed by a week. However, you know that this could be made up by available slack time in the next few weeks. Do you tell the customer now or wait?

What will be the impact to the customer?

The best way to set the expectation is to do it in an objective manner offering a solution immediately leaving the customer no room to imagine a disaster. For example, you could say, “In week two we had delays that caused us to halt construction for five days. We are confident we can get back on schedule in weeks 2 and 3 and we will keep you informed of our progress so you can plan.”

You could also not say anything because you built in the slack for this eventuality and while the project is behind schedule, you are not certain that the deadline will be missed. You still plan to be on track. The moment the deadline will most likely be missed, then that is the time you must set the proper expectation in the customer’s mind.

People need the safety of information. They do not want surprises and need the opportunity to make alternative plans. Set expectations and your customers will appreciate it. They have a tendency to be more forgiving and this builds trust.