• by Robert C. Johnson , March 10, 2016

Companies today are more focused than ever on delivering a great customer experience, and rightly so — a business that consistently satisfies and delights customers gains an incredible competitive advantage. There are many components involved in getting the customer experience right, particularly in the business-to-business (B2B) space, but perhaps none are as important as skillfully managing customer expectations.

Think about it from the customer’s point of view. Would you trust a business that promised to get back to you by a certain time or perform a service by a specific date and then failed to deliver? How about a company that outlined one solution to a problem and then implemented a completely different fix? In either scenario, the business risks destroying hard-won trust. 

The most effective way to maintain customer trust and ensure satisfaction is to manage their expectations at every stage of the transaction and lifecycle. Here are five strategies you can use to manage customer service expectations and set your B2B relationships up for success:

1. Be up front about your approach to resolving issues. It’s a good idea to be candid with customers and give them an indication of the issue’s scope and complexity by reviewing possible solutions with them. When a knowledgeable, engaging support agent runs through a list of possible actions to solve a problem, it signals to customers that the agent is including them as part of the solution and is not trying to hide anything. As an added benefit, it lets the customer know how simple or complex the problem is, which supports the timeline the agent proposes for resolution.

2. Be clear about the problem-solving time frame. When B2B customers are waiting for you to resolve a software bug or address another issue, it’s natural for them to be impatient. After all, they rely on your product or service. That’s why it’s so important to be realistic about the timeline you provide when you’re working on a fix. If you say it will be ready in a week and it takes a week and a half instead, you’ll lose trust. Instead, let customers know when you will be in contact, build leeway into your estimated resolution time frame and keep your contact informed if anything changes along the way. 

3. Always be honest and transparent. It’s incredibly important to be open and honest with B2B customers when working with them to reach a solution. Otherwise, you’ll not only squander the trust you’ve built with that specific contact, you may undermine the entire business relationship. Make sure your customers trust you by being transparent at all phases of the resolution process. If agents don’t know how to fix an issue themselves, they shouldn’t be afraid to let the customer know they will be collaborating with a colleague to resolve it. Keeping secrets is never good for a relationship — that applies in business too.

4. Be an optimist but also a realist. Naturally, it’s a good idea for agents to project confidence and optimism when interacting with customers. But it’s important not to get too carried away and allow optimism to lead to overpromising. Support agents should have the knowledge and resources to understand the complexities of the problem, grasp the impact on the team’s workload and know approximately how much time it will take to resolve the issue. It can be daunting to tell a client that an issue will take longer to resolve than the customer originally expected, but it’s important to make sure the client has a realistic view of the situation.

5. Follow up frequently. Another important component of excellent customer support is regular follow-up. Most complex resolutions will take place in stages, and customers appreciate being kept informed about how their solution is progressing. Agents should set expectations for follow-up early in the process and make sure they keep commitments to stay in touch. It’s also a good idea to follow up after the resolution is implemented to ensure everything is still working smoothly.

Managing your customers’ expectations is a critical component of delivering a great customer experience. It can be more complex when you’re dealing with B2B customers, since it’s not just the single ticket you have to keep in mind — the broader business relationship can hang in the balance as well. But with the right tools and strategies, you can make sure your customers stay happy, informed and engaged.