Customer Service Speed Traps

At the end of a conference I attended, buses lined up to take conference-goers to the airport. Anticipating long lines at the airport, I raced to the first bus, leaping over luggage and zigzagging around people. I handed over my luggage to be stowed in the baggage compartment, hopped on the bus, and began to mentally pace.

Time passed, but the bus didn't depart. I realized that I should have taken a cab, but my suitcase was buried under heaps of luggage. I had no choice but to sit tight.

Managing My Expectations

When the bus driver got on, I asked him whether we'd make it to the airport within an hour. "Unlikely," he said. "The chances are very small. You might as well forget it."

I became anxious; I really didn't want to miss my flight.

As we departed, the bus driver announced that he knew how eager we were to make our flights and he'd get us to the airport as quickly as possible. Fifteen minutes into the trip, he declared that we were entering a speed trap, and he was taking a really big chance, but he knew we were in a rush so he'd risk it.

Twenty minutes later, we reached the airport with time to spare. I was enormously grateful and gave the driver a big tip. Make that a very big tip. It wasn't till later that I realized the driver's clever strategy: He had skillfully (some might say deviously) managed my expectations.

After all, he had told me before we even left that we wouldn't make it within an hour. So if I had gotten off the bus and taken a cab, he'd have been rid of one potentially pesky passenger. On the other hand, if I stayed on the bus and we arrived late, well, he had warned me.

Most important, we arrived with time to spare. And he knew we would. I'm pretty sure of that. He earned himself a big tip from this grateful passenger and probably several others.

In lowering my expectations, the driver had protected himself against the unlikely possibility that something would prevent him from making good time. Such as having to creep through that (alleged) speed trap. Yet, I suspect he was familiar enough with this route to know that when (not if) we arrived sooner than he'd led us to believe, he'd be tipped accordingly for his on-time delivery.

Here's a Tip for You

Unlike this bus driver, many eager-to-please people make overly optimistic commitments to their customers. Is it any surprise that when these people hit their own speed traps and have to adjust their commitments, their customers become upset? After all, from the customer's perspective, a promise was made, but not honored.

Sometimes, it's better to minimize the expectations you create.

Of course, if you exceed expectations, you can be justifiably pleased. Just be aware that you could be setting the stage for customer dissatisfaction because of what I've dubbed the Expectations Norm. That is, expectations quickly adjust to match an increased level of service, and if service then drops from this new high, customer satisfaction plummets. Customers experience a decline in service from that high level as much worse than when that lower level of service was the norm.

So, if I ever run into this bus driver again under similar circumstances, I will expect on-time delivery (of me to the airport). I'll tell him it's necessary if I'm to remain a satisfied customer. That'll be a tip he can count on.