I must say that I'm a fan of the Right Now Economy. I want my coffee right now. I want my food right now. I want my download right now. I want that new feature right now. I want my everything right now. I am impatient, picky, demanding, and...right on par with everyone else today. That's what the Right Now Economy is all about. It's about getting what you want, how you want, when you want. I love it, at least when I'm the customer.
In the words of Veruca Salt,
I don't care how, I want it now!As someone who manages nearly one thousand program changes and countless support calls every year, I completely understand the mentality. Our customers want answers to questions, help with issues, bugs fixed, and new features rolled out as soon as possible.
And they should.
Isn't that what we've trained them to expect? By attempting to deliver the best possible customer experience, we've accelerated our response times to near-zero and shifted the expectations of our customers to levels that are nearly impossible to meet on a consistent basis. And the customers (that includes me and you) thrive on it. They want it, and the more they get it, the more they expect it.
Of course, there are good eggs and bad eggs; customers that understand realistic response times, and customers that want everything yesterday. What's important to realize is how your customers respond doesn't really matter if they're all operating under the same set of expectations.
Where Does That Put Us?
It puts us in a pickle. A customer experience pickle, to be exact. The Right Now Economy has changed our expectations. Customers' expectations are higher than ever, which means their perception of the interactions they have with us are skewed towards that mentality. Fail to deliver on a promise, or an expectation (real or not), and watch the Right Now Economy really kick into gear. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networks provide a real-time fire hose of negative reactions. Some are warranted, some are not. Most are just byproducts of an expectation that failed to be met.When expectations are set too high, the customer experience is sure to suffer.
If perception is key to customer experience, and expectations are key to perception, then what can we do to manage those expectations?
Communication is Key
Setting expectations and clearly communicating them up front is your greatest weapon against the Right Now Economy. If you can set expectations at a level that is reasonable for you and your customers, then exceeding those expectations becomes much easier in the long run. Consistently exceeding expectations will create customer loyalty and evangelists for your brand. Will there be customers who always expect too much? Of course. It's up to you to figure out what to do with them. Willy Wonka would advise you to throw them down the garbage chute, but you'd never do anything like that, now would you?The key takeaway: The Right Now Economy is no match for setting clear expectations and exceeding them.
