 OUR TAKE -
Expectations and The Crisis of Trust
 |
| |
| |
|  | Lasting Impressions:
If you want to see what children can do, you must stop giving them things.
-
Norman Douglas
|
|
What if the initial response to the oil catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico was: "Offshore drilling is a dangerous activity with potential undesirable consequences now actualized. While we need to learn the full cause of this catastrophe to avoid it happening in the future, our immediate focus is two-fold: stop the leak and mitigate damages as quickly as possible. This is an unprecedented disaster so we do not know at this time how or when the problem will be brought under control. This situation may require the resources of many companies, various government agencies, and the worldwide industry expertise of the science and engineering communities. And regardless of how bad the news might turn out to be, we will provide full disclosure via daily progress updates until the goals are achieved."
Today, allow me to share why I think this might have been a better place from which to start the communications. Consider these attributes: It is straightforward, brief, and short on adjectives and metaphors. It frames the seriousness of the situation and conveys a sense of ownership. It focuses on solutions not blame. And since no solution can be immediately offered, it promises to keep everyone informed until such time.
This is about setting expectations. In most cases, it is better to set low expectations and come back with better news than to constantly whittle away at high expectations. This case shows how deteriorating expectations can create a crisis of trust and the perception of a slow crawl towards the truth.
In tomorrow's column, I will tackle some additional aspects of this case as it relates to crisis of trust in customer advocacy. Until then, what's your take?
Gary Lemke, Publisher
|
|
|
Action Center
 Free Subscription
Submit Content
Industry Events
Webcasts
Archive
Cool CRM
|
 NEW IN CRM
Article: Differentiate the Value Your Customers Are Assigning You
In a challenging economy, most companies shift their focus to a survival mode and pursue every dollar of revenue — at any cost. While this approach may be effective in the short term, its long-term implications are severe and can yield significant margin compression and profit loss. Companies must adopt more strategic approaches and best practices to get more business while sustaining their margins. Effective pricing is a critical strategy to help address this challenge, yet it is traditionally underutilized by even the most sophisticated organizations. However, over the past few years, pricing has gained significant momentum due to three key factors.(DestinationCRM
)
News: PBworks Announces Customer Relationship For Collaborative CRM
PBworks, a provider of hosted collaboration solutions for business and education, announced the launch of PBworks Customer Relationship Edition, which extends CRM solutions such as Salesforce.com by offering shared online workspaces for collaborating with customers and prospects throughout the entire customer lifecycle. PBworks Customer Relationship Edition provides a persistent, shared environment that companies can use with their customer throughout the relationship lifecycle, from prospecting and sales to ongoing account management and support. (PBworks
)
Article: The Evolving Role Of Community And Social Media Managers
Community management is not new. People have been managing communities since communities and user groups were first created. Someone has always had to make sure that the community or user group is humming along like a well-0iled machine. The fast spread of social media has changed the role of a community manager, and has created a profession of a social media manager or social media director. So… what’s the difference between a community and social media manager?(CustomerThink
)
News: Interactive Intelligence Names "Outrageous Interactions" Winner
Interactive Intelligence has named the winner of its “Outrageous Interactions” video contest. The winning submission, titled “On Hold” by Tim Merlau, fictitiously depicts a customer named “Dan” who’s been on hold since January 2005. From the very first scene with a disheveled Dan in a bathrobe cradling the phone in his hand like a third appendage, this video spoofs the experience of being on hold.(Interactive Intelligence
)
Didn't read the last edition of CRMAdvocate? Click
here to see what you missed.
| | |
| | |
