There’s a certain question that can be asked that has two meanings, depending on the circumstance. One is positive; the other isn’t. One meaning comes when YOU ASK it. The other meaning is when YOU HEAR it. So what’s the question? What Do You Expect?

Scenario #1: you’re sitting across from a client. The engagement letter is signed and you want to serve your client well. So you ask, “What do you expect?” After all, you can’t meet or exceed expectations if you don’t know what they are. You ask about how to best contact them, how they want to be kept informed, what they want to know and in what format.

Scenario #2: your client has an expectation that you don’t meet…yet again. Because you didn’t ask the question in the beginning, you don’t know what they expect from you. So you missed their deadlines. You didn’t communicate with them the way they wanted and with the frequency they required. So your client rolls their collective eyes, muttering sarcastically, What do you expect?

In their mind, they think you’ve established a pattern of missing deadlines, not communicating, not anticipating, always back peddling, apologizing and making amends. That’s not a very good place to be, especially when you promised better service than that.

When you ask what their expectations are, you show you care. What they want matters to you and you intend to serve well. If you don’t ask, you can only meet your own expectations of what you think they should want. Now, which do you think is more important?

This week, for every client you work on, make sure you and your service team know their expectations. Show them you care. Ask them first so you don’t have to hear it later.