Managing Expectations

I got a great lesson last week in managing expectations. In this case, the client thought we would deliver one thing, we thought we were delivering something else.

I know… not an unusual circumstance. It’s the type of thing that can happen in any industry, but it was a good business experience for me.

The problem came up because we didn’t layout for the client in advance how we’d achieve what they needed us to do. They asked us, can you deliver this type of service? We said yes, but we didn’t give them a detailed account of what we would do.

If we had, we would have learned they were actually asking for expertise in an area of video where we’re not experts. Sorry I can’t get into details, but I want to protect this client’s anonymity.

Anyway, the point is communication is a wonderful thing. If we had used a little more of it in this situation, we could have saved  the client and ourselves a headache. The good news is everything is okay and the project will go off without a hitch.

Any good ways you help manage expectations?

–Tony Gnau