Perception is 9/10ths Reality – Managing Customer Expectations and Perception

Mind GamesHow much easier would your job be if you could use the Jedi mind trick?  “You are not cold, the temperature is just right.”  “You enjoy your gray cubicle with dim lighting.”  “You don’t really need that dry erase board hung today.”  Okay, come back to reality…  The truth is you can’t (or at least shouldn’t) tell a customer what they want or when it is good enough; you have to manage their expectations and perception.  For example, you may think that you and your facility team are rock stars and doing a great job.  However, if your customer shares a different opinion, then you and your team are falling short.  Because, unfortunately, perception is 9/10ths reality and sometimes more…  In this article, we will talk about the importance of managing both of these and tips for doing such.

As discussed in FM360’s last article, Politics & Facility Management, one of the primary jobs of a facility manager is to build & maintain relationships – a key component of which is managing customer expectations and perception.  And frankly, if we want to know what the customer thinks, we have to ask.  We can no longer be in denial.  We cannot use the “man approach” – if we ignore the problem, it doesn’t exist…  And we can’t assume we know what they want or think.  There are multiple ways to ask and surmise this information – informal conversations, formal surveys, and by simply observing.

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