"Put him to bed and let him cry himself to sleep." Those were the ominous words my mother heard from the doctor after realizing she had created an expectation monster with yours truly.

It started innocently enough. When she brought me home from the hospital, she fed me while sitting in a rocking chair. I apparently liked the rocking motion and became increasingly demanding of quality rocking time with my Mom. Eventually I was holding her hostage, insisting on being rocked every waking moment.It took some time to break the habit–a painful period for my larynx and my parents' eardrums, I'm told. They would put me to bed and then flee outside to the porch to escape the sound of my evident displeasure. Yet eventually my expectations were altered, and things got back to normal.So what does this have to do with the business of business? Business is all about the creation and subsequent management of expectations.Expectations are the underpinning of our society, particularly in business. Business owners have expectations of their clients, employees and vendors. Clients have expectations of the companies with which they do business. Employees have expectations of their employers and, to a certain degree, customers. Problems arise because we often don't know what the expectations are, and the expectations are constantly changing.My mother thought she was dealing with a horrendous situation, but as far as expectations go, she had it easy: She was managing a single expectation based upon a single sensory input. The management of expectations in business is far more convoluted and difficult. Expectations do not spring from a lone input but grow from many experiences. These experiences are not restricted to a particular business or industry; they're formed throughout the consumer's entire life.For years I'd tell agency owners that Walt Disney was their biggest competitor because he was a master at exceeding expectations. He created a generation of consumers who learned their expectations could not only be met but exceeded. That expectation carried over into other areas of business.Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, Disney is no longer your biggest competitor. The Internet has leveled the playing field and continues to reshape it. Google came out of nowhere to become the primary search engine by exceeding what we had previously come to expect. Amazon.com has overhauled the retail consumer experience–not only in ease of shopping, but also in predictive technology. Amazon seems to know what we want before we do.Aside from these industry giants, the Internet has presented today's savvy consumer with a world of competing choices. The electronic highway places big and small on an equal footing. And sometimes the little guy is quicker on the draw when it comes to handling electronic inquiries–a critical component in meeting consumers' expectations of immediacy.Defining customer expectationsYears ago, our firm was conducting focus groups for the Mann Theater chain. Since all theaters usually show the same movies, the purpose was to determine why customers choose one over another. We developed what we thought was an all-inclusive questionnaire. Without exception, every focus group listed these three major concerns that influenced their decision:1) Cleanliness of the restrooms.2) Cleanliness of the theaters.3) Cleanliness of the lobby.Our questionnaire never mentioned cleanliness. These were write-in answers.The lesson is that we cannot predict what the customer is thinking. If we want to know what they expect, we have to ask them.To do so, many agencies implement surveys. These can be good sources of input, provided they're not self-serving (in other words, designed to elicit positive answers about performance for establishing bragging rights). The questions I like to ask, either on a survey or in person, are:1) What are we doing right?2) What are we doing wrong?3) What would you like us to be doing for you?4) What do we need to do in the future to retain your business?Surveys can backfire if you don't follow up. Once you've collected input, be prepared to take action and communicate that action to your customers. If you don't, they'll feel that you didn't really want to know and definitely don't care what they think.My preferred source of client input for an agency is an advisory board, consisting of a wide swath of your customers. Unlike one-dimensional surveys, advisory boards foster discussion, review and analysis. Consensus can be achieved through debating differing opinions. Most important, the board members focus sharp, entrepreneurial minds on your business, becoming vested partners in your success.Results are often surprising. One agency I know of formed an advisory board and immediately learned that their clients had different expectations than they'd imagined. At the board's initial meeting, the agency presented a list of value-added resources for review. The board, comprised of clients with professional liability coverages, dismissed them. Instead, it wanted the agency to deliver the message to the underwriting companies that clients "expected the companies to provide claims defense with the vicious attitude of a junkyard dog." Another time the agency suggested a blog to increase client interaction. The board members explained that they didn't have time to "mess around with that type of interactivity." They much preferred a bulletin board on the Web site that could be easily accessed at will.The crucial aspect of immediacyImmediacy has become one of the greatest expectations of today's consumer, if not the greatest. From payment by credit/debit cards to wireless credit "wands," speed is everything. If service isn't fast enough, consumers will move to a business where it is. Nowhere is this more evident than on the Internet–yet so many businesses have failed to implement speed on their Web sites.Customer options augment speed. For instance, if a Web site offers e-mail contact but no telephone numbers, the company is probably losing business. I've stopped in the middle of filling out an interminable e-mail contact form to place a phone call (to a competing business) instead. The reason: My expectations of response time are extremely low. I figure I'll be lucky if I hear back in a day, if at all. Why? Because that's been my experience.Worse yet is getting an immediate response that says, "We've received your inquiry. Please expect a response in the next 48 hours."Forty-eight hours? The Internet feeds my desire for immediacy. It offers the opportunity to get what I want, when I want it–which is usually right now! I don't want to wait 24 or 48 hours. I don't want to wait at all. Isn't that the point of the Internet?Before you begin offering quotation and information request features on your Web site, however, check out the benchmarks of the insurance industry. Go to Hartford's AARP site or try the sites for USAA, Progressive and other direct writers. See how quickly they respond to e-mail or telephone inquiries. Experience the attitude and expertise of their customer service personnel. I tested Hartford's AARP telephone line once with a request for a homeowners quotation. Within 90 seconds, they were wrapping me up with quotations for homeowners, auto, small business and umbrella. This is your competition, and you must meet the expectations they're creating for the consumer. Don't offer the service until you can compete effectively.Businesses need to begin thinking like emergency medical service providers: Seconds count, or you might lose the patient. We usually can't close the sale in those early moments of digital contact, but we can use our Web site as the "triage room." A triage nurse solicits information about a patient's symptoms, takes vital signs, fills out forms and prepares the patient to see the doctor. Sound familiar? Web site triage is a fact-finding mission, like your first call on a prospect. The difference is the immediacy.The time lapse between triage and action is critical. If it's too long, you lose the patient.Auto dealers recognized this fact early as millions of consumers turned to the Internet. It wasn't good enough to occasionally check for incoming questions, because consumers weren't willing to wait. Most progressive dealerships have anywhere from a single dedicated employee to an entire department catering to Internet customers and prospects. The time between Web site triage and human contact is almost nil. Remember Disney? Every business on the Web that practices immediacy is setting higher and higher expectations for everyone else. If consumers can almost buy a car in 15 minutes, certainly they can buy insurance for it even quicker, right?The race doesn't always belong to the swift, but speed is unquestionably a competitive edge. It tells your client or prospect that you know how important they are and you're acting upon that knowledge. It also positions you as the benchmark by which others will be judged. Needless to say, it's better to be the benchmark than to chase it.Client's bill of rightsAgencies must take responsibility for setting their clients' expectations. I heartily recommend that you create a "client's bill of rights"–not a generic statement prepared by a consultant or association but a personalized list of what a client can expect from you and your organization. I also recommend that you use disclaimer forms, on which clients acknowledge that they decline a coverage you advise them to buy. Beyond E&O considerations, such forms can save you a lot of headaches with your clients down the road.Finally, expectations are continuously evolving. That means you need to periodically redefine what your customers expect from you. Accordingly, you need to develop, maintain and nurture a strong and honest dialogue with your clients. Communication, as always, is key!Jack Burke is president of Sound Marketing Inc., editor of ProgramBusinessNews, host/producer of Audio Insurance Outlook and author of Creating Customer Connections and Relationship Aspect Marketing. Mr. Burke also serves as a presenter/faculty member of the Marketing & Sales Ruble Seminars. He can be reached by phone at (800) 451-8273, by e-mail at [email protected] or via the Internet at www.soundmarketing.com. For information on Dynamics of Selling, call (800) 633-2165 or visit www.TheNationalAlliance.com.