Hype For Apple’s Ipad And Setting Proper Expectations For Your Clients

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ipad Hype For Apples Ipad And Setting Proper Expectations For Your Clients

The Apple Ipad: Unreasonable Expectations?

This is a great quote from the Awl on the hype surrounding Apple’s Ipad announcement:

I’m a little taken aback by the immediate and vocal lack of enthusiasm for the product. What does it lack? What was everyone hoping for that did not materialize? This is a very rough thought that I may or may not refine, so take it as such, but the iPad is a lot like Barack Obama: Everyone was able to project their own fantasies and aspirations on a product with which they were mostly unfamiliar, only to sour on it once they realized that it did not live up to their impossible expectations. Only with the iPad it took about seven minutes for the disappointment to set in. I don’t know what that says about our accelerated culture or how we confuse hype and excitement for the tangible realities of life, but it says something. I mean, probably. Like I said, I’m still trying to work it all out.

Now let me start out by saying that the hype for a new Apple product, like the Ipad, is supposed to be over the top. They want a ton of attention and build-up for their product. It sells more of them. That being said, it does teach us a lot about expectation setting for our legal clients. Perhaps in the case of the Ipad, the lofty expectations are the fault of the media and consumers, not Apple. However, we can see how quickly word spreads in today’s digital age when even a few people’s expectations are not met. It only emphasizes to me how important it is that you are setting proper expectations for your clients.

Client Expectation Setting

Our culture is short on attention and short on patience. There is a sense of entitlement and lofty expectations with regards to the level of service a professional should provide. However, often with professional services, the value placed on those services is a matter of perception. The perception of your legal service can be influenced with proper expectation setting.

Competition for new clients is fierce and only getting more intense. It is more important than ever before that your clients have a good experience with your firm. Word of mouth referrals and happy clients are the best way to grow your practice. One of the best ways to have a happy client is to properly set their expectations as to the experience they can expect with your firm. If you do what they expect….and then a little more, you will have a created the best kind of marketing your firm can get, a satisfied customer. The cliche “under promise and over deliver” really does work. Unfortunately, I think in today’s age of hype this isn’t practiced as often as it should be.

Don’t fall into the trap of telling a prospect everything they want to hear in order to make the sale. Give them realistic expectations so that their perception of what you can achieve is an accurate one. Then when you deliver what they were expecting, and hopefully a little more, they are a happy customer.

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