The Essence of Client Fulfillment: Keeping Your Promises
Client fulfillment is nothing more than doing what you said you would for your customers. It's keeping your promises. Consistently. Predictably. Time after time. You should do more than you promised whenever you're able, but you can't do less and stay in business. Not in the long run.
The simple act of being in business is a promise. It says you are here to provide something of value, and to receive fair compensation in exchange.
Oh, you can make occasional mistakes. That's human and forgivable. Your loyal customers will usually overlook an occasional lapse. But you can't frequently make mistakes and you can't consistently sell poor products or give poor service without betraying your customers.
And what about your first-time customers? Do you think they will be as forgiving if they don't get what they thought they were going to get? Customers experience a joy in having their expectations met or exceeded. You hear it in their voices, sense it in their body language. It's true even of seemingly trivial products and services. You know instantly when you're dealing with a business that takes pride in what it does. You see helpful, knowledgeable people providing products that look good, taste good, feel good, and work well.
Certainly, none of this is news to you, but it's surprising how many businesses are unaware of their true impact on their customers. They know often what's right, but they can lose sight of it, and when they do, things deteriorate.
So, when you get right down to the bare essentials as seen by your customers, you're actually in business to:
1) keep your promises
2) provide something of value.
That's client fulfillment.
