Ep18: The Agony and Ecstasy of High Expectations

This week, Jodi and Eliot talk about the psychology of loss, VIP sections, and goldfish the size of a continent, terrorizing the ocean. It all makes sense in the context of the divide between your own expectations, and those of your clients.

Why is all of that important for business?

Many businesses and events have a system that allows clients and participants to engage at different levels. But what happens when these levels inadvertently cause valued clients or peers to feel unappreciated?

This all relates to the psychology of loss. If you have different levels of service or product, how can you address the psychology of loss without making people feel less satisfied with what they have already received, while still demonstrating the value of the higher level?

There are many places where customers set their own expectations, and it is a challenge to navigate those unspoken – but never promised - expectations. Nature abhors a vacuum, and in the absence of certain information, people will fill in their own information and their own expectations.

Like goldfish, if you put them in a bigger container, expectations often get bigger.

Ronald Reagan used to stress the importance of speaking positively – framing situations in terms of what people can do, not what they can’t. Sometimes this framing prevents this disappointment.

Business owners: How do you gage, evaluate and respond to your clients’ expectations and the potential mismatch between the perceived value and worth of what you are bringing and what they are getting out of the exchange.

How can you anticipate where your most important clients might feel this psychology of loss? How can you ensure that they feel in control of moving out of that place of loss?

But beware: there is a careful dance you have to do with feedback. It is all important, but you have to remember to “Eat the fish, spit out the bones”.  You have to practice responding to the nutritious and meaningful parts, and know that part is not for you to respond to, but to spit out. There is a point when not everyone is a fit.

How do you make people really happy with the decision they have already made, while maintaining the gap to want to move up the ranks if that is a better fit?

What story do you want to tell?

So we told you our story – now it’s time to tell us yours! How big is your goldfish?

Go to SoHeresMyStory.com and share your story.

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