The power of setting expectations
3 May 2007
“Wow” says Joe as his body starts to stop shaking. “That was really a tough call for me. I knew there would be name calling and I would be the whipping post, but he really chewed me up.”
“Joe, I’ve never seen you handle anything like this the way you did tonight! You really were in control of this guy! You need to feel good about this.” Exclaimed his wife.
“Did I come across to strong at the end when the new expectations were set? I’ve just never really done that before.” Queries Joe.
“Where did that come from Joe, I wish the other side of the conversation could have been heard. Did you really did get him to agree to do what you wanted in the end?” asks his wife.
“Yes he did and now I’m going to hold him to it, just like I will with every customer from now on.” Is Joe’s confident response.
So what is it that Joe is doing differently to effectively handle the tough situations he comes up against? What has created this new confidence in his communications and position in the situation? …….
So let’s ask Joe about this situation and how he took a different approach to get a different result.
Joe is in the Agricultural Equipment business and this customer had been converted to Joe’s equipment from another competitive line and distributor. The son, Billy, was a high tech type of guy and is always looking at how technology can be applied. The customers Father, Ed is very old school and seems to grab every opportunity to bash the new ideas.
The new piece of equipment had some advanced high tech global positioning equipment integrated into it. As the company’s tech, Aaron was uploading the programming for the customer one of the computers failed and that caused the other to also fail! They could not set the base line program for all the other activities that needed to follow this baseline for the rest of the season.
NO production work that day!
If you’re not familiar with the Agricultural Industry, the weather will provide either nice long windows of production opportunity or very small windows along with lots of stress. These guys were on a deadline!
Aaron called Joe, who is about 100 miles away on the other end of his territory, as soon as he had the problem to let him know what had happened. Both Joe and Aaron went to work to find a solution, but it was going to be a day before the new parts were going to arrive. (Have you ever had one of those days?)
It was late afternoon by the time the final solution was determined and Aaron told Billy and Ed the situation. Aaron calls Joe and says, “Ed is out for blood, think his blood pressure is in the 200 range and he wants your body parts for trophies!”
Joe is pacing knowing the call is going to come and he will be the whipping post on this deal.
He reflects on the tools he has just picked up in the Leadership Strategies Program and applies Outcome Based Thinking first. Joe determines he may lose this new customer over this and accepts that possibility. Then he takes a more long term and broader look at the situation and comes up with a strategy using several other tools.
Joe continues to evaluate the situation from the personalities involved and how that dynamic could be to his advantage. He also determines what expectations need to be set on both sides of the issue as well as how to lead Ed to these expectations.
After about 30-45 minutes of thinking and writing, (he just learned these tools so some prep was necessary), Joe doesn’t wait, and he picks up the phone and calls Ed.
Billy answers and indicates Ed is hot and wants to talk. Ed gets on the phone and for 10 minutes Joe is berated, told never to step foot on the property again and several other not so charming comments.
It’s when Ed starts in on Aaron the tech, that Joe gets his strategy into play. “Hold on Ed, you can whip me all you want, that is part of my job. But when you go after the best tech in the region and a person I will and do stake my reputation on every day, you’ve crossed the line. This is an equipment failure, not a people failure, so let’s talk about getting you productive.” (note how there are two expectations being set)
“He’s the best tech in the region?” asks Ed.
“Yes he is. It’s very rare if he does not get things going and he has even taught the factory engineers a thing or two. Who would you want working on your equipment?” is Joe’s response.
“Ok, so when is my equipment going to be moving?” huffs Ed.
Joe lays out the time table for the parts to arrive, Aaron to get the installation and setup completed and indicates Billy and Ed will be fully operational by 2pm.
“Now Ed, this is what you can expect from us. Here is what I expect from you.” states Joe.
“Oh, and that is?” ask Ed curiously.
“As soon as Aaron arrives you are to leave him completely alone, you and Billy will stay away from him and allow him to do his job without interference or comment. If not, he has my permission to leave and go elsewhere.” States Joe in a confident tone.
“Ah, wha, um” stammers Ed, “He’ll have it running by 2 at the latest? “
“Yes as long as you keep your side of the expectations.” Joe calmly replies.
“Ok, I just want the equipment working.” Quips Ed.
The 20 minute phone call ends and Joe takes a very deep breath.
Did you pick out where Joe was stating and setting expectations throughout the conversation?
· He had personal expectations before the call. It was going to be tough, might lose…
· He had set an expectation that Aaron would not be an issue.
· He had set an expectation that this was about equipment, not people.
· He had set an expectation for Ed and the schedule.
· He had set an expectation from Aaron’s perspective that Ed would stay away.
How might this have been different if Joe had not planned this out and had several clear expectations for both parties?
Where did these expectations come from? Outcome Based Thinking is the starting point along with being able to read and understand the personalities involved. Then add an understanding of the 10 Laws of Persuasion and especially the Law of Expectancy.
The biggest challenge was probably not applying the tools Joe used, rather Joe overcoming his own past behavior and beliefs in these situations. He had defiantly stepped out of his comfort zone on this one and it showed the next day in his positive expectant attitude. The tools help him develop a strategy that gave him more confidence and a plan to follow.
By the way, Joe gets a call just before noon and the unit is in full production.
Joe now has expectations set for both sides on every sale, how about you?
Want your abilities to grow like Joe’s? Take a look at the Leadership Strategies Program on the web site. This program is available in-house or some public offerings.
Till next week, Keep thinking, Keep planning, Keep implementing!
To your continued success!
www.busarconline.com www.thesellinggap.com
Harlan Goerger
National Director of Training
© Harlan Goerger, 5/07
