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Project managers need to direct attention to: [1] Customer’s BASE expectations (the standard by which perceived performance will be judged) [2] Customer’s perception of ACTUAL performance In the preliminary project-approval phase of negotiations, it’s important *not* to *oversell* the qualities of the project. This will generate unrealistic expectations that may, ultimately, be undeliverable. Sometimes, the project manager/project team may undersell a project to exceed the customer’s expectations in the end. For example, if a project will take 20 days to complete, the customer can be informed that the duration is 24 days. When the project is finished in “only” 20 days, the customer’s expectations have been exceeded. The project manager/project team needs to work closely with the customer once the project is authorized. This way, the customer can be kept up-to-date in terms of progress. One thing to avoid is surprising the customer; advanced notification and honesty are the best policies. Active customer involvement is very important and conveys to the customer a sense of care and commitment. If a customer is dissatisfied, a quick fix of the problem (i.e., quick response time) will change the customer’s feelings to ones of satisfaction. Additional suggestions for dealing with customers are: Speak with one voice: customers should not receive conflicting messages from different project members Speak the language of the customer: don’t use technical jargon that the customers can’t understand.
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