Meeting the Client's Expections ... Do We REALLY Want to Do That?

In watching an episode of "The Apprentice" this past week, I heard a great line that should be a part of every business person's philosophy and vocabulary.

First, I am a BIG fan of this show. Every week, I pick up a little Donald Trump insight and expertise pertaining to business, dealing with people, strategy and more. It is one of the great free classrooms of business that I know of. And come on, let's get real .... its Donald Trump expertise, for goodness sakes!

This week, Trump's son, Donnie Trump, visited one of the teams who were planning a large golf outing at one of Trump's golf courses. One of the team members expressed concern about "meeting everyone's expectations."

Donnie said to her, "Oh you never meet everyone's expectations." And then there was a slight pause during which the team members seemed to laugh with agreement. Donnie then continued and said, "You always exceed them here."

Wow, did I sit up and take notice of that line! Yes! We should ALL be thinking that way. Sadly, too many businesses take the same road that everyone else takes. The road to mediocrity.

How many mission and vision statements have we read in which a company proclaims they will "meet or exceed customer expectations"? It is the very reason I'm never impressed by mission statements .... they all tend to say the same mediocre thing.

Will your business can be like everyone else, who lackadaisically believes, "Eh ... meet it, exceed it. Same thing." Or will your business have a mission statement that follows the Trump viewpoint of "We will never meet a customer's expectation. We will always exceed a customer's expectation."


Excellence costs no more than mediocrity ---- Donald Trump