Gain a better understanding of how to build relationships by managing customer expectations.

Recently, I was in a business-to-business (B2B) sales training meeting and the facilitator asked the group 'when you think about sales, what are you trying to get better at?' 95% of the class answered that they want to get better at closing sales. The next thing the trainer facilitator said shocked and bewildered me. He said 'the problem with closing a sales is not a 'closing problem' but an 'opening problem.' In other words, by not setting the proper expectations with your customer at the start of the relationship is the reason why most sales professionals can't close deals. While this topic is not focused on improving your sales skills, I believe the analogy is apropos --- setting and agreeing upon the right expectations at the start of any customer relationship is critical for managing customer expectations as the relationship evolves. The goal of this material is to provide practical tips to customer practitioners to improve service delivery and customer expectations especially during moments of truths.