You have a new car that requires a 1,200 initial checkup. You call the service department at your dealer and make an appointment for 7:30 AM to drop off your car. The next morning, you drop off your car and ask if will be ready by noon so you can pick it up during your lunch break. The service manager says "yes, it should be ready by then." So you have a colleague drive you there at lunch only to find out that the car is not ready and won't be done until 3:00 PM. Having now missed lunch and needing to find another ride to the dealer at the end of the day, you're hopping mad.
Now imagine that the same service manager had said, "It will be ready by 5:00 PM, so you can pick it up on your way home." He then calls you at 3:00 PM to say your car is ready early, so you can pick it up when you are ready. You were able to get a ride at 4:00 PM, so this works out fine.
Notice that in both cases, the car is ready at 3:00 PM. However, do you feel the same way about the dealership in both cases? No! In the former case, the dealer has fallen short of your expectations of when the car will be ready. In the latter case, the dealer has exceeded your expectations. Even though the actual performance of completing the work is the same, most people will perceive that the service is better in the second case.
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