This morning I bit into a bagel with tomato and cream cheese. The problem was that the tomato wasn’t a tomato, it was a smoked salmon. I almost gagged to death.
It’s not that I don’t like smoked salmon (I actually love it), it’s that I wasn’t expecting it. Our brains are wired to anticipate certain sensations and experiences when we do something, and when our expectations aren’t met, their is an initial jolt. An immediate discomfort. It may only be temporary or it may last forever. But either way, jolting your customers is not a good idea.
When you deliver your product or service (or bagel), make sure you have met your customers expectations. If you don’t, you have set them up to be jolted.
