The Pyramid of Expectation

One of the central pillars of a compelling experience is that it exceeds expectations. People are pleased, but not really moved, when their expectations are met. If you don’t meet expectations, you disappoint. But people are really thrilled and motivated to tell others when they’ve had an experience that exceeded their expectations.

Hence this diagram originally drawn up by Joe Pine and James Gilmore in The Experience Economy:

Scaling the pyramid

Customer Sacrifice – the promise was not delivered on. The customer had to sacrifice their expectation for the reality of what they received.

Customer Satisfaction – the promise was kept. Satisfaction is simply what happens when you deliver what you said you would. It shouldn’t be the goal – it should be the minimum.

Customer Surprise – the promise was exceeded. The expectation was surpassed, and the customer was pleasantly surprised. A good company will be so geared towards great service that surprise happens regularly.

Customer Suspense – the experience of anticipating an experience. When customers are used to being surprised, they begin to anticipate it. This is where the great companies live. Apple is the clearest example: they have learnt how to manage expectations so masterfully that people anticipate each product launch months before it happens.

How does this help?

Knowing where you are on this scale, you can use it to manage expectations to your advantage. And managing expectations – rather than just meeting them – is the real art.