Quality Makes Perfect (4): Closing the delivery gap

Most companies assume they are consistently giving customers what they want. Usually they are kidding themselves. When A. James, R.F. Frederick, H. Barney and M. Rob through Bain & Company did a research on 362 firms and they found out that 80% believed they delivered a "superior experience" to their customers. But when they asked customers about their own perceptions, A. Jame et. al heard a very different story. They said that only 8% of companies were really delivering...They also found that the delivery gap exists for two fundamental reasons. The first is the basic paradox in business-Most growth initiatives damage the most important source of sustainable growth- a loyal, profitable customer franchise. The second reason the delivery gap exists is that good relationships are hard to build. It is extremely difficult to understand what customers really want, keep the promises you make to them and maintain the right dialogue to ensure that you adjust your propositions according to the customers' changing or increasing needs. I think both points are certainly true for schools but again we need to conduct a research on that point then only we could be certain with A. James et. al.