Lisa and I had a conversation in Carmel this past weekend about how we’ve gotten used to lowering our expectations. Because of our fast-food, microwave, drive-through, fast-paced-I-want-it-now society we’ve had to adjust what our definition or a good service experience is.

Is the food hot? Whew. Ok, at least it’s hot. I guess I can overlook the fact that they took 15 minutes to bring it to me and the waiter looks bored out of his mind.

It’s so rare these days that our expectations are met let alone surpassed that when it happens it’s truly remarkable. It’s the times when they not only bring your food out hot and quick but they’re friendly and give you a free dessert? That’s something you tell your friends about.

In the car after leaving yet another sub-par restaurant that failed to live up to my very low expectations Lisa asked me, When was the last time someone or something actually exceeded your expectations?

The first thing that came to mind was the Catalyst conference I go to every year in Atlanta. Each year I attend my expectations are higher because of my previous experience and each year I’m blown away by how they continue to surpass the previous year. Here are some examples:

• A couple of years ago after I registered I began receiving free books in the mail because I had registered more than two people. I think I got over $75 worth of books that year…completely unadvertised. I actually started looking forward to checking the mail!
• During the breaks at the conference they had free 15 minute massages
• Special speakers they brought in that weren’t on the schedule (a couple years ago they had Jeff Foxworthy)
• The early birds who showed up on the first day of the conference got picked up in stretch limos and dropped off on the red carpet where they had free omlet stations set up!
• Impromptu dodge-ball fights with 10,000+ people!

The case in point here is that organizations who surpass expectations create buzz among their customers. They create a sense of anticipation that makes them ask, I wonder what they’re going to do next? I don’t think I need to spell out the lessons to be learned for your church or organizations here.
When was the last time a business or organization surpassed your expectations?

(for extra reading, check out the flip side of this coin, “The Problem With Perfect” over on Seth Godin’s blog)