Yesterday I turned off our cable TV service (keeping our broadband internet) and returned the equipment to the cable provider.  As I placed the digital cable box on the office counter the cable company representative said, ‘I am sorry.’  Sorry about what I thought?  Sorry that I am customizing the service to meet my needs?  Sorry that I will paying less money? The sorry was intended for the cable company, not me as a customer.  When a client interacts with our enterprise and we may have expectations about their needs that are not in alignment with the customer’s intentions.  We apologize or become frustrated when we believe they are not getting maximum value from our cause.  Yet in may be that they are receiving everything they desire and our sorry is misplaced and possibly awkward.

How do you measure and gauge your client’s needs?