The temperatures are rising, the schools’ parking lots are empty, and the cry from the local playground is, “Freedom!”

Yes, school is out for the summer. The evidence is everywhere and expectations for the greatest vacation of all time are high, which is very much like getting new customers. Someone hears some incredible things about your company, they start getting excited, and the expectations rise.

However, with those expectations come some obligations on your part. You have to meet those great expectations. So where do you start?

First, don’t make promises/guarantees that you can’t fulfill. Failure to make good on a promise marks you as a liar, one of the worst labels to receive.

If your customer can’t trust you, they won’t do business with you unless there is no one else is available, the sky is falling down, and they are on their deathbed. Honesty truly is the best policy. Customers appreciate it beyond measure and are more likely to do business with you again when you do them the courtesy of telling them the truth.

Next, give them options. There isn’t a person alive who doesn’t love options and when it comes to working with businesses and buying products, consumers want their options.

When something goes wrong, for example, some people want to take care of things on their own schedule and would rather turn in an incident ticket online than spend half a day with a phone attached to their ear. Others prefer to have a live person on the end of the phone or chat-line. A successful business owner will be able to accommodate both preferences.

(Side note: PhaseWare’s Customer Service Software package includes LiveChat along with the self-service portal to open up customer options.)

Lastly, utilize all forms of communication without overdoing it. Like cayenne pepper, a little goes a long way. Put in too much and the customer will spit it out, or ignore the item you send them.

Nobody likes getting junk mail, spam, or seeing a thousand Facebook posts by the same person all in one day. If you send too much snail mail, the customer will see your name on the envelope and automatically toss it out without looking inside. If you send too much e-mail, they’ll mark it as spam and have it automatically deleted. If you overdo the posts on Facebook/Twitter/MySpace, they’ll just permanently “hide” your posts.

You want to keep your customers informed, not annoyed.

These three suggestions are only the beginning of what you can do to meet customer expectations. Remember, you aren’t the only one trying to get the customers’ attention, so get creative and stand out.