Let’s say you are about to make a phone call to a new client called Jeremy. You’ve never met him, but you knew a Jeremy before and he was not a nice person. They are not the same person, but you can’t help but think about how rude the other Jeremy was.
You get on the phone and guess what – he is just as rude as you expected! The reality is that this Jeremy is a friendly, kind person. Your expectation had an impact.
This is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
It’s simple. When we believe someone will act in a certain way, our own behaviour changes in a way that makes the person live up to our expectations—good or bad.
This was demonstrated in a study that dates back to 1977. http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/psp/35/9/656/
Now, there’s good and bad news here.
On one hand, if you expect your clients to act in a negative way, you set that person up for failure (even when they otherwise could have been great).
On a more optimistic hand, though, expecting the best out of people gives them every opportunity to be their best selves.