Walking a Mile in the Shoes of Your Customer

Viewing Your Operations as the Public Sees Them Can Work Wonders

What if a marketing panel or consumer commission was to be formed tomorrow that would review your current operations and make suggestions for improvements in the areas of customer service and public reactions?  As scary as that may sound to most of us, putting your operations through a similar exercise may be just the point of view you need for a fresh approach.  

By putting yourself in the other person's shoes you are able to see things that you would otherwise miss.  Face it; your operations are too familiar to you because you see them every day.  You need to see them anew, as if for the first time.  Try these exercises and then create some of your own:

1. Play the role of a customer walking into your building for the very first time.  Is the directory and signage clear as to where you are located?  Is someone there to greet you and offer assistance?  Are any reference materials like brochures, pamphlets, published indexes or maps available in plain sight?  Would a summary list of available services or publications be offered?
2. Review the marketing and public relations publications that you have distributed most often during the last year.  If these publications were displayed on a rack with several publications from the local visitors association or competing service providers would they leap out and say "read me first?"  Reading the publications, as if for the first time, is it clear and concise, or could improvements be made?
3. Playing the role of the customer trying to find you online, is your office easy to find using all of the typical key words and phrases that someone not knowing your office as well as you do would use?  Then check the websites for competing services.  Are their websites more attractive and easier to navigate than yours, or have more useful content or search capabilities?

Try these exercises in seeing through the eyes of the typical customer with the most important areas of your operations and I guarantee you will find areas of improvement.