As a business owner, it’s easy to get caught up in thinking only about money. The years go by, and both projects and customers start to run together a little bit… do you recall whether you painted Janes house 2 years ago, or 5?
Maybe you’ve dealt with one too many customers trying to get their money back for ridiculous reasons. Maybe you’ve taken one too many phone calls from someone who stays on the phone with you for an hour even though they aren’t actually interested in making a purchase.
It’s rough, I know.
However, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned over the years, it’s that you can never forget to try to look at things from your customer’s point of view.
If you don’t, it costs you. In an American Express study, researchers found that around 78% of consumers bailed on a transaction or not completed their purchase due to poor a poor service experience. Yet the longer we’re in business, the easier it is to get stuck in our ways and not reflect on customer service.
So, let’s take a closer look at how you can better understand your customers so that you can see things from their point of view more effectively.
Would You Hire Your Company?
An easy place to start in looking at your company from the customer’s perspective is to ask yourself whether or not you would hire your company if you were in the market for your services. In my experience, I think that every business owner knows the answer to this question inside.
So, if you wouldn’t hire your own company, why not?
Detaching yourself from your business a little bit to better understand why someone might not choose your company over another can help you tweak your services and marketing a little bit to make it more appealing.
If you would hire your company, think about what sets you apart from the competition. What is it about your company that you would choose? Once you’ve identified that, you can then push those elements of your business even further.
Perhaps you would hire your company for some services, but not others. In that case you might want to consider dropping the services you wouldn’t hire yourself for focus on specializing in the ones you would.
A friend of mine who runs a plumbing company, once offered sewer rebuilds. They were lucrative jobs, but on the inside he wouldn’t have hired his own company for them, as the consumer experience was subpar. With that in mind he stopped offering them.
What Would it Take to Make Your Company Truly One That You Would Hire?
If your sales have slowed or stagnated, it’s important to start looking at reasons for why that may be. In a relatively strong economy, it’s likely not that people aren’t spending the money.
Unfortunately, you may have to look in the mirror a little bit. If you aren’t getting hired as often as you would like, it’s helpful to ask yourself the important questions and do your best to look at your company objectively.
Are you providing a competitive price? Is your quality of work as high as your competitors in the same price range? Is your customer service up to par? Are you trying to offer too many services?
The truth is, that a lack of conviction within yourself (subconsciously) and your sales team, resonates through to the customers. It call comes back to confidence and it starts at the top. Customers and employees both can pick up on a lack of confidence quickly. If you’re confident that you’re the best choice for every project, your sales team will know and it flow through to the customers.
Have a Friend Go Through Your Sales Process
After being in business for years, it’s easy to put your process on autopilot and keep it the same. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Right?
Unfortunately, that logic is often what gets businesses in trouble. They’re experiencing some success, put it on autopilot, and then wonder why their model crashes one day. Success is an ever-evolving pursuit, and it’s important to constantly be looking to improve your processes.
One good way to do that is to invite your friend to go through your sales process. If they’re in your demographic range, even better.
They can help you find the little things that are both effective and ineffective from a customer’s perspective that you may not notice as the owner.
Ask for Project Reviews
Although it can end up as an invitation for criticism, complaint, and several requests for minor changes, asking clients for project reviews is an effective way of understanding how the client experienced your service.
The best part is, getting critical and valuable feed back is easier than ever. There are several programs available such as ReviewsBuzz, Grade.us, and Top Rated Local, which automate the process for you and then funnel the happy customers to a public review portal and the unhappy customers to a private feedback portal.
Direct Customers to Online Resources
Can you direct your customers to quality content on your website? If not, you’re missing out on a major opportunity. If you’ve got online resources to direct them to for every question or inquiry they could have, chances are you’re in touch with their prospective.
The process of creating the content, is what keeps you in touch. Brainstorming, the topics to cover and realizing questions that are asked for which new content is needed keeps your mind in the customer customers prospective.
Conclusion
After running a business for several years, it’s easy to turn on autopilot and stay in the same routines for a long time. However, that isn’t the way that you continue to grow, expand, and continue to satisfy your customer’s needs.
If you stick with the same routine and practices year-in and year-out, they’ll eventually become stale to the point where you may struggle to continue picking up business.
To avoid that, it’s important that you stay in touch with customer perspective.
As a customer or business owner, what ways do you find work the best for staying in touch with customer perspective?
Let me know in the comments section below.