Sleep in Your Guest Bedroom
My air conditioning was out downstairs, so I slept in my upstairs guest bedroom for about a week. It was nice. Almost like being on vacation. Gave me a change of perspective. The guest room has a very comfortable king bed with en suite bathroom. There were soft clean towels and the TV worked. There was shampoo and soap, but no conditioner. The lamp on the nightstand wasn’t plugged in at first, and I didn’t have a phone charger handy. I would give it 3.5 stars on Airbnb.
They always say to walk in someone else’s shoes – and typically, that’s hard to do. But when it comes to your customers, there are many things you can do to walk in their shoes and experience what they experience.
It’s important to check the experience your clients are having. See what’s it like being a “guest” (aka client or prospect) dealing with your company. Here are some ways to do just that:
- Call your 800#. How does the outbound message sound? Is the menu annoying? Is there a quick way to get to sales and support? That’s most important. List those extensions on your website, so people calling for sales can just hit the button and don’t have to listen.
- What’s your buying process like? Is it confusing with too many options? Do you nickel and dime your customers? Is it a pain to sign the agreement? Do you have to print it out, scan it and email it back? That’s not good, if so.
- What’s it like to receive a bill from your company? Is it understandable? Enough detail? Is it branded? Can you use the opportunity to communicate new features or discounts?
- After a client signs up, is it exciting for them? Do they feel welcome and know what the next steps are to get started? Do they know your brand story? Your Why?
- Should you offer to send a press release announcing the partnership? Clients can often see this as bonus publicity they didn’t have to write or pay for.
- Here’s the big question: What’s it like to be a customer of your company? Is it easy to get help? Is there an online community or resource for quick answers anytime? Would your customers refer others to you? Are you asking them for referrals because you should be?
- Do you have a pleasant process for offboarding? May sound odd, but if someone needs to leave your company for financial reasons due to economic downturns or changes in their business model, are you nice about it? They may come back or end up at another business and need you again. It’s a great time to survey for candid information about what it’s like to do business with you.
- Do you celebrate with your clients at regular milestones? Your clients are the reason for your success. You should appreciate them on a regular basis even if just an email on their anniversary. Why not, especially when you can automate it?
- Are you helping your clients grow and learn? Do you share the expertise you have with them? Offer checkups, tune-ups, updates and training? Client webinars and user events are a great way for your clients to learn from each other, too.
- Are your clients a part of building your roadmap? Are you asking your clients where they are headed in their business and where they would like to see you go?
This list isn’t short, and it takes work to get there, but it’s easier to keep a customer than get a new one. What rating would your customer give you? Do you have a system in place for asking your clients about their satisfaction and experience? Do you have an NPS (Net Promoter Score) survey in place? I realize I’m throwing a lot of questions at you, but just consider it a checklist and make it your mission to check out the experience your customers are having with your business.
I definitely made some improvements to the guest room accommodations in my house. How many stars would your business get overall? My guest bedroom was 3.5 stars. I’d give it a solid 5 now. It’s so nice, I might even move in permanently.
Thx, kh