Seeing clearly means examining your business from every aspect. How many times a day do you walk past that pile of magazines or unsightly storage box near your doorway without actually seeing it?
Do your customers also walk past it without judgement or do they see it?
How many times do you drive into your business premises without seeing the dusty, stained signage advertising your business? Do your customers also drive past or do they see it?
When you look at your website do you see that the ‘contact us’ button is hidden in the corner and not that obvious to potential customers who might only have five seconds to make a decision as to whether or not to stay on your website?
It is so easy to become blind to what is around you when you see it day in and day out. Unless you are very observant, the only way to ‘see’ what is real and apparent is to ask a third party to walk the customer journey and cover all aspects; a physical approach to the business as well as a phone, web and an email approach. The results might astound you. It’s a little like the Undercover Boss programme where executives go under cover to examine the inner workings of their company – the further removed you are from the day to day, ground level operations, the wider the gap between YOUR vision and the ACTUAL reality.
Looking at your own business from the outside is critical but equally as important is examining it from the inside. Your employees are a reflection of where they work and what they see. Your team might not notice your company’s mission statement which is framed on the wall in the staff room, but they will notice that you have not paid them for last month’s overtime and they will definitely notice the broken kettle which means they can’t make tea or coffee! Do you see what they see? Do you give them an opportunity to talk about what they see? Your team is the front face of your business; they need to be happy, motivated and feel valued.
Here are our 3 top tips for 20/20 vision in relation to YOUR business:
- Walk your team’s own journey (enter your business as an employee, with or without the disguise!)
- Have your team walk their customer’s journey, from the very beginning
- Compile a list of what you’ve seen that needs attention and develop an action plan
Before you become inundated with Christmas, take some time out to really see what is going on. Clarity is the key to crystallising your business goals.
For more information & advice, visit http://www.shopperanonymous.co.uk/
