Know Your Customer by Being Your Customer

Lesson: A Hands-On Experience Beats Any Dashboard

‍You can analyze metrics, collect endless survey data, and interview customers all day, but nothing compares to walking in your customer’s shoes. On my recent SF Bay Area visit, I snuck in a session at Progressive Motion—without the owners, Dr. Joey Salgado and Joshua Moreali, present. Experiencing the exact path a client takes—from scheduling to receiving the service— it was eye-opening. It reminded me that real insight comes from living the customer journey, not just studying it from the outside.

Insight: Step Into Their World, Learn a Ton

‍When you become a customer of your own business, you pick up details you’d never catch in a spreadsheet. Maybe the online booking system is clunky, or the team’s greeting is friendly but lacks follow-through instructions. These nuances don’t always surface in data or dashboards, yet they can shape a customer’s overall satisfaction and loyalty. By regularly “shopping” your own services, you’ll spot friction points and areas of delight—all crucial for continual improvement.

Action Item: Schedule Your Own Customer Experience

‍Pick a Service or Product: Decide which part of your offering you’ll experience.

1. Book Like a Customer: Go through the entire booking process, from lead capture to final check-out.
2. Note Every Pain (or Joy) Point: Document how you felt, where you hesitated, or what delighted you.
3. Debrief Your Team: Bring these observations back to your staff and brainstorm quick wins or deeper fixes.

If you want to skyrocket customer satisfaction and find hidden opportunities for growth, give yourself a front-row seat. Analyzing dashboards is great; living the experience is better.

‍Ready to uncover powerful insights by stepping into your customer’s shoes?
Let’s chat about crafting a repeatable system for customer-centric improvements. We’ll dive in together.