Role play is one of the very best marketing tools I always recommend my clients and peers alike to use.
This means you need to take a departure from the sell-sell-sell marketer’s mindset for a minute, and listen, and embody “the other side”.
Very few actually do role play though… but when you finally do it, you’ll be hooked!
When you exercise empathy, it gives you so many gifts in business and life you’d otherwise have to work very very hard to attain… or to endure not ever attaining.
So here’s an exercise that will give you a very clear picture of what the customer experience is actually like for your customers.
Do not skip any questions, write down what comes to mind… and before you begin, allow yourself to forget that you’re in business for yourself, and see what it’s really like to be your own customer.
(By the way – you can try this in your personal relationships too, but that’s another topic entirely 🙂
So… here we go:
What it would FEEL like to be your customer?
List various reactions and emotions you’d encounter.
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What would you appreciate in the experience, in the interaction?
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What would make your blood boil, and at which point?
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Would you feel appreciated or ignored in the relationship? Be honest.
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Would you feel taken care of, or taken advantage of?
Or something in between.
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Is there a personal connection, or is it “just business”?
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Do you want to work together again?
Or do you feel compelled to look for alternatives?
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Will you become a fan or turn away?
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Once you’ve gone through these, you should be well into the groove of role playing your customer.
And STILL, the answers may surprise you big time.
Then, feel free to add your own, industry specific questions…
Go over your whole customer lifecycle, even.
You may be rather shocked by where specifically you come up short. But you may also be pleasantly surprised, and find reasons why some customers stick around. When you find those reasons why… do more of those. And fix the glaring omissions and any other creeping negativity. Your customers will thank you… and your bottom line will swell accordingly.
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