How to Audit Your Customer Experience

Nobody knows your business like you do.

From scheduling your employees to greeting your regulars by name, you know the people, processes and products that make it go.

But it’s helpful to see your business from your clients’ eyes, as well. Completing a customer experience audit can help you understand that. It can also help you to find out what you’re doing well, and what you can upgrade to make your business an easier, friendlier place in which to spend money.

You’ll want to look at the four main aspects of your clients’ experience:

• Awareness
• Action/Conversion
• Loyalty
• Advocacy

Let’s find out a little bit more about each.

Awareness

How do customers find more information about your business? 

Look at your website, social media accounts and any review sites like Yelp! that mention your company.

Is your branding consistent? Can customers easily see your schedule and book classes? Do you appear in Google searches for search terms related to your business?

These are all important questions to ask yourself. Your business should be easy to find online and IRL, and it should be easy to find your hours, schedule and offerings.

Action/Conversion

Do you keep your appointments full and your customers happy with an easy booking experience?

This is a simple but big factor in the customer experience: It should be easy to book appointments and to buy things from you!

Make sure customers aren’t turned off by a confusing web experience and make sure they feel welcomed by your staff and space.

Do that by asking yourself if visitors

• can find, book and pay for classes or memberships on your website;
• are greeted by your front-desk staff;
• can easily find answers to any questions they have about your billing or website;
• are converted from callers into customers if they call and their call gets missed; and
• are scheduled for follow-ups/future visits before they leave.

Loyalty

How do you engage your customers and keep them coming back?

It’s easier—and vastly cheaper—to retain your current clients than to go out and find new ones.

To discover how good or bad you are at boosting customer loyalty, ask yourself these questions:

• Do you have automated email campaigns for
  • new customers,
  • customers who haven’t visited in 60 and 90 days, and
  • customer birthdays?
• Do you send value-filled newsletters announcing upcoming events or workshops?
• Do you send emails customized with your logo, brand colors and brand voice?

Advocacy

Do you turn your clients into brand ambassadors?

Your customers come to your business because they love it. They should be able to share that love on review websites and with friends and family.

Ask yourself if you do what you need to do to make that happen.

Do you regularly encourage existing customers to leave reviews? Do you reward clients for referring their friends and bringing guests?

If all of this sounds like a lot, don’t worry. There are plenty of helpful customer experience audit checklists online to help you look at your business through another set of eyes. Good luck!