A few years ago, I walked into a local store as a volunteer with a community organization. I wasn’t there to shop that day. I asked the owner if we could leave some flyers for something we had coming up.
As I started to explain why I was there, she looked at me and said, “Bye-bye.”
I was shocked. I honestly didn’t know what to say other than, “Oh, okay.” And I left feeling very different about that business than I had when I walked in.
I wasn’t a customer that day. But I live in this community, and I could have been one many times after that.
And a few years later, I still remember it.
Business owners see the pieces. Customers see the business.
When you’re working inside your own business, it’s easy to separate everything out.
There’s the website, social media, email, signage, promotions and events. Then there’s what happens in the store, how you answer a message, and how you talk to someone who comes in.
To you, those can feel like completely different things, because you’re usually working on them at different times and for different reasons.
But that’s not how someone on the outside experiences your business.
Not everyone who walks through your door is there to buy something that day. But they’ll still leave with an impression.
The same goes for every other part of your marketing. Someone might see something you posted on Facebook and then go to your website. They might get an email from you and later come into your store. They don’t separate those things the way you do.
To them, it’s all your business, and all of it contributes to the experience they’re having with you.
And when someone has a really good experience, they remember that too. They might come back, tell a friend about you, or be the one who mentions you when someone in a local Facebook group asks where they should go.
When we’re this close to our own business, it can be hard to see what someone else is seeing.
Looking at your marketing from the customer’s side is a big part of how I work. It’s part of what I call my Human Marketing Connection Method.
Try looking at your business the way someone new would.
Start with your Facebook page, then go to your website. Can you find what you’re looking for? Does it feel like the same business?
Then look back at the last few messages you answered. Think about how your reply might feel to someone who doesn’t know you yet. And think about the last few people who came through your door. What kind of impression did they leave with?
All of those things shape how someone feels about your business. If something feels a little off along the way, that’s where I’d start.
When you’re running a business, it’s easy to get caught up in everything that needs to be done. But every so often, it’s worth stepping outside of it for a minute and asking:
What kind of experience are we creating for everyone who finds us, whether that’s online or through our door?