English Placement Test
Context: «Ecommerce customer experience and technology podcast hosted by two experienced digital consultants, featuring interviews with industry thought leaders and practical advice on improving end-to-end customer experience and understanding how to make better technology decisions.»
For this English listening test – begin at 11:22 (11 minutes, 22 seconds) and finish at 13.45 (13 minutes, 45 seconds).
Shadowing is another equally powerful approach.
Shadowing involves going to where your customers work or interact with your brand and simply observing what they are doing, thinking, and hypothesizing about what they may be feeling.
Example – Shadowing
One great example I saw was a significant transportation company within QLD (Queensland) who sent their team out into the field to shadow customers at train and bus stations. The first step they took was to find a prominent location to base themselves that provided a clear view of the station. They then noted down any significant observations they made relating to customer experiences, either good or bad. What they learned shocked them. They saw customers looking lost, searching for information to guide them where they needed to go.
They saw customers having challenges with ticketing machines with queues of unhappy customers growing behind them.
Most concerning was seeing elderly customers struggling to get onto transportation due to a large step from the station to the bus.
The learnings from this initiative resulted in improvements that revolutionized the way the organization deployed information signage, used ticketing systems and improved customer transport boarding.
These approaches take a bit of time, but the insights they provide, and the cultural change that they promote is fantastic. I always encourage the taking of copious notes or voice recorded observations of any of your thoughts, discoveries, and opportunities for improvement during these events. Team members typically come back with a treasure trove of opportunities to deliver higher value and delight for their customers. There is no more robust approach to culture change and strategic improvement than living in your customer’s shoes and genuinely showing empathy.