Introduction:

I Looked At My Own Business As If I Was A Client. Here's What I Found.

Here's an exercise I think every business owner should do occasionally.

Pretend you don't own your business.

Forget everything you know about it.

Forget what you think your website says.

Forget what you think people understand from your social media.

Forget the customer journey you've got mapped out perfectly in your head.

And look at your business as if you've just discovered it for the very first time.

Because there's something that happens when we've been running a business for a while.

We know too much.

We know what we sell.

We know where to find everything.

We know what that slightly vague button on our website means.

We know that someone needs to message us if they want more information.

We know what happens after somebody enquires.

Our potential customer knows none of that.

And that's where things can start going horribly wrong.

So this week, I want you to secret shop your own business.

Give yourself 20 minutes, pretend you're a potential customer and see what you find.

You might be surprised.

Step 1: Google Yourself

Yes. Actually Google your business.

And, if your business is heavily built around YOU, Google your own name too.

What appears?

Is it actually you?

Is the information current?

Can you find your website?

Can you find your social media?

Does what appears represent what your business looks like today or something you were doing three years ago?

Now think like a customer.

If someone had been recommended to you and all they remembered was your name or business name, could they find you?

If the answer is no, that's your first job.

Step 2: Look At Your Social Media Without Your Business-Owner Brain

Open your Facebook page, Instagram profile or whichever platform you primarily use.

Don't look at it as you.

Look at it as someone who's just landed there.

Give yourself 10 seconds.

Can you answer:

• What does this person/business do?

• Who is it for?

• How could they help me?

• What should I do next?

If you can't work that out quickly, neither can your potential customer.

And here's where I think lots of small businesses go wrong.

Their social media tells me lots about them...

but very little about what they can actually do for me.

There are inspirational quotes.

Photos.

Reels.

Personal posts.

Product pictures.

Perhaps the occasional "Happy Monday!"

But I still don't really know what they're selling.

Don't make people work it out.

Step 3: Look At Your Last 10 Posts

This one can be quite revealing.

Scroll through your last ten pieces of content and ask:

If these were the ONLY ten things someone knew about my business, what would they think I did?

Do those posts show:

• What you sell?

• Who you help?

• What problems you solve?

• Why someone should trust you?

• Customer experiences or results?

• Your personality?

• How someone can work with or buy from you?

Or are all ten basically saying the same thing in slightly different ways?

You don't need every post to sell something.

Absolutely not.

But collectively, your content should help someone understand your business.

If it doesn't, you've found another gap.

Step 4: Try To Buy From Yourself

Now we're getting to the really interesting bit.

Imagine you've decided:

"Yes. I'm interested."

What happens next?

Try to buy your own product.

Try to book your own service.

Try to find your prices.

Try to work out how to contact yourself.

Try to find the information a customer would need before making a decision.

How easy is it?

Count the clicks if you want to be particularly brutal.

If somebody has to:

Click your bio...

find another link...

scroll down a page...

click another button...

send you a message...

wait for you to reply...

then answer six questions...

before they can even find out how much something costs...

you may have made buying from you far harder than it needs to be.

Every unnecessary step is another opportunity for someone to disappear.

Step 5: Contact Yourself

This is one people rarely think about.

How easy are you to contact?

Is there an obvious button?

Does the contact form work?

Is the email address correct?

Does Messenger actually go somewhere you check?

If someone sends an enquiry, what happens?

Do they receive confirmation?

Do they know when you'll reply?

Does the enquiry land somewhere you'll actually see it?

I've seen businesses spend enormous amounts of time trying to generate more enquiries while the process for dealing with the enquiries they already receive is held together with sticky tape and good intentions.

Before chasing more leads, make sure you're looking after the ones you've got.

Step 6: Ask Yourself The Awkward Question

Now imagine you've looked at everything.

Your Google results.

Your website.

Your social media.

Your content.

Your offer.

Your buying process.

And ask:

Would I buy from me?

Not:

"Do I think I'm good at what I do?"

I'm sure you are.

Ask whether your customer experience before somebody becomes a customer demonstrates that.

Do I trust this business?

Do I understand the offer?

Can I see how it could help me?

Can I see evidence that other people have had a good experience?

Do I understand what happens next?

Is buying easy?

Because being brilliant at what you do isn't enough if somebody never gets far enough to experience it.

Step 7: Follow Yourself Up

This is probably the biggest leak in many small businesses.

Pretend you enquired...

but didn't buy.

What happens?

Anything?

Would you receive another message?

Would somebody check whether you had any questions?

Would you hear from the business again?

Or would everyone quietly move on with their lives?

People don't always buy the first time they discover you.

They get distracted.

They need to think.

Payday hasn't arrived.

The kids interrupt them.

The dog throws up on the carpet.

Life happens.

Following up isn't pestering somebody.

Done properly, it's simply continuing a conversation they've already shown an interest in.

Step 8: Now Look At What Happens AFTER Someone Buys

Secret shopping shouldn't stop at the sale.

What happens next?

Do they receive a thank you?

Do they know what to expect?

Do you check that they're happy?

Do you ask for feedback?

Do you ask for a review?

Do you stay in touch?

Do you tell them about other products or services that might genuinely help them?

Do you make it easy for them to buy again?

Businesses spend so much energy finding new customers while sometimes completely forgetting about the people who've already trusted them enough to buy.

That's bonkers.

Your existing customers should be some of the most valuable people in your business.

The 20-Minute Secret Shopper Challenge

So here's your challenge this week.

Set a timer for 20 minutes.

Put your customer hat on and work through this:

GOOGLE YOURSELF

Can I find you?

↓

FIND YOURSELF

Can I immediately understand what you do?

↓

UNDERSTAND YOURSELF

Is it obvious who you help and why I should care?

↓

TRUST YOURSELF

Can I see enough proof, personality and information to feel confident?

↓

CONTACT YOURSELF

Is getting in touch ridiculously easy?

↓

BUY FROM YOURSELF

Is the buying process simple?

↓

FOLLOW YOURSELF UP

What happens if I don't buy immediately?

↓

COME BACK TO YOURSELF

What happens after I've become a customer?

Every time you find friction, confusion or a dead end, write it down.

Don't try to fix everything at once.

Choose the three things that would make the biggest difference to a potential customer and start there.

Sometimes You Don't Need More Customers. You Need A Better Journey.

That's the big point I want you to take from this.

When sales feel slow, our immediate reaction is often:

I need more people.

More followers.

More reach.

More leads.

More website visitors.

More enquiries.

And sometimes you do.

But before you pour even more people into the top of your business, make sure they aren't quietly disappearing through holes further down.

Because more visibility won't fix a confusing offer.

More followers won't fix a broken enquiry process.

More leads won't fix poor follow-up.

And more content won't fix a customer journey that makes buying unnecessarily difficult.

Sometimes growth comes from finding more people.

Sometimes it comes from doing a much better job with the people who have already found you.

So here's the final question I want you to ask yourself:

If you weren't you, would you know why you should buy from you?

If you hesitate before answering...

You know what your next 20 minutes are for.

Other resources to help you get started, download my FREE Social Media planner to start planning out your content