Take a Walk in Your Customer’s Shoes

Welcome to the 104th edition of “In Touch”. As always, I would love to continue the conversation so please hit reply and let me know what you think.

Story of the Week: “Take a Walk in Your Customer’s Shoes"

Some years ago, the leadership team of a struggling airline invited a consultant to help improve its operations. On the day of their first scheduled meeting, the consultant delayed the start for 35 minutes. To add to the waiting executives’ frustration, the coffee they were served was cold.

By the time the consultant finally entered the room, everyone there was visibly annoyed. “Is everything all right?” he asked them with a broad smile. The CEO immediately spoke up on behalf of the entire team: “Is this how you’re going to help us? We’ve been here for more than half an hour. This is unacceptably poor service.” The consultant smiled again before responding: “You are right! And this is exactly how your passengers are feeling every single day.”

His words came as a shock but that single unexpected experience shifted the leadership team’s perspective. Delays, poor service and unmet expectations – even cold coffee – were not just operational issues: they were reflections of their own failings. By holding a mirror up to their practices, the consultant showed them that change had to begin with them. Delivering excellence requires starting from within and specifically from the very top of the hierarchy ladder.

Shep Hyken, the award-winning customer service expert, has referred to the expression, Take a walk in your customer’s shoes – meaning that you need to put yourself in the customer’s position and see the situation through their eyes – and he once came up with his own rhyming variation: Think like the buyer, not like the supplier.

Leaders who embody punctuality, respect and attention to detail inspire their teams to deliver the same level of care. When leaders neglect these values, it’s like a foundation cracking under the weight of a structure – it endangers everything built upon it. By taking a walk in their customers’ shoes, they can see more clearly where they need to focus their priorities.

The airline story serves as a reminder that the greatest transformations come from small, intentional changes. Teams thrive when individuals contribute their best and those contributions are invariably inspired by the standards that their leaders set.

As we embark on 2025, let this be a year in which your leadership sets the tone for company excellence. True transformation begins with commitment – yours. The standards that you uphold today will shape the successes of tomorrow.

Words of Wisdom

“Three-fourths of the miseries and misunderstandings in the world will disappear, if we step into the shoes of our adversaries and understand their standpoint.” Mahatma Gandhi

A Question to Ponder, dear friend.

Have you ever tried to take a walk in your customer’s shoes? What did it teach you?