Putting yourself in your customers' shoes

- Managers at JetBlue, the New York based airline,…recently estimated the number…of monthly customer interactions per crew member,…their term for employee.…One reservation agent handles an estimated…3,000 interactions per month, flight attendants, 7,000,…and airport agents have an astounding 15,000 interactions…with customers every month.…Even the smallest companies have dozens,…if not hundreds, of monthly interactions.…Many of the most successful leaders I've worked with…are uneasy with depending on surveys…and rolled-up data alone to tell them…what's really happening.…

They want to put themselves in their customers' shoes.…They want to see the organization and products…and employees and competitors as their customers do.…Here are some suggestions for doing that,…some sources of insight to consider,…and each has a story to tell.…One is direct input.…Get out there and talk to customers.…Herb Kelleher, found of Southwest Airlines,…made that a regular practice.…He'd fly, he'd wander through airports.…He was out there with his customers.…