Take a moment and think back to when you needed a service provider to help you solve a personal or business challenge. After intense research on Google or social media, you contacted each provider whose website offered a pleasant user experience. Did you have to complete a form? Were you required to call and speak with someone? Could you schedule a free consultation online?
Once you got on the consultation call, your assessment continued:
Were they on time for the call?
Were they professional?
Did they explain their process thoroughly?
Did they seem confident in their ability to do the work?
Were they eager to work with you?
Did they provide a reasonable timeline?
Did they offer a reasonable quote?
Based on the answers to the above questions, you likely went with the provider who offered the best overall experience. Am I right? Well, what makes you think prospective clients don’t assess your client experience the same?
Newsflash: They do!
That said, let’s talk about five areas in your business where you can outshine the competition with a winning client experience:
Consultation
When a prospect wants to book a consultation with you, please make it easy for them. This step is the first impression of your business, so you must bring your A-game. Invest in an online scheduling tool so prospects can lock in a solid date and go about their day. Don’t risk the possibility of losing the prospect with an unprofessional or confusing process.
Quote or Proposal
You should follow up all consultation calls with detailed quotes or proposals for your service solutions. And make sure to think ahead. What do I mean? You need to attach your contract and invoice so the prospect has everything he or she needs to hire you. Most importantly, you’ll have everything you need to onboard the client successfully
Onboarding
Just like a new hire is welcomed into a company, you should provide the same experience for your new client. Now is your time to lay out the red carpet and make them feel super special, OK? Kick off your new relationship with a personalized welcome message highlighting your process, timeline, and expectations. Set the tone for what you’re about to bring to the table!
Project Work
You can shine during this phase! You may have a framework or proprietary process you created for your business that no one else can replicate (even if they tried). Use that to your advantage and deliver your services the same way you would if you were on the receiving end. WOW your client with the final results!
Offboarding
How you leave them is just as important as how you welcome them. That means wrapping up any outstanding business and ending with a brief phone call or survey. Ultimately, you want to gather necessary details about their experience working with you. And don’t forget to ask for a testimonial (send them an outline with specific questions) that you can use as social proof on your website and social media pages!
There’s nothing like securing clients, but can we agree that an even better feeling is earning repeat business (and vetted referrals)?!
The ball is in your court to create a memorable client experience to establish your business as the optimal choice that will deliver quality across the board...hands down!
Will you rise to the occasion?