7 Tips to improve your customer experience
Happy clients are gold for your business. Improve your customer experience to help your clients/ customers come back, refer to you, and promote you in social media, and you will be riding a golden wave!
In a small business survey from 2016 (US Based) from Smallbiztrends.com reported that “The probability of selling to an existing customer is 60-70 percent. The probability of selling to a new prospect is 5-20 percent.” They also reported that “80 percent of your future profits will come from just 20 percent of your existing customers.”
There’s a clear example of the Pareto principle right there!
It’s fair to say that once a lead is in your funnel nurturing throughout the whole journey is worthwhile for your business. So often
small business owners invest in marketing strategy and systems to get leads to convert, but the clients experience can drop off very quickly.
Here’s 7 simple to implement strategies to improve your customer experience from the start until they have finished working with you and become your raving fans.
The tips I have included are simple to implement, and not from complicated marketing strategy. They are provided to give your customer experience a boost without taking up additional time in your busy day.
However, they do require time and thought to set up – so that they implementation is easy or automated. Once done, your client experience upgrades will feel effortless.
7 Tips to improve your customer experience
1. Create standard response templates for recurring touch points.
This will save you having to re-type similar email or message responses, and make it easier for your to respond.
This strategy also makes it easier to respond around time boundaries and financial issues. Once you create them once, you can copy and paste them.
They lovely thing about templates is that they have most of the work done and are still quickly customisable if you want to personalise them.
2. Tie your brand experience with your client experience
No doubt you work hard to create your brand online. If it doesn’t match what you actually deliver, then there is room to improve.
For example, I want my clients to trust me and my systems, and to feel like there is a clear process. My client journey needs to convey this with clear communication, steps and structure.
3. Ask for feedback along the way.
It’s fine to check in with your clients about anything else they may need, questions they have, or anything you may have missed.
You can also create a feedback form once you have completed your client relationship.
Receiving feedback along the way allows you to adjust and improve quickly, and add the improvements for your new clients. This continuous improvement strategy can be really simply added in a sentence or two at the end of emails.
4. Automate your Thankyou’s.
Sending an acknowledgement or thank you email can go a long way to build a positive relationship with your clients.
Anytime a client pays you is a good place to start, and creating automations using Zapier.com or a workflow in a crm such as Dubsado allow you to send these templated emails without you having to do anything.
5. Anticipate your client’s needs
Your clients love to be reassured about the next steps at every communication touchpoint. Provide them with all of the information they will need so that they don’t have to ask for it.
Any time a client asks a question, you can add it to the email. I know from my own experience that if one person has the question, then chances are others will too.
Again – email templates are the way to go here.
6. Keep the client journey flowing
Review any clunky steps from your client experience. The on boarding process is usually a process with the most steps. Creating a seamless workflow for your clients to follow so that the process flows with ease will help them convert, and keep them positive along the way.
Your onboarding can have these steps:
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book and pay
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sign a contract
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complete a questionnaire
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receive a welcome email with expectations, important links, dates and next steps
If these are simple, easy to follow (and done automatically) you’re on a winner!
7. Create clear steps for your team
If your team are also supporting your client through the service delivery, then you need a clear communication pathway, as well as your email communication with your clients.
Map out the path and steps for delivering your service. Set up your project management software so that the dates and operational next steps are visible.
Develop a procedure for how you communicate within your team about clients, and how you track the project’s progress.
How do you know if you need improve your customer experience?
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You receive questions from your clients once they have signed up asking about anything to do with process or timing. This shows that their questions aren’t answered yet.
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Your onboarding takes a day or two, as you’re going back and forth with invoices, contracts etc. It’s possible to automate all of the onboarding and have it done in minutes.
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You are writing all of your emails to clients from scratch. It’s time to start templating so that you can continuously improve them
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You don’t provide any opportunity for your clients to feedback their experience
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Each client has a different experience and there isn’t yet any consistency with your service offerings
Your next steps:
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Identify one of these as a place to start, and focus on that one. Incremental improvements are far more powerful than ambitious ones that remain unfinished and stuck on the to do list!
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Map out your client journey so that you and your team have a clear vision of every step, every process and every piece of communication
Mapping your client journey
If you can visually show the steps a client takes once they are in your lead funnel until they have completed working with you, you can start to
a) streamline your delivery saving time and money
b) improve your service delivery because it’s consistent and anticipates the needs of your clients
c) improve your revenue, as your happy customers either become repeat customers or refer you to others
Need help mapping your client journey?
I can help you map out the journey, create the project management structure, and document the processes your team needs to deliver your services.
Book a Clarity call to discuss what’s best for your business, or message me.
Aerlie Wildy is a business efficiency consultant and mother based in the Adelaide Hills.
She helps serviced ased business improve customer experience and bottom line by combining journey mapping, process improvement and productivity strategies through consultation, implementation and training.
You can connect with me on Facebook, join my Chief Executive Entrepreneurs Facebook Group, check out my Youtube Channel or Pin with me on Pinterest.
