How to Create a Memorable Client Experience
When growing your business, it is essential to have your systems in place; they are what will allow you to stay on track, help your team work productively, and (perhaps most importantly) allow you to actually handle the growth. Your Client Happiness Coordinator plays a huge role in this!
As the CHC for Upleveling Your Business, my purpose is simple: to ensure that our clients feel seen, heard, and important. My goal is to make our clients’ lives easier, to help the coaching and learning process run smoothly. When they have questions, I’m here to answer them; when they start a new program or shift to a new stage in their coaching journey, I anticipate their needs and help them through each step.
Although my purpose is simple, achieving it can be complicated. This is because each person is different – what makes each one client feel special could be very different from what will amaze another. This is a fun challenge for me to take on, though!
Providing a memorable client experience – one that makes your clients step back and say, “WOW” – is a necessary part of standing out from your competition. It’s not always an easy thing to do, though. I would love to share some of my strategies for making our clients feel special!
A Memorable Experience
Several years ago, when I was in my early 20s, my date and I went to dinner at a very fancy restaurant in Portland. At our age, this was not something we did often, but the restaurant and staff welcomed us in and gave us an amazing experience. They not only offered outstanding service, but intentionally found ways of connecting with us. I never once felt out of place for how I was dressed or the fact that I was so young. Instead, they made every moment incredible.
It was so amazing that I still remember it 15 years later! (I even kept the photo keepsake they gave us!)
This is the kind of lasting client experience we can all strive for, regardless of the type of service or product you offer. But how do you achieve it?
The Right Foundation
There are a lot of little things you can do that will create a lasting impression. Before you look for ways to “put the cherry on top” though, you need to make sure you have a strong foundation.
Think about it this way: as human beings, we have a few common things that we value and use as measuring sticks for nearly everything: time, money, relationships, a sense of purpose, and fulfillment.
Inevitably, your business will solve a problem related to one of these measuring sticks – and likely, you’re very good at what you do. But are you honoring the other categories as you provide your solution? In other words, if you are solving a money problem, are you proposing solutions that take the other aspects into account?
To answer this question, I encourage you to conduct a self-audit. Look at your marketing, your intake procedure, and any client-facing services through the lens of someone new to your business. Is the experience priced appropriately, time-efficient, respectful, and easy to navigate? (If not, you will want to make some changes – and this is where your Client Happiness Coordinator comes in!)
Mastering Attention to Detail for Seamless Client Experiences
Over the years, I have met a lot of business owners who don’t have an eye for detail regarding how clients work with them. This is understandable – as the owner, you are involved in so much of the back end setup that it is often hard to see where friction points may exist on the front end.
However, it is your responsibility to ensure that you anticipate how your clients will move through your customer experience. This includes things like:
- Making it extremely easy to pay you
- Providing information in a variety of ways to accommodate different ways of learning
- Becoming extraordinary at setting the expectation for what they will experience
- Leaving them with reference materials to jog their memory on any details you have covered
- Teaching them what they need to know without being condescending – they don’t have your background or specialization
These may seem like simple things – and actually, many of them are – but they are easy to overlook. They are also essential facets of every client’s experience!
You may also consider asking a friend or family member – someone who doesn’t know the details of your business, but who will be honest with you – audit your process. Let them help you look for ways to strengthen your systems and excel at serving your clients!
As your business grows, you will want to periodically repeat the audit process and involve your Client Happiness Coordinator in refining your procedures. As you pay attention to these details, your clients will thank you – and you will likely see your referrals grow!