[00:00:00] Now, you’ve probably heard it said that branding isn’t just a logo, and I think so often we do get swept up by the visual identity of a brand, because that’s the bit that looks good and is exciting. But actually, our branding encompasses so many aspects of our business, and today I’m excited to chat to Fran Smith about your client experience.
[00:00:26] Fran is a client experience expert, and she helps small business owners grow their businesses based on a wonderful community of loyal fans. I loved talking about this and probably got a bit overexcited about it in the episode because it’s something that I’ve been thinking a lot about in my own business recently and I’ve been trying to make tweaks and improvements.
[00:00:44] So have a listen, and let us know what you think, and I hope you enjoy hearing about a different aspect of branding and I hope you come away with lots of ideas and tips that you can implement in your own business.[00:01:00]
[00:01:03] Hi Fran, welcome to the podcast. Well, hello. Thanks for having me. I’m looking forward to today’s chat because it’s something I’ve been thinking about quite a lot recently as we record, I’ve just made this little client gift to go out to all my new clients. I know, yeah, we can get into it.
[00:01:22] Well, maybe let’s start off with you,explaining to people what you do, because I think you’ve got quite an interesting niche, which I’m excited to chat about. Yeah, of course.
[00:01:31] There’s people who do similar things. but I am a client experience specialist I help. Small business owners with their customer service, their client experience, and that all means that you retain your clients. That’s what it’s all for
[00:01:45] So it’s thinking about the steps that your clients go through, but also the relationship building aspect of that And what I love about this is from a branding perspective, I think often when we think of [00:02:00] branding, we think of all the outward facing visual. I’m a branding designer, so I talk about the visual stuff, a huge part of building a brand are like behind the scenes part that people can’t See, like how you reply to the complaint email how you help someone deal with their problem or how you build that relationship with that client.
[00:02:19] all of that stuff that isn’t as visible. It’s not the sort of thing that you’re like putting on social media, but it is how someone’s engaging with your brand. branding is about every touch point that someone, interacts with and so that’s why I just love this because it’s a different angle that we haven’t delved into on the podcast yet.
[00:02:35] Yeah it is because if you’re a one man band it’s basically you are the brand but if you’ve got a smaller team then you’ve got to think about your tone of voice with how you’re responding hopefully it’s not a complaint or anything like that it’s just touch points when you’re sharing information or checking in or sharing.
[00:02:50] behind the scenes of an update of what you’re delivering for them. Like it’s still got to encapsulate you as a brand. I think there’s this thing where people think they [00:03:00] automatically, when it’s any form of communication, especially, email, suddenly go into, Oh dear, kindest regards and all that.
[00:03:07] And then there’s that disconnect. potentially, because that’s not that’s not what you’re outwardly portraying as a brand. That’s not all that kind of thing. It’s just Oh, suddenly it’s talking to a robot. obviously that’s an extreme example but it’s interesting that you say that because it’s how they intertwine.
[00:03:26] Basically, it’s all part of your brand. And it’s just giving some thought, isn’t it? I’ve got a really good example of that where, when I used to work, I used to work in a design team at a university, and there was this one person that when they emailed me, I was convinced that they hated me.
[00:03:41] that was the tone of their emails. So Kurt, it was really to the point. I’m definitely the other extreme where it’s loads of exclamation marks,loads of words where it could just be one word, but this was so extreme. But then I’d see her in person and she was so lovely and she didn’t hate me.
[00:03:59] It was just [00:04:00] so funny to me how the communication style in person was. So different and obviously it’s slightly different for her because she wasn’t building a personal brand But it always it was like terrifying to me because I was like, oh my goodness I’ve really annoyed this person and then I see her and I and then I had to just learn that was just her like very brusque communication Like but yeah, it was as an example of the disconnect
[00:04:24] Yeah, exactly. and I think we’ve all had people like that in previous work it was always a thing where it’s if it’s regards or you’re like, oh no, that like it was kind regards. That’s just like standard, but it was regards. oh no, they’re like, they’re absolutely like, low key living in there.
[00:04:39] if someone puts, as per my previous email, they’re really annoyed. We spend a lot of time thinking about how we come across in certain Aspects of our businesses and our brand part of email communication is how our personality comes across and I think [00:05:00] this raises this huge question of like personality versus professionalism, which is something I think about a lot as I show up online trying to attract the clients I want to work with.
[00:05:11] And one thing that I’ve really realized is that, and this is just a leftover from school, I tend to write far more formally than I am in real life, which is what you just mentioned, we write dear and regards because we’re, I think, afraid of coming across as not professional.
[00:05:30] we want to be perceived as professional in our businesses. So maybe you can tell us a bit about, yeah, what your thoughts on that as someone who is an expert in this, how can we show our personality, to our clients?
[00:05:41] I think that’s a great point because suddenly it’s how am I being myself or how can I be?
[00:05:45] Myself and I think yes is like we’ll start with email because that’s what we’ve been talking about I think a key part of that is trying to write as you speak i’m one for putting emojis in and I do waffle a little bit and setting the scene but then I [00:06:00] also will shorten that depending if somebody’s quite like shortened to the point with me i’ll Shortened mine slightly, but it’s still like how I would speak in real life.
[00:06:07] I’d shorten words I say like biz or cause and all that kind of thing because that’s how I speak I wouldn’t be like, oh, it’s like doing big long fancy words, even though I like writing you might not think about your like coming across as a brand or put more personality in how you’re communicating is actually you can put in all these other things that you’ve already included in your marketing so if you email and it’s does is their email like still on brand is it still visually how you would be like are you or are you perhaps we’ve talked about email but are you perhaps better communicating like Voice notes or over video or would an in infographic or something like that be a better way of like how you’ve already shared what your personality’s So if you’re, geeking it up on stats and things, is that gonna be better shown in something that’s a bit more visual? Or as you’re more creative, could it be shown in a more creative way? It doesn’t necessarily have to be email, if it links more to your personality, your brand [00:07:00] personality as well, then it’s still all gonna encapsulate your brand when they’re having this communication with you throughout your time together.
[00:07:07] I just think it’s so interesting, how we often default to a certain form of communication, even if it’s not necessarily what we’re best at or what we enjoy. So I know a lot of people now instead of doing one to one calls, like an hour long call, they’ll do a day of Voxer, where people can voice note them all day.
[00:07:26] And I actually now do this with my clients where they can access me on Voxer because I work much better in a voice note, as a podcast host than in a written email, talking is much easier for me, so it’s easier for me to explain concepts or describe, how to do something over a voice note than an email.
[00:07:47] And actually, I think my clients have really appreciated that because they can almost just talk to me. but without having to jump on a phone call it’s just ongoing through the day. another example is I Spend [00:08:00] a lot of time. recording videos For my clients.
[00:08:04] So I use a tool called loom. I’m about to send them over a PDF with some updates to a design I’ve done. I’ll talk them through it and then send them the video for them to watch. it’s usually only five minutes or something.
[00:08:15] It’s not like a really long thing, but, but they, it’s really nice to see the response. I remember at the end of a project, I went above and beyond and recorded a loom video showing them how to do something.
[00:08:25] I designed some flyers for her. I love that. I love that, by the way. That’s a great one. Yeah, it’s a good one, isn’t it? Like I, but I didn’t even think of that. See, this is the thing. I didn’t really think of that as client experience. It was just something that I was doing. But now that you say it, I’m like, Oh, yes.
[00:08:39] I designed her some flyers. She needed to get them printed. I recorded a her a video and then she replied and was like, Liz, I didn’t expect that. this was such a nice added bonus, like the project ended on a really,nice high because I delivered something extra for her.
[00:08:52] and then I think that was where I was. that was around the time when you emailed me about doing this episode and I was like, yes, this is amazing. We need to talk [00:09:00] about this. maybe you can give us some other examples of, things that people could be doing that they might not have considered, because so often we just get a bit stuck, in what we’ve always done.
[00:09:09] Yeah, and I think, Whenever I’m talking about the aftercare part of client experience, it’s when everything’s done and people are like, Oh, well, how do I ask for feedback? How do I do this? I always say, try and think about sharing something as an extra that’s keeps the vibe good.
[00:09:23] And you’re like, what you did there is a perfect example of you’re still getting across your personality with explaining something over video. And it’s been helpful, but you’ve not actually physically sent something. it’s out of the box type,thinking with what’s gonna like you said with your client, I left it on a real high because it was something unexpected, right?
[00:09:41] But you didn’t, it didn’t really take that much extra time or effort for you to do five, 10 minutes, perhaps. yeah, like when I wait with people one to one, I think about what are the like potential. like gaps that there might be with these kind of things and often people just need to be asked the right questions and to think themselves or what’s like a what’s like my [00:10:00] personality leaning into what am i best at what can i really kind of China and add more of into what, what is going to be beneficial for my clients.
[00:10:10] How do I like working? What’s going to work best with my energy. There’s all those types of things. you need to look at your processes now on what’s going to fit in. That’s not, doesn’t feel like it’s a massive task. So for example, I was chatting to a photographer about her onboarding and.
[00:10:26] She was like, oh, like some, like, people are dropping off at this particular stage,we’re not getting through to the final contract bit,can you give me some,ideas? And I was like, how about,you show them behind the scenes of you working on a shoot, To set expectations around what it’s going to be like working together.
[00:10:43] the starting point for her could have been showing some behind the scenes pictures because her whole thing was helping,small product based business owners with feeling confident in front of camera themselves. For having their brand images taken. And it was well show before and after and how does that feel?
[00:10:59] But that sounds [00:11:00] fairly big task, but I was saying, look, put it in a PDF or you can do a TimeLapse video and film one that you’ve already done or one that’s coming up so people can see what it’s actually like to wait with you and what your personality’s And then that’s gonna take away some of the doubt that might be there.
[00:11:12] that’s probably quite a long winded explanation, but it’s just what makes you as a business owner, what are you really great at? I know that my energy, for example, comes across quite well in chats like this,
[00:11:23] And so it’s good for certain things. So if I’m doing,my offer is if I’m having, if I was to do a group program, for example, and what people to get excited about what I was doing. I know that I’d use video in that because that’s what’s going to work best for that. But I’m doing a free challenge at the moment where it’s more low key and I’m sharing sustainable tips for your client experience.
[00:11:43] So that’s more like just my written and all my nice branding that goes with that. But yeah,it’s. a little bit about who you are as a person,your brand, your personality, but also adjusting that for how you want to make your clients feel. That’s
[00:11:58] the center of everything that I [00:12:00] do is asking, first of all, how do you want to make your clients feel? based on what you’re strongest at, you can then adapt that to make some intentional choices for how are you going to communicate or all that kind of thing. Which again is exactly the same with branding.
[00:12:13] It’s like how do you want your clients to feel when they interact with your branding? And one of the things that popped into my mind when you were talking about that is,the Brene Brown quote, which is, I think it’s clear is kind or clarity is kindness and how basically, explaining things to people.
[00:12:31] So all of my bad client experiences it’s usually because I haven’t communicated effectively what was going to happen like they didn’t know what to expect and then we’re a bit surprised when things didn’t go the way they thought they would go or whatever, and so now I’ve got much better explaining my process, the timeline, yeah, more of the behind the scenes, how we’re gonna work, all that kind of thing, I know there’s ways that I could improve that, or at least streamline that in the sense that [00:13:00] it’s the same for them all.
[00:13:01] So I could, make a video and send that to them. there’s things I could do, obviously personalised, but I could have a bit of a sort of template for it? It’s like, how can you over deliver? How can you communicate what they should expect at every point?
[00:13:14] so that they’re not confused about the process or what it’s going to be like working with you. Clarity is kindness. That might be one I keep in my back pocket for something else. Yeah. No, like I agree, like expectations, so I, I didn’t say at the beginning, but I had 15 years working in customer service, which is how I’ve got to where I am now, which is a squiggly career, but a couple of years of that were working in compliance.
[00:13:36] a very well known train ticket retailer and there was, I was screamed at down the phone. I was called stupid. But basically the whole, the reason why, is that when people don’t understand like, or they’ve not, that the expectations haven’t been there.
[00:13:51] So when they’ve not been met then all this doubt, that’s when. Kings kickoff. Obviously it was on a much bigger scale with that large company, but [00:14:00] it looked like it was more when things get sticky or there’s friction because of expectations not being met. And I’m a big, I don’t think you can ever communicate too much, what’s going to happen.
[00:14:11] Like making it clear from the beginning, like this is, I think a way to do it is actually pull out like it’s. writing down, well, what does my, what do the steps involve when somebody comes into my world? They’re going to come in social media, perhaps they then have a connection or discovery call off the back of that.
[00:14:27] What do they, what then happens what do I need to keep them updated on? throughout our project what do they need to know? Even if it’s something within a group program where this calls coming up this week not assuming that people will know or have remembered these kinds of things.
[00:14:40] It’s like just keeping it top of mind. I think people would rather be, updated rather than have nothing at all because when the silence that’s when all these questions come in and go do they even care what’s going on I haven’t got an update I love what you said there about behind the scenes especially with something like what you do you could time lapse something working what you’re working on so they can [00:15:00] see what’s happening or even like a screen record so they have a little taster for what’s going on so all right so that’s what she’s working on just now And yes, it takes a little bit of intention and thought to plan this out in the beginning, but I think it’s probably the easiest, it sounds a bit like probably over simple maybe, but I was having a conversation with somebody else about this earlier, but just writing a checklist and then going from that checklist and then you don’t forget anything and as your business grows, you can build out tech and processes to help you keep that consistency.
[00:15:30] You’re not having to refer to the checklist and do everything manually but there’s something there so you know the steps and you can personalize it with your own thing and do it in your own way along as you do it but it’s just so you can keep clearing your mind and that means you’re less overwhelmed with trying to do it all as well.
[00:15:45] I love this sort of thing. This is the stuff I love getting nerdy about. So what I did at the end. of last year. So one of the things I struggle with is just finding the time, it’s that classic dilemma of, okay, well, I’ve got the client work. The most important thing is hitting their deadlines
[00:15:58] And it’s finding the time to [00:16:00] work on your own business. at the end of last year,I had some coaching and we plotted out the entire client journey. looked at, what could be automated? what’s the same information that can go to every client?
[00:16:12] What needs to be more bespoke? And it was a good process. And then it was, it just made, gave me a really like clear, okay, this is what I need to improve it. And I’m, I haven’t done it all straight away. I’m basically taking a bit, it’s working okay as it is, but I know it could be better. But so that I’m not too overwhelmed.
[00:16:29] ’cause I am, I do tend to go a bit all or nothing, which is not a good way to do things. I’m taking one section and I’m like,I’m gonna improve this. So I mentioned this at the beginning, the section that I’ve just improved is when I sign a new client, they’re gonna get a gift in the post.
[00:16:42] Oh yes. De detail. So excited. So basically I’ve got, in the box, if you, well, hopefully I’ll have started sending them out before,this episode goes out, so I’m not spoiling it for any clients, but it’s gonna have a, notebook that I’ve designed,a pencil, it’s gonna have a [00:17:00] Tony’s, Tony’s Chocolony.
[00:17:02] Branded Tony’s Chocolonibars, they get a box of chocolate,and I’ve done a thank you card and some stickers, all in one of those postbox size boxes, which will have some branding on the outside, they’ll get a thank you for signing the contract, I’m really looking forward to working with you package,so all the bits are arriving this week, I’m really excited.
[00:17:21] So one question I’d ask you, Why have you chosen those particular things I think it’s because it’s universally enjoyable So granted, there might be someone who doesn’t like chocolate, but most people, especially the sort of business owners that I’m like working with.
[00:17:38] So it’s like little things that are practical and that they can use. it’s also things that I enjoy and I like, so it shows a bit of my personality and because as a designer. it’s things that I can easily add my designs to,
[00:17:53] But I’ve seen other people do,mugs,or, things like that, which is quite cool. if we’re talking,gifts with, if I work with somebody, I’m like, [00:18:00] but why? How do you want it to make them feel? Is there intention behind this gift?
[00:18:03] And I love it That’s very much like your personality and branding and what it’s going to be, a little bit of your quirkiness into what it’s going to be like to work together. Then also it was something for them to chill out with the chocolate. So that would be my angle on it.
[00:18:16] I know you’ve been talking about the process my brain isn’t that logical. So it does take me time to work that through I start with the feeling then add the process But the main point I want to get to is.
[00:18:28] It’s when you put it all out and work on these little bits, like you have a pocket of time each week or each month to work on your client experience So it’s not overwhelming is that it’s your brand is consistent across all those touch points then, because even if you are using tech and automations, you can add in, like we were saying at the beginning with.
[00:18:46] Emails, you can add in how you would sound in real life or add the videos or add like the infographic or the visuals, like everything can still look and feel and sound like you, but it’s just taking a little bit off your plate. If you, know what [00:19:00] is going to happen when and what touch points are and what they actually need to know to avoid any confusion,
[00:19:05] everything they could possibly ask you and try and package it up into something that feels fun and like you, but then at the same time there’s this big weight off because you know that you’re never going to miss a step either. Yeah, so I think going back to the package, it was very much about the surprise and delight aspect of it.
[00:19:23] I’ve raised my prices recently so what can I do to elevate that experience and I think then getting something in the post that they weren’t expected.
[00:19:30] It’s really nice I’ve got another idea I can see how excited Liz’s face is
[00:19:38] So another thing that i’m working on at the moment was actually inspired by a client of mine rebecca who is going to be a guest, I had recorded a bunch of loom videos for her about how to do different things that were quite specific to her business with a loom video if no one’s used it before I send them a link And it gets lost in an email and then they think, Oh, Liz sent me a video showing me how to [00:20:00] do this.
[00:20:00] Oh, I didn’t know where the link is. So what I’ve decided to do is make a, I’m going to do it on a course platform. It’s not going to be a course. But it’s just so that they can find all the videos. I’m basically going to create a course that has all of these videos, and it will be the same that goes out to every client.
[00:20:17] But it’s effectively going to be like a pick and mix, so they can go through it and think, Oh, actually, yeah, I need to know how to do that. I’ll just go and watch Liz’s videos. And then they can just ignore the rest. So it’s not it’s not like videos that you work through. It’s Oh, I need to do this.
[00:20:29] Liz sent me access to this core space. I can go in there and see if she’s done a video of how to do it. it’ll all be linked to their branding, how to use it. How to apply it I love that.
[00:20:39] you can recommend,this one would work for you, or this one, or if they ask me a question, I can say, oh, that’s in this module of the course that I sent you. this has it all organized. I love these ideas, Lucy.
[00:20:50] Tell her to come for me. This is why I was so excited to talk to you, But then I was like, great, I can just give them access to that at the end of the [00:21:00] project. And the surprise and delight.
[00:21:01] And I was like, what a way to end on. Speaking of surprise and delight, I think there is sometimes a misconception with that, of being able to surprise and delight, it needs to be something that’s really big, grand gesture. I need to send them a big hamper with like champagne.
[00:21:18] I’ll tell you a story when I worked for a five star hotel chain one of the perks was that you got to Stay cheaply at other five star hotels within the brand. for my 30th birthday, I treated myself to,not for the whole stay. It was one night at the end of the trip in Rome, was in a fancy five star hotel.
[00:21:35] And like when we checked in, I’m like, oh, here’s some like vouchers for using in the bar later because it’s your birthday. Because I said, oh, it’s my birthday. Just slip that in there to do something because I like I’ve always done that in hotels because I know that I knew in the back of my mind they’re probably going to do something.
[00:21:51] They’re a five star hotel. but they didn’t do what I expected. So we went down to the bar later and two glasses of prosecco, then the [00:22:00] barman pulled out a Polaroid camera from behind the bar, took a photo of the two of us. And then gave us the photo in a branded frame and was like, there you go.
[00:22:09] it was a memento, that wasn’t difficult for them to do, but it was so unexpected. Also, it was a horrid picture of me, but I’ve kept it because it was a brilliant trip. It’s my birthday and me and my partner it’s still very fresh in you and all that kind of thing.
[00:22:21] So it was unexpected for a massive brand like that you’d be forgiven for thinking why bother with something small and trivial But actually those are a little the surprising delight is what? is the dopamine hit as it were that keeps people coming back and going oh yeah I love a bit of that let’s give me some more but that was like so unexpected and it felt quite personal too even though they obviously did it for everyone.
[00:22:44] But and what’s so clever about that is because the frame’s branded when someone asks says to you oh frau I’m going to Rome would you recommend Somewhere, even if you’ve forgotten the name of the hotel, you can easily find it and be like, of course I would recommend this place.
[00:22:58] Yeah, and I do think that [00:23:00] is why this. aspect. I think that I think client experience is often overlooked because you don’t see the results that maybe you do in other marketing, but ultimately this is feeding into your word of mouth marketing because if people come away feeling really good and have a great experience, then you know when someone else.
[00:23:20] asks them for a recommendation. They’re going to be like, actually, yeah, I had a great experience with Liz. I’m going to recommend her. And I think that’s where I’m like, okay, this is something that I want to invest in because I want my clients to almost do my marketing for me.
[00:23:35] I think that’s the kind of misconception I’m trying to shout from the rooftops. it’s not just a nice to have, if you want to integrate your business in a way that feels lovely and that you work in, because if somebody recommends you because they’ve had a great time, likelihood is you’ve had a lovely time serving them as well, so you get more of the same lovely people.
[00:23:50] It’s not going to be like, oh, I’m going to pass my net out to people who might not be an ideal fit. you’re more guaranteed more of the same nice people if they’re all linked to somebody you’ve [00:24:00] worked with before. But yeah,
[00:24:01] Like it’s a strategic part of your business. It feels like all the side of it is relationship and knowing that somebody actually cares about how this is going to fit into their life, how it’s going to fit into their business, what the end result is for them.
[00:24:15] once somebody knows that they’re more than just a number to you and you actually care about the end result, that’s when everything,lifts up a notch, you’re like, I love their vibe, I love everything that they’ve created, and they really care about what’s going on too.
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[00:25:56] I’ve got a great example of this where I bought [00:26:00] some, these like subscription services. I bought some shower gel from one of these subscription services places. But I thought I’d checked the just single purchase. not the subscription
[00:26:10] So a month later, another payment came out of my account. For some reason, my email had been put in wrong. So I didn’t receive like any notification that the subscription was going to be coming out. So I contacted them and I said, Oh, I wasn’t expecting this payment. I’m not sure what’s happened.
[00:26:26] And oh my goodness, their customer service was phenomenal. Like they replied straight away. They refunded the money, even though I’m pretty sure it was my fault. it was a typo, my typo, and also me probably buying something in the middle of the night and signing up for subscription.
[00:26:41] But, they were so kind and helpful, and obviously it’s easier for them to absorb that cost because they’re not a small business. I will a hundred percent buy from them again. because they were so helpful when something went wrong for me and they went above and beyond
[00:26:57] And it’s interesting, To think how [00:27:00] this can also be used when something goes wrong or make something slightly negative. I think we can apply that to small businesses, we can’t necessarily refund an expensive product if we’ve got a product based business. But there’s ways that we respond or help the person that will give them a good experience and mean we will still retain.
[00:27:22] client or customer if something’s gone wrong? Yeah, and I think the first like when you get like something like that and it’s not an ideal scenario with a client, sometimes you just have to take a step back for a minute and calm down yourself because sometimes you don’t make the best decisions when it’s a knee jerk one.
[00:27:37] I’m like oh, it’s their mistake and not like I’ve had to calm myself right down with dealing with like difficult people but. It’s it’s a bit different when it’s I’m comparing that to working in a large corporate, basically at the end of the day, it’s putting yourself in your client’s shoes.
[00:27:52] how would you feel being in that position yourself? what can you do that’s a win for you both? And how, like I mentioned before, with when I [00:28:00] was dealing with difficult people, when I was working in a complaints team, it’s often people. As long as you’ve shown that you’ve understood where they’re coming from, I get it, this is frustrating, or you didn’t expect this to happen, I’m sorry I made this mistake,I’m aware that this has happened, I’m hearing you, then saying, This is what I’m doing to provide a solution and explaining why this is going to work best for them or best for the two of you because it’s going to help you do something better or actually it’s going to provide them with a better outcome or whatever it’s finding the positive in that situation and a solution that’s going to work for you both and just, yeah, taking it from there.
[00:28:42] to be able to do that, you just need to take a breath and think, actually, let’s calm down here. how can I be human with this? how would I feel and what can I do to solve it? That’s going to work for us both. And I think sometimes it is unjust and, it will be right [00:29:00] to not refund something.
[00:29:02] But I guess it’s like how you do that, isn’t it? It’s very difficult. I’ve seen lots of, one star reviews on Etsy shops because they thought, a print was an original painting, or that it came with the frame, even though it’s like explicitly says that it doesn’t.
[00:29:18] And so there are lots of difficult situations to deal with people. But I think that is such a good point about taking a step back and putting yourself in their shoes. there will always be people that are like making a sport out of being unreasonable you can only do what’s best for you as much as you can and a lot of that returns back to certain expectations being clear as to what’s going to happen how it’s going to pan out keeping them updated
[00:29:43] All those confusions and anything that’s potentially negative happening because you’ve let them know exactly what to expect. What’s happening now? What’s coming up next? it’s adding little bits into what you already do or just remembering to send a quick email or voice note about this is what I’ve worked on.
[00:29:57] It’s not like I need to [00:30:00] send a big, like you, or like you were saying before, a quick gloom video. this is what’s going on. setting all that up, you can, avoid having to be in a position of oh, like how do I, what’s the solution to this like difficult situation?
[00:30:13] Because you’ve already. removed any doubts, in the setup and all the communication That’s been there right from the get go, Yeah, definitely. And I think that was the painful lesson I learned when I had those couple of experiences where things didn’t go great with clients is that I need to put in the work to give them as much information.
[00:30:33] ahead of time to avoid that sort of situation, things are going to go wrong, people are going to miss deadlines, something’s going to get lost in the post, But if you’ve communicated,what they can expect and what they can expect you to do if something goes wrong then they’re going to handle any disappointment much better because they have all the information that they need.
[00:30:52] it’s such a good point. what used to annoy People when I was working in complaints is that like radio silence as well If there’s no one’s a from [00:31:00] everything like the example you gave with them responding immediately or even if you just have An auto responder on your email going these are the hours that I check my email even if it’s something difficult that’s being discussed, they know that you’re not purposely ignoring them they know when to expect them.
[00:31:13] Yeah, so there’s loads of bits and pieces that you can do on that front But sometimes you think a bigger job than it actually is It’s like having confidence in yourself that this is who I am This is how I do things how I’m gonna set the scene with how everything’s gonna pan out These are my boundaries.
[00:31:28] This is how I work best Let’s bring you along for the ride because I know this is going to work for you. this is how my previous clients have got the best results So it’s just, it’s an extension, bringing it back to your brand. It’s an extension of all of that. It’s keeping the excitement that was built when they saw all about you in your marketing.
[00:31:46] If you’re communicating with them regularly, they’re getting more of you as well. So it’s, they’re getting, it feels that bit more personal and intuitive then, And I think coming back to the personality thing, like one of the things that [00:32:00] I talk about a lot in branding is that your branding should communicate effectively so that it attracts the right people and repels the wrong people and I think by communicating your process and how you work that helps people know if they’re going to be the right fit for you or not because there’s loads of different branding designers and I know they have way different processes and they like to tackle creative projects in different ways.
[00:32:24] And for some people, they’ll like the way that I work and that I’m a great fit for them. And for some people they just won’t like it. They would rather work with someone else. And actually that’s absolutely fine. we get a bit afraid often with sharing our personality is this idea that we have to, that everyone has to like us or everyone has to want to work with us.
[00:32:44] Whereas actually like letting go of that and just letting, just feeling comfortable with the fact that for some people, I will not be the right fit and that’s okay. that’s so helpful and it means I can show my personality exactly like you described [00:33:00] because hopefully I’ve attracted the people that will appreciate that and will enjoy.
[00:33:04] the way that I work. And then by considering your client experience and your whole communication during the time together, you’re going to get more of the same people But I think it’s interesting what you say about,like almost being scared to share your personality.
[00:33:19] Being professional can sometimes be a mask that people can hide behind because then it’s Oh, I don’t want to give too much of myself in case like people don’t like it so before I was a client experience specialist, which is a title I made up for myself.
[00:33:31] I was a VA and started like mid pandemic and I was like, Oh, I just need a client put like this really like you’d have been shocked at the quality of like design that I just put out on Facebook. I was thinking somebody in my friend of a friend will know somebody that’s looking for my kind of support and I was specializing in,client X,well, client care basically.
[00:33:55] Supporting them with their customers. And,I remember there was like a typo on[00:34:00] one of the things that I was like, Oh my God, this is the worst thing ever. nobody’s ever going to take me seriously. and I’d been like, Oh, like I’ve been like checking it. And I was like, how has this happened?
[00:34:11] And now I’ll put out stuff with typos in all the time, cause I won’t notice it. But then I think, it’s imperfections that make us stand out from anybody else, in our niche or fields, because like you were saying, somebody’s going to be attracted to your brand for a particular reason because of how you go about doing things.
[00:34:29] So it then only feels right that when you’re sharing and communicating them with them whilst they’re in your world, you’re doing some kind of work together, that there’s a continuation of that. being fully confident. Well, actually that’s what they came to me for. They came to me because I approached things in this way.
[00:34:45] They came to me because they like how I just laugh at my own jokes all the time, or I’m like, or they identified that they’ve got young family as well or whatever. there’s something else. with their brand and if you’re consistent and continue that throughout their [00:35:00] time with you, then it’s just, it’s that much more memorable as well.
[00:35:03] So it’s memorable and then if you add in these little surprise and delight moments that’s when you’re onto a winner. Okay. So if anyone’s listening and they’re thinking,I need to improve my client experience, but I just feel overwhelmed because some people are going to be like me where they’re going to feel like, they have to do everything right now.
[00:35:22] What would your advice be? What sort of things maybe could people tackle first? What would be some quick and easy wins? So I’ve said it earlier on in this,chat, but start with the feeling, write down how you want to make your clients feel when they’re in your world.
[00:35:38] a task that I ask people to think about if you want to go deeper on this is create like a mood board on Pinterest, or maybe a playlist that you can anchor into and return back to. And like you can edit it and obviously there’s things like that, but just so you’re really clear in your mind, cause that’ll help inform some choices.
[00:35:55] further down the line as to what you communicate and when and why you’re doing it. It’s [00:36:00] because you want to create this feeling with them. And I suppose something which we’ve been talking about is expectations, how you can actually nail them in the beginning. And I would suggest, is having on your contact channels, an auto responder.
[00:36:13] Okay, I’ve got a question about this, because I find them really annoying, which I feel bad to say, but and it’s probably because I’m not usually complaining about something, or I don’t need, so basically, I feel I get a lot of them now, I don’t need to know when you’re gonna reply, I don’t need another email in my inbox, that’s not to say that’s not the right thing to do,I have mixed feelings about them, I guess that just comes back to that everybody’s different, isn’t it, so for some people it is personal preference, and I do think they are good for, part of the reason I don’t have one, is that I’m usually fairly accessible on email.
[00:36:53] And if it’s something that needs a quick response, I can respond quickly. if you’ve got little kids and you’re only working a [00:37:00] couple of days a week, or. if you’ve got basically, if you’ve got really good boundaries with your emails, unlike me, then it is a good thing to do because people know what to expect.
[00:37:08] But yeah, I have mixed feelings. I’m on the Instagram. Because what happens to me is I’ll send someone a DM on Instagram and I’ll get their autoresponder saying, Oh, I don’t check messages between. 7 p. m. and 9 p. m. 9 a. m. or whatever, and then five minutes later they reply and I’m like, clearly, you might be playing a song to a rapper.
[00:37:33] If you know that your schedule is busy and you’re not in your inbox all the time, I’ve spoken to quite a lot of women that I’ve networked with in person they just feel very overwhelmed and they need to be switched on all the time.
[00:37:43] So if that side of things you’re finding really overwhelming that you just feel a bit touched out with. messages everywhere than a hundred percent the issue here is my lack of boundaries rather than it’s not a good idea but that’s it can be quickly i [00:38:00] also think that having a welcome sequence or something like that Actually, then they’re saying when they share more about themselves or their brand.
[00:38:07] It just sounds like a CV I’m like, like I say like some People that I’ve worked with are like, what do you do? what are you like outside of work? How have you got to where you are? Like, how does that inform your approach?
[00:38:18] Because again, that leads into expectations of what it’s going to be like working with you. this doesn’t necessarily have to be written It can be a video or it can be in like just something that’s just a little bit more easy to digest. Something visual, it doesn’t have to be just paragraphs of I did this, and now I’m here.
[00:38:35] It’s,just so they get to know more of you. Like I’ve done, I’ve achieved X, Y, and Z, but also this is what I bring and bring into the table. This is what my life looks like outside of work then they’re getting more of you so they know what to expect moving forward, but then you’ve also told them like all the key admin bits that goes in with welcoming.
[00:38:53] I’ve got a great example of that I signed up for a course recently and it was on the more expensive side [00:39:00] the guy who ran the course sent everyone who signed up a personalized five minute video, introducing them to the course. And so he just like batch created them all like one day.
[00:39:12] there was a formula in terms of what he needed to include, but it was like, hey Liz, I’m so happy you’ve signed up for the course. it was memorable because no one had ever done that for me before and it made me feel like, he really cares that I’ve Signed up to his course and what I got out of it I ended up doing the same for my course and had great feedback if it’s a course usually gets about 20 students I spend a couple of hours and do all those Videos that’s so worth it for how they feel before they’ve even started the course.
[00:39:43] Yeah, because if you want them to feel like that you actually like the big thing there was like he you knew that he cared about the outcome you were going to get from working with him being on this course and it sounds that worked.
[00:39:56] for you with how you work with your brand and it’s very, video or [00:40:00] audio is brilliant, then you can get that across in something really personal like that. And it’s, again, it’s not something I keep on returning back to. It’s not something that’s really big or massive. not oh, bells and whistles.
[00:40:09] It’s just something that’s more of you and showing that you care at the same time. What could people do if videos or audio,freak them out? I thought you could do like just something that’s like in line with your so I’m a bit like a big fan of a visual like if it’s something that’s like pretty looking or like as long as it fits in with your brand it doesn’t have to be even if it’s just like sending a couple of if you’ve got them on Instagram sending them a little ding I’m doing yay yes oh nice yeah a couple of words on there or even A little branded email
[00:40:49] It doesn’t have to be a big thing where people put sticky notes on walls Yeah, I do like that idea because I did something similar with my Pre challenge I’m excited [00:41:00] that all these people have joined me, because that’s another way doing something similar.
[00:41:04] If you’re not wanting to come on camera and say, all these people have joined. here’s the next person you can just type something. So if people haven’t seen that before, a lot of people when they launch courses, they put, sticky notes or something.
[00:41:15] They make some sort of visual way of representing the people that signed up. One person who does this so amazingly and creatively is,Rachel Waring. She did like a liket thing, didn’t she? I mean she like builds things to do this which it’s imperfectly with her brain. She’s so creative.
[00:41:31] Yes, because her course about being creative with marketing and all that kind of thing. And so she’s living what she’s teaching and it’s really fun to watch and I think, I’m sure that helps. where people get excited at the thought of seeing their name up on the wall
[00:41:46] Yeah, it’s really fun. And a perfect thing to do if you don’t want to be sending personalized videos, I’ve had another one that I’ve had is, I’ve got a postcard that I was on a group program.
[00:41:57] It was like, oh, thanks for joining. [00:42:00] Obviously, I think she had a VA help me. she had a VA helper at the time do this. So that’s not accessible for everyone, but it was branded. I’ve still got it. It’s a quote. and a short message saying that she’s excited for what’s to come.
[00:42:13] And I was like, wow, she cares. It was significant about people. and it’s little things. but you can do it obviously we don’t have the budget to do that kind of thing all the time. you can scale it down. just a quick message or doing the visual on your socials or even just sharing.
[00:42:29] something else small that shows that you’re not just a number to me. I’m really buzzing that this is what we’re going to achieve together. Amazing. any last tips that you want to share with people if they’re thinking about how to improve their client experience?
[00:42:42] I would say another common misconception is that you have to bin everything that you’re already doing and start again. Because I think there’s people that, I’ve and I think it’s born out of wanting to do the very best that you can as a business owner, if you’re ambitious and you want to create you can see the vision and you want to get there.
[00:42:59] [00:43:00] And it’s I followed this expert and she said this, and this. Clearly I’m not doing any of that, so I’m going to have to start again. But actually, when somebody sits down with me and I go, it’s probably this little bit here. If you include more of your personality, set the expectations a little bit clearer or you need to share boundaries.
[00:43:14] Shall we do it in this way that feels a bit more comfortable Because that’s going to work with your brand. I suppose that’s what I specialize in is finding those asking the questions and finding the gaps so I’d say with anything it’s not as overwhelming when you’re working on your business we think this is going to be a huge job that’s going to take far too much of my time, like why bother?
[00:43:34] And obviously we’ve gone into why it is worth bothering, but that’s how you can think about it. It’s just doing one bit at a time, maybe like I’m going to look at my expectations or the first steps when somebody comes into my world. What isn’t, and does it show my personality and my brand?
[00:43:49] If not, how can I make these changes? And with it all, keeping in mind this expectation thing, because That’s pretty key. Amazing. Oh, thank you so much. I love chatting about this and I [00:44:00] think it’s such a good. factor of branding for and how people interact with your business for people to think about.
[00:44:06] So maybe you could share where people can find you online, if they want to work with you, or if they want to follow you. I’m just on Instagram. That’s why I mainly hang out. I should have said that my right at the beginning that my business is called and so the journey begins. co.
[00:44:20] That’s my handle on Instagram. Hopefully by the time this comes out, I will also have. sorted out a proper website, which will be that. co because I’ve got the domain. but that’s where I hang out. That’s where you can find me. I pump out quite a lot of content.
[00:44:33] so there’s quite a lot of stuff on there and if you sign up to my mailing list, actually, I’m working on a new freebie, which probably by the time this comes out will be live. So you can have, and that’s all about communication, like my tips for nurturing relationships.
[00:44:47] Thank you so much. [00:45:00]
