Client Happiness Made Easier ??

3 Stages to Keep Your Customers Coming Back! [PART 3/5]

This week I have been talking about the FOUR CORE SYSTEMS?? ?that every business needs to make it go round - no matter what industry or model.

If you are just tuning in read through -

Part 1: Attraction System

Part 2: Sales System

This 5 part article series is for you if you're looking to systematize and elevate your client experience in a way that makes delivering your work simpler for you while remaining deeply in-service of your clients.

Let's get into Part 3: Delivery System

The third of the FOUR CORE SYSTEMS?? is your Delivery System. Depending on your business model your delivery system will look different, but for serviced based companies whom I work with, it includes three stages:

client onboarding,

client project management (also called fulfillment),

and client off boarding.

Stage 1: Your Client Onboarding System

starts at the first touch point following the deposit made and contract signed. Your onboarding ends after you have evaluated your client feedback and in some cases made immediate improvements.

I break client onboarding into 7 foundations:

1) Pre-Boarding - the steps you take to prep to onboard a client.

2) Welcome Experience - your purchase confirmation notification + welcome message, with your accompanying welcome assets.

3) Pre-Work - this includes your project planning and your project prep-work.

4) Kick off - this is an intentional high-touch point where you set expectations, orient your client, and prep them for the next step.

5) Cultivated Client Win - a pre-determined and built in step that leads to the clients getting high-value outcome from low-effort, and quickly. This step is designed to prove your services value and lock-in customer trust.

6) Collect Client Feedback - an intentional touchpoint (interview or survey) with pre-determined measurable questions about their experience in your onboarding process.

7) Evaluate and Improve - a built in step to review the feedback and make improvements to your onboarding process.

Intentionally building out these seven foundations will set you up to seamlessly onboard new clients so that they have complete confidence in your work from the very start.?

And if you are ready elevate your client experience in a way that makes delivering your work simpler while remaining deeply in service of your clients I invite you to learn more about the Client Onboarding System In a Box??.

Client Onboarding System in a Box?? ? is a super simple,?step-by-step?digital training with accompanying resources , for even the most systems-averse to be able to implement a client onboarding system with ease. Filled with video walkthroughs where you get to watch over my shoulder as I help you bring this system together.

Let's keep it going and move to the second stage of client delivery:

Stage 2: Client Project Management

This stage is also called fulfillment or the delivery of work. For service based businesses we are often managing a project even if that "project" is 1:1 coaching or delivering several services at once.

Do you find yourself frequently out of scope with your clients?

If so, that might be an indicator you need to revisit your Client Project Management System.

Producing a great experience in this area has a lot to do with step 3) kick off and step 4) project pre-work in the client onboarding system.

But we can't always plan for everything so we need to be prepared to address some of the risks and challenges that are a normal part of managing a project.

There are two areas of improvement I'd like to discuss:

The first is your project structure. Now, this goes back to how you've designed your offer. And you may want to solicit some support around HOW to best structure your offer first. Once you have a solid offer structure or framework for how you do the work, you can start to optimize your project structure.

Do you have a defined point A through a defined point Z? Or are you adding things in or creating resources as the project moves along?

Do you have the necessary internal and external resources created to make delivery easier? Think like templates, training videos, workbooks.

Let's go deeper into this.

If you offer several services that make up your offer (B2B and Agencies) , you can streamline each service, templatize what you can and create the internal and external resources needed to make the delivery easier.

If you only deliver one thing in one way, then map out your service step by step and start to look for ways to shorten the time between each step. Sometimes this looks like automating steps or just developing a standardized way of doing things. (AND sticking to it ??).

The second are of improvement is your project boundaries. It may take some experience delivering your offer to understand where your clients are pushing your project boundaries, but once your at a point where you've had a few late nights and stressful days, you are ready to improve this area.

There are a few things to remember here:

1) You are not your client's savior. You don't have to be. And you absolutely should not position yourself as the hero in project management. Just like in messaging, your customer is the HERO and you are the GUIDE.

You customer is VERY capable of getting through the hard and dealing with their own emotions. You sometimes need to allow for that to happen.

2) Another thing that will help manage your project boundaries is to -

document and refer to "what's NOT included".

I include a service break down in my client portal which includes "what's included" and "what's not included". I have received very positive feedback about this.

I also document how many calls they get and up to how much time I am giving away so that I can refer back to it if needed. I communicate this in my sales process and reiterate in onboarding that extra time is extra money.

Improving your project structure and project boundaries is a great start to optimizing your project management system.

If you are looking to go deeper into this area of you business and find an easier way to mange your client projects end to end -

I invite you to jump onto the waitlist for Client Project Management System in a Box?? , part of a series of digital products called Systems In a Box?? , a digital course + accompanying resources + built in support - that will help you and your ops support person build upon your existing four core systems and bring things all together in a cohesive way while leaving you feeling super proud of what your putting out there.

Stage 3: Client Off boarding

Your off boarding process for clients is the third stage and an important part of your delivery system success. Client off boarding sets the tone for how you will continue the client relationship in perpetuity.

Client Off boarding starts once the last deliverable is met by your team and it ends with your client's decision to be retained or churn.

It's at this decision point where you will find yourself at a fork in the road. You either retain your customer and move them into another service or extend the current service. OR the second option is for your client to move on (churn).

In between that point A and point B are a few other components of off boarding that you may or may not have in place:

• Recap & Reflection touch points.
• Feedback Request
• Set Up to Re-Engage
• Provide Support to take the next best step for them.
• Cultivate an opportunity to craft your client transformation story.
• Market Your Client Transformation Story
• Evaluate Feedback and Improve.
• Collect & update client data

You can think of off boarding like the period after a dinner party where everyone is wrapping up conversations and some people choose to stay for the after-party while others, who feel complete decide to go home. And your job is to make sure that they are comfortable and eager to come back when the timing is right.

To TLDR it, here's the gist -

Your Client Delivery System is one of the FOUR CORE SYSTEMS?? ?that every business needs to make it go round - no matter what industry or model.

And you client delivery system includes three stages:

1. Client Onboarding
2. Client Project Management
3. Client Off boarding

My goal for this 5 part series is to help you identify the start and end to each of your FOUR CORE SYSTEMS?? so you can better identify where you should focus your time, money, and energy when ready to systematize your business and elevate your client experience.

Look out for a series of 6 Systems In a Box?? - digital products being released to help you to bring your entire customer journey together one system at a time.

Join the waitlist here!

Check out The Client Onboarding System In a Box?? already released!

I'll see you tomorrow in Part 4/5 where we will talk about my favorite system: Advocacy System - ever wonder how to keep a client engaged, excited, and turn them into a raving fan?

See you tomorrow!

p.s. Hi ????, I'm Alicia [she/her/hers]

I help freedom-driven founders grow mission-driven businesses through building sustainable systems and a memorable client experience. And my mission is clear: Simplify your path to FREEDOM.