6 ways to upgrade your client experience today
Happy clients are normally the greatest advocates for your business.
The happier they are the more they will share your business and services with others.
But it's not enough to just meet expectations. We have to exceed them.
Here are six ideas for how to improve your client experience.
1: Map your client experience
A client's experience starts before they ever pay you anything
Every touch point you have with a client contributes to their experience - e.g. initial social media posts they might see all the way through to their completed project
Your goal should be to create a consistent client experience across the entire journey with you.
Every business should map this in their "client/customer journey"
Some resources to help you:
Map your full client experience as part of my short course - Upgrade your Client Experience
Free download - How to prepare for a new client meeting - download it here
Blog post: Client Leadership - The secret to managing design clients
2: Improve the onboarding process
The moment a client decides to work with you is the most excited they will ever be about working with you. So make the most of it!
Send out a quick personal welcome video as soon as they sign up - tell them what to expect as first steps (Loom or Bonjoro are great for this)
Then have an onboarding process that you move all clients through with things like; onboarding questionnaires, welcome pack and an initial kick-off meeting
Some resources to help you:
Create your Interior Design Client Questionnaires - download it here
Business Short Course - upgrade your client experience - find out more here
Blog post - 10 questions to ask your new interior design clients - read it here
3: Create a client welcome pack
Create a client welcome pack that includes information about:
you and your team
what to expect
communication expectations
typical timelines
answers to FAQs
information specific to their project
Need help putting this together? Create it in 90 minutes using the template and workshop below.
Some resources to help you:
4: Better regular communication
Remember you've done this before - your client probably hasn't
Make sure every step of your process is clear and they always know the next step to come
When in doubt communicate more rather than less
I encourage my clients to create Friday update emails to send to their clients every week (get this in my Email Scripts Database)
Some resources to help you:
Blog post - how to create an amazing customer experience - read it here
Template - The Client Project Tracker (a fully built out tracker for your client projects that you can drop in your business right now)
5: Keep written records of everything
Create an email summary after every site visit or phone call and email it to the client, site manager and whoever else was at the meeting
Distribute action items as per what was agreed in the meeting
If you don't document meetings or calls it's unlikely anyone else will (trades will rarely do this)
A written summary of everything is excellent risk protection for you and also makes a great impression on your client
Some resources to help you:
Template - The Client Project Tracker
6: Project completion
Make the completion of the project exciting for your client
Leave a welcome gift of special surprise if you aren't there for handover
Prepare a handover folder with brochures, warranties, paint colours, fabric swatches, how to fluff cushions, images of rooms as styled by you - whatever you think will help give them the confidence to make the home look the way you did from this point forward
Some resources to help you:
Blog post - my full workflow and interior design process with clients
Blog post - Social Proof Sells, here’s what to share!
Courses and Templates for Designers and Architects
DO YOU WANT TO….
Improve your professionalism?
Find more clients?
Bring in more revenue?
Create better systems and processes?
Then check out my business courses and templates for designers and architects.
These courses and templates leave you with work done - not just a long list of things you need to do next. We have a really strong focus on taking action and getting things created that improve your business.
Enjoy the rest of your day!
Clare x
Dr Clare Le Roy