Latest / The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series / Designing an Excellent Customer Experience In 3 Stages

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Designing an Excellent Customer Experience In 3 Stages · The Matriarchy Would Never | A Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast Series

0:01
SPEAKER_00: When it comes to designing an impeccable customer experience, a customer experience that has people raving about what it was like to work with you, that has people sending you referrals, that has people coming back and doing business with you again, it can feel really confusing because most people aren't talking about customer experience when they think they are.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: What they're really talking about is customer service, answering problems as they arise, troubleshooting things, putting out fires.
0:31
SPEAKER_00: But today I'm going to walk you through the three stages of your customer experience strategy.
0:39
SPEAKER_00: So grab your notebooks for this one, CEOs.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: You're going to want to make sure you have addressed and mapped out your customer experience in each of these three stages.
0:50
SPEAKER_00: Let's get into it.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: Are you ready to grow from stressed-out solopreneur to confident CEO?
0:56
SPEAKER_00: You're in the right place.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Rachel Cook, and I've spent more than 15 years helping women entrepreneurs sustainably scale their businesses.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: If you're serious about building a sustainable business, it's time to put the strategy, systems, and support in place to make it happen.
1:14
SPEAKER_00: Join me every week for candid conversations about stepping into your role as CEO, the hard lessons learned along the way, and practical, profitable strategies to grow a sustainable business without the hustle and burnout.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Okay, CEOs.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Today it's time for the practical episode here.
1:33
SPEAKER_00: Actually, most of these episodes in this series, all about designing an impeccable customer experience, are going to be extremely practical because this is an area where people are struggling.
1:44
SPEAKER_00: People don't know how to make their experience better.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: And as a result, they're not getting clients who are sticking around.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: They're losing clients all the time.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: They're dealing with refunds and cancellations, they're dealing with unhappy clients who aren't sending them referrals, who aren't sending them testimonials.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: And those things don't come by accident.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: They come by design.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: If you want testimonials, you want referrals, you want people out there evangelizing your business, they grab your pen and paper.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna map out the three stages of your customer experience plan.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: Now, these three stages are essential for any offer.
2:26
SPEAKER_00: I don't care what the offer is, if it's a product, a program or service, if it's a digital product, an online course, a group coaching program, an actual service you're doing in person, a service you're delivering virtually, whatever it is, you need to have a game plan here for each of these three stages of your customer experience.
2:47
SPEAKER_00: And when you have this clear customer experience, this clear journey you're taking people through, not only is it gonna make it so much easier to take care of your clients, but you're also gonna make it easier to eventually bring people on to support you in working with your clients or to work directly with your clients and make sure that every single client is getting the same top-notch experience in their journey working with you.
3:13
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's get into it.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: The first stage of the customer experience journey of mapping out your customer experience plan is onboarding.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: Onboarding is so important.
3:29
SPEAKER_00: It sets the tone for the entire relationship with your new client.
3:35
SPEAKER_00: And if onboarding is confusing, if it's disconnected, if people don't know what to expect or they don't know what to do next, then the tone you're setting is frustration, overwhelm, confusion, and buyer's remorse.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: So let's reverse that.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's make sure we have a solid onboarding process.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: So the first thing everyone needs is to make sure your onboarding systems are in place.
4:04
SPEAKER_00: The last thing you want is someone is ready to work with you and you don't have these things in place so that you can't easily get started.
4:11
SPEAKER_00: So here's systems you may want to put in place.
4:14
SPEAKER_00: You may need to have an agreement for people to sign.
4:18
SPEAKER_00: Especially if you're doing high-end services, you likely have some sort of client agreement that they need to sign.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: And this maps out, lays out exactly what they are signing up for, what the offer is.
4:31
SPEAKER_00: It also should be a legal agreement that is protecting you and protecting them.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: The goal is clarity, right?
4:39
SPEAKER_00: Clarity and expectation setting.
4:41
SPEAKER_00: So you're probably going to need to have an agreement saying, yes, we are engaging in a business relationship.
4:47
SPEAKER_00: Here's what we are engaging in, setting the terms, setting the scope of service, and clearly articulating different policies that your clients need to be aware of.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Is there a late payment fee?
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Is there a specific schedule and how they'll be billed?
5:02
SPEAKER_00: What if they have a disagreement or need to have a dis, you know, open a dispute or whatever?
5:07
SPEAKER_00: All of that needs to be laid out in your agreement.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: Now, some offers, I'm very aware, like people coming online and buying a digital on-demand product, they're not going to need to sign like a contract, but your terms and services are your agreement.
5:22
SPEAKER_00: So you want to make sure those are all buttoned up and that people have to acknowledge them in order to take the next step with you.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: This protects you and it sets and lays the expectations for your clients.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: So make it easy on yourself.
5:37
SPEAKER_00: Make sure that all they have to do is sign it digitally.
5:40
SPEAKER_00: If you have to jump through hoops, people are gonna get frustrated and confused.
5:44
SPEAKER_00: If I need to print something out and fax it back to you or scan it and send it back to you, oh my gosh, now you've just added so much friction for us to get started.
5:54
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with invoicing, billing, and payment.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: Make it easy to get paid.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: Make it easy.
6:02
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you have either an invoicing program that is super intuitive and super easy for people to use.
6:09
SPEAKER_00: If you're setting up recurring payments, I highly encourage this by the way.
6:13
SPEAKER_00: If you have people working with you on an ongoing basis, put it on auto pay.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: Make it easy for them to put it on auto pay.
6:20
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, you're constantly going to be chasing down invoices and you're constantly going to be trying to, you know, get the check for the services that you're doing.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: So I really encourage everyone to make sure you have an easy-to-manage invoicing, billing, and payment system in place.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: You probably need to have some sort of scheduling system in place.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: So if you are delivering any sort of service, you want to have a tool that makes it easy for people to get on your calendar.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: If they're having to go back and forth with you a million times in email to find a time, that is wasting a ton of time, it's incredibly frustrating for your potential client.
7:00
SPEAKER_00: If they are having to call in to get on the calendar, they're not going to call in.
7:06
SPEAKER_00: And in fact, I would say that we are at a point now where any business that is by appointment, if you don't have an online scheduling tool, I guarantee people are not scheduling with you.
7:18
SPEAKER_00: They are going to someone else who it's easier to get on their calendar.
7:22
SPEAKER_00: So let's make sure we have our online scheduling tool set up.
7:25
SPEAKER_00: The fourth thing in your systems you might need is what access do people need in order to work with you.
7:33
SPEAKER_00: So this could be if they're buying an online program or a course or something of that nature.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: Maybe there's a member site or a password-protected site that they need to log into in order to get access to that program.
7:46
SPEAKER_00: So we need to make sure they have access.
7:48
SPEAKER_00: We need to make sure we're clear on our end, what are we giving access to?
7:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have a system that you need to have access to.
7:56
SPEAKER_00: So, like, I have a lot of CPAs in the collective right now.
8:01
SPEAKER_00: And oh my gosh, they need access to so many things, right?
8:04
SPEAKER_00: They need you to set up bookkeeping access, accountant access to all your payment systems, all your credit cards, all your bank statements.
8:11
SPEAKER_00: They need access to a lot in order to even get started.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: And that creates friction.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: So the more you can make it easy for people to get access to what they need, the easier the onboarding will be.
8:22
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with if you're a website designer or anybody who's doing creative work.
8:26
SPEAKER_00: If you need access to stuff or you need things in order for you to even begin work, the easier you can make this, the easier it's gonna be, and the less frustrated your clients are gonna be.
8:37
SPEAKER_00: And the final thing that you wanna make sure you're thinking through in your systems is your communication channels.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: Once they're a client, how are they communicating with you?
8:47
SPEAKER_00: If you're not sure, then they will try to communicate with you in every channel that you have.
8:53
SPEAKER_00: So in my business, I do not like to communicate via email with my clients because my team manages my inbox and things can get very busy in there.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: So I tell people if you're in the CEO collective, we have a direct message feature in our platform.
9:11
SPEAKER_00: So they can direct message me or they can post in the group.
9:14
SPEAKER_00: That is the best way to connect with me if they're a member of the CEO collective.
9:17
SPEAKER_00: If they email me, it's gonna take probably a day or two for me to get back because I'm not gonna see it.
9:23
SPEAKER_00: So you want to think about your communication channels.
9:25
SPEAKER_00: Is it email?
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Is it a different platform?
9:28
SPEAKER_00: Is it Slack?
9:29
SPEAKER_00: Is it a project management system?
9:32
SPEAKER_00: How are you communicating?
9:34
SPEAKER_00: And this also is how are you getting information back and forth?
9:38
SPEAKER_00: Important things to think about.
9:40
SPEAKER_00: So you need those systems in place as you're onboarding and you need clarity on what those systems are.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: You need to know what your getting started checklist looks like.
9:49
SPEAKER_00: And again, this is gonna be especially applicable for people who are offering a service.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: So if you have people getting started with you, one, what information do you need from them?
10:02
SPEAKER_00: What information do you need from them?
10:04
SPEAKER_00: And how can you make it as easy as possible to get that information?
10:09
SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest um sticking points for a lot of service providers is I just can't get information from people.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: I need them to give me this information.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: They're not doing it, they don't, you know, fill out the worksheet or whatever you're sending them.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: How are you making it as easy as possible?
10:27
SPEAKER_00: I recommend simplifying, simplifying, simplifying.
10:30
SPEAKER_00: Like, is there a form they can fill out to get all the information to you?
10:34
SPEAKER_00: So a new client intake form.
10:37
SPEAKER_00: If they have to send you information, where are they sending it?
10:41
SPEAKER_00: Is there a shared Google Drive folder that you could have them drop it in?
10:45
SPEAKER_00: Make it easy to get the information that you need so that you can do your job.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: Next, how can they get the best results?
10:54
SPEAKER_00: This is all about expectation setting.
10:56
SPEAKER_00: And I think this is especially important for those service providers out there.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: How can they get the best results working with you and your company?
11:03
SPEAKER_00: What do they need to know?
11:04
SPEAKER_00: This information might be in your sales page, your sales information already, it might be in your agreement, but you cannot restate your expectations over and over again enough, right?
11:16
SPEAKER_00: The more you lay out those expectations, the more they'll understand and remember those expectations.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: So if you want to tell people how to get the best results from working with you, one thing I love is I literally will put together a little for my one-on-one clients, they have a little PDF that's like how to get the most working with Rachel.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: And it is super detailed.
11:36
SPEAKER_00: It tells them how to communicate with me, how to get my feedback on things.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: It even tells them how to use Voxer to make sure that we're communicating well.
11:45
SPEAKER_00: And because I lay that all out and I'm reiterating it multiple times in this onboarding process, they know how to get the most out of their experience with us.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: And you also might have some homework for people to do.
11:57
SPEAKER_00: So this could be different from your intake process.
12:00
SPEAKER_00: Intake information is going to vary depending on business to business, right?
12:04
SPEAKER_00: But I highly recommend doing some sort of intake process so you can get that customer information.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: The homework might be different.
12:12
SPEAKER_00: The homework or the pre-work to getting started is specific to what you are doing with them, whatever your offer is.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: The intake can be more about just getting to know your clients or getting your own data and research as you're onboarding people.
12:29
SPEAKER_00: So they might be slightly different, and that's okay.
12:32
SPEAKER_00: Again, getting started, those three things intake process, expectation setting, best results, and homework are going to be more specific to service-based businesses, but helpful if you want to get information basically in any offer that you have.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: You can't get enough information about your clients, especially in their own words.
12:51
SPEAKER_00: It's the best market research there is.
12:54
SPEAKER_00: The third area of your onboarding is your client delight, your new client delight.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: How are you making sure that from the moment they start working with you, they are excited, they're fired up, they're already feeling well taken care of.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: So if you've got the systems in place and made it really easy for people to get started, like you're already ahead of the curve on this, they're gonna be excited about working with you.
13:20
SPEAKER_00: That's delightful.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: Having a seamless experience is delightful.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: But what else can you do?
13:26
SPEAKER_00: Well, I love sending out recommended reading.
13:30
SPEAKER_00: I love sending out books to people.
13:32
SPEAKER_00: I send out so many books or lists of things like my best podcast for them to dig into.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: I might even have a training that I want them to dig into first.
13:43
SPEAKER_00: So I'll make sure it's really easy for them to get going, right?
13:46
SPEAKER_00: Really easy for them to get into the material.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: I might have print workbooks that I'll send out to them.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Also, tools for success.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: Like what do they need to successfully do whatever it is you're doing together?
14:00
SPEAKER_00: I've had so many different examples of this.
14:04
SPEAKER_00: I'm not just going to share from my own business because if you work with us, you're getting a lot of planners, clearly.
14:09
SPEAKER_00: That's one of the biggest reasons we made the planners was to send print planners to our clients.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: But I mean, I'm thinking of I worked with a health coach who included in her new client Delight, she included a huge bundle of all the things I would need to really get into her programs, like seasonings that were aligned with the plan, coffee replacements to try out and see if I would like all sorts of different things that just made it really easy to succeed in the plan.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: So you can build this into your into your offer.
14:41
SPEAKER_00: The key is if it's delight, it's like a surprise.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: You're not necessarily promoting that, hey, when you join me for this program, I'm also sending you an aura ring.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Instead, it's like, oh no, surprise, you're getting this amazing thing on top of it.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm a huge fan of making things more personal.
15:00
SPEAKER_00: And even at scale, this is something you can do.
15:03
SPEAKER_00: So you can always send out a handwritten card, goes a long way, but can you send out lumpy mail?
15:09
SPEAKER_00: Can you send out something that is aligned with your brand?
15:12
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't have to be like a branded thing.
15:14
SPEAKER_00: So it doesn't need to be like a branded coffee mug as I'm sipping my coffee mug from Rebel where I got it, but it can be something that's just a thoughtful touch, right?
15:26
SPEAKER_00: So I know in working with a lot of different service providers, I mean, I've gotten everything from flowers to chocolate to a lot of people send me plants because they know I'm a plant person.
15:38
SPEAKER_00: I've gotten one of my favorite things, my friend Maggie Patterson sent me, um, oh God, years ago when she and I were working together on some projects.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: She sent me a canvas tote bag that said, I like big books and I cannot lie.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: I use that tote bag 10 years later, like all the time.
15:55
SPEAKER_00: It's one of my favorites.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: And I think about her every single time I use it.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: And it was just so thoughtful and personal.
16:02
SPEAKER_00: Like she knew that I'm a big reader.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: So it just felt so incredibly thoughtful as a way to kind of kick off our working relationship.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: So, new client delight, I think, is something you don't have to go overboard with it, but take a little bit of time and think about is there something I can I can surprise and delight that is gonna elevate this experience, make it easier to get into the work together, that it's gonna show that I'm interested in them as a person and I want to build on that relationship.
16:32
SPEAKER_00: The final piece of your onboarding process is some sort of kickoff, some sort of kickoff call.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: This could, for again, I'm gonna say this skews heavily towards people who are service providers or are running some sort of group coaching training type of programs.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: You might not have a kickoff call for an on-demand product, but a kickoff call or a kickoff session can be incredibly powerful to make sure everything is starting off on the right foot.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
17:07
SPEAKER_00: When onboarding is 100% automated, especially if you're getting people into a lot of content or into a journey that can be really overwhelming, when it's 100% automated, people can still get lost.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: Even if you think it's crystal clear, they will find a way to get confused.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: So having an opportunity for them to talk directly with you can make a huge difference.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: The kickoff is a great way to reiterate expectations, like, hey, here's what we're doing, here's what you are signing, what you signed up for, what you're getting, here's the deliverables, here's the timeline, here's when things are due, here's the expectations.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: A kickoff is also a great time to get more information from your client.
17:50
SPEAKER_00: So if you're somebody who needs a lot of data collection in your business, you need to get a lot of information from your client, you need them to do a lot of pre-work before you can do your thing for your client.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes they're not going to sit down and write out what you need them to write out.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: You might just have to have a session and say, hey, let's just book a call and go through this together.
18:08
SPEAKER_00: And that way you can get the information you need and they're more likely to just sit down and talk through it instead of typing it out.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: That might be an option.
18:16
SPEAKER_00: Even in our group program in the CEO collective, one of my favorite things to do on our new member welcome call is ask questions to get to know people better, right?
18:26
SPEAKER_00: Get to know them a little bit better.
18:28
SPEAKER_00: And these are different from the questions they filled out in the intake process.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: One of my favorite questions is how will I know if you are stuck or in resistance?
18:40
SPEAKER_00: And that's me asking them, hey, what are your bad habits here?
18:44
SPEAKER_00: Are you gonna disappear and I need I need to check on you if you stop showing up?
18:48
SPEAKER_00: It gives them an opportunity to reflect too that, hey, we're a proactive experience here.
18:53
SPEAKER_00: If we don't hear from you, we're gonna reach out.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: So it can be a great way in that call, whether it's a one-on-one call or a group call, to again level set expectations, begin to really deepen that relationship, get what you need, and lay out what's gonna happen next.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: So that's onboarding.
19:10
SPEAKER_00: In the onboarding, you need to have your systems, how do they get started, what is your new client delight, and what is your kickoff for your experience look like?
19:19
SPEAKER_00: If you can cover those things, you will be so amazed at how much better your client's beginning of their experience with you will be.
19:29
SPEAKER_00: You'll be amazed how much quicker you can turn around things for them because you've made it even easier for them to get started.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the next element of your customer experience plan is the delivery of your offer.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: And this is your success path.
19:47
SPEAKER_00: Even if every client is a little bit different, and I hear this a lot from service providers.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: They're like, well, I don't really have like a step one, step two, step three.
19:56
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's a little different.
19:58
SPEAKER_00: I kind of mix it up and I do things very intuitively.
20:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, awesome, I get that.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: I do things intuitively all the time.
20:05
SPEAKER_00: It's a huge part of why I think I'm so good at what I do.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: But when you talk to people enough, you see patterns.
20:12
SPEAKER_00: And when you see patterns, I mean, if you've had 50 clients, 100 clients, I mean, I've had thousands of clients.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: I know what their journey is gonna look like.
20:21
SPEAKER_00: I know that they're 80% alike and only 20% different, right?
20:27
SPEAKER_00: So that means I can design my success path for people based on the biggest commonalities, based on the biggest things that I know they need in order to move through this process with us.
20:40
SPEAKER_00: So here's a couple areas I want you to think about as you're mapping out your success path.
20:44
SPEAKER_00: First, communication.
20:46
SPEAKER_00: How are you communicating with people?
20:50
SPEAKER_00: How are you communicating with your clients?
20:52
SPEAKER_00: Are you communicating with a client newsletter?
20:55
SPEAKER_00: Are you communicating via email on a regular basis?
20:59
SPEAKER_00: Are you sending them status updates so they know where you are in the specific product uh process that you're going through?
21:06
SPEAKER_00: Are you communicating on a regular basis?
21:09
SPEAKER_00: This is especially important, I think, for those who are again hosting a group experience.
21:17
SPEAKER_00: I often see under communication in a group experience.
21:22
SPEAKER_00: And it's like, great, you joined, and then there's nothing, like dead silence after the onboarding process.
21:29
SPEAKER_00: So think about how you can be communicating frequently.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: One thing we do is we have our client newsletter.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: So every month there's a newsletter that goes out for the month, and every week there's a newsletter letting them know what's going on this week.
21:43
SPEAKER_00: And that kind of keeps everybody up to date in what's happening in the collective.
21:48
SPEAKER_00: Another thing that we do is make sure that we have reminders going out for any calls, any meetings, any retreats, any deadlines.
21:58
SPEAKER_00: And again, I would Rather overcommunicate than undercommunicate here.
22:03
SPEAKER_00: So I make sure that there's reminders going out to people with all the information they need about what that call is about, how to access that call, how to log into it, what they need to prepare for it.
22:14
SPEAKER_00: And I'm giving them plenty of notice.
22:17
SPEAKER_00: And I also make sure that if we have any new content, that they're getting those announcements about it.
22:22
SPEAKER_00: Because I'm a content creator, I'm always creating new things for my clients.
22:26
SPEAKER_00: And if I'm just uploading it into our members site and not saying, hey, y'all, I just created this new thing.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: It's going to help you with this, this, and this, you should go check it out.
22:34
SPEAKER_00: They might not even realize the content that's available to them.
22:39
SPEAKER_00: And this is true for existing content as well.
22:42
SPEAKER_00: Like if you're like me and you have a lot of resources for your clients, it doesn't hurt to say, hey, this month I want to make sure you know about the Get More Clients challenge we have available.
22:52
SPEAKER_00: It's a two-week sprint to fill your client docket.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: Here's how you can jump into it.
22:56
SPEAKER_00: You want to make sure that you're telling people what they have at their fingertips and how they can get more out of it.
23:04
SPEAKER_00: So, again, I'm going to be sharing a lot from my perspective of running the CEO collective, but for you, it could even be, you know, sharing new things that are available in your business.
23:16
SPEAKER_00: So if you have a new product that you're offering for your clients and they might not know about it, or you've established a referral relationship and you want to make sure they know about it, like just communicate.
23:32
SPEAKER_00: Make sure you're clear about how you're communicating and make a plan for how you're going to communicate.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: The next area of your delivery is coaching.
23:42
SPEAKER_00: And everyone is coach.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: Everyone is a coach, whether you realize it or not, because if you're helping people go through some sort of transformation, if you're helping them change something in their life, in their relationship, and their health and their uh mental well-being and their creativity, like if you're helping them to do anything, to accomplish anything, to change anything, then you're gonna be coaching them, even if you don't think of yourself as a coach.
24:08
SPEAKER_00: Okay, go get this book called The Coaching Habit.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: Fantastic book.
24:13
SPEAKER_00: It kind of gives you a high-level overview of what coaching is about.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: But your job as a coach, it isn't just to cheerlead and be like, yay, you can do it.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: Like that feels empty and hollow, to be honest.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: If you're coaching, you're helping people not just set the goals and commit to the plan and follow through with the plan, but you have the experience to say, here's the top challenges people have when they're doing this step.
24:39
SPEAKER_00: Here's the biggest questions I see when people are going through what you're going through right now.
24:44
SPEAKER_00: So your job here is gonna be reminding people about their goal, holding them accountable to their goal, coaching them through the biggest challenges, coaching them through the biggest roadblocks, coaching them through how to get back on track.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: And you are gonna think through, okay, when I'm working with people in this process, where do I see people starting to struggle?
25:06
SPEAKER_00: Where do I see them starting to get frustrated?
25:09
SPEAKER_00: And the more people you work with, the more you'll be able to pinpoint, you know what, the first three weeks always seem pretty good, but somewhere between week three and four is when I hear, I'm overwhelmed, I'm feeling behind because I've put too much on my 90-day plan.
25:24
SPEAKER_00: So now we know that.
25:26
SPEAKER_00: And when we're meeting with our clients for their 90-day plan, they're meeting with their mentor, their mentor is actively looking for, hey, it looks like you might have overloaded your plan on the front end.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: Let's try to spread this out more so that you don't find yourself feeling like you're behind in just a few weeks.
25:43
SPEAKER_00: So you want to keep an eye on those things.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna have to coach people through?
25:47
SPEAKER_00: What are you gonna have to help them overcome?
25:49
SPEAKER_00: What bad habits are you gonna have to break or shift or replace?
25:54
SPEAKER_00: You wanna think through those things.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: And again, the more people you work with, the more you're gonna see the patterns.
25:59
SPEAKER_00: And the patterns are where you can say, if people are struggling in week three and four, I'm gonna start proactively talking about that a week or two weeks before that happens.
26:10
SPEAKER_00: So they know we know, and we're helping them avoid this common mistake.
26:16
SPEAKER_00: Coaching is also about mindset shifts, it's about keeping people inspired and believing in themselves.
26:25
SPEAKER_00: So this is different than cheerleading.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: Cheerleading is feels empty really quickly, where it's like, go, girl, you've got this.
26:32
SPEAKER_00: Mindset shifts is so much deeper.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: And often people don't believe that they can create change, they can create transformation.
26:43
SPEAKER_00: Like a lot of the services that so many people offer, they've been trying to do this for a long time and they've struggled with it.
26:51
SPEAKER_00: So you have to understand like, what do they need to know?
26:54
SPEAKER_00: What do they need to believe about themselves in order to do this thing?
27:00
SPEAKER_00: So one of the challenges that we hear all the time from people is, you know, I'm too scared of being visible.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: And then we dig into that.
27:10
SPEAKER_00: Well, why are you scared of being visible?
27:12
SPEAKER_00: And I'm, I mean, so many different layers of why people are nervous about being visible, especially women.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of, you know, a lot of us have experienced that it can be scary to be too visible.
27:24
SPEAKER_00: It can be not just scary, but it can be feel threatening or make us feel like we're not enough, or make us start to get hypercritical of ourselves.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: So we need to help shift that belief, help them believe it's safe being visible.
27:39
SPEAKER_00: Help, what else do you need to help them believe?
27:41
SPEAKER_00: You can be visible as you are right now.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to be perfect to be visible, you don't have to change yourself to be visible.
27:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, what are the things I need to shift?
27:49
SPEAKER_00: So you want to be aware of what are the biggest hangups and what are the mindset shifts you need to make.
27:54
SPEAKER_00: And how can you proactively coach them through that?
27:57
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it's through sharing your own stories, sometimes it's through sharing case studies and um hearing from other people to help them believe that things can be different.
28:08
SPEAKER_00: So the coaching piece is huge.
28:10
SPEAKER_00: And whether or not you believe you're a coach, adding coaching into the way you're thinking about helping your clients is going to make a difference.
28:19
SPEAKER_00: Next on your delivery success path is checking in with your clients.
28:25
SPEAKER_00: This to me is one of the most important things because too often I think people are waiting for their clients to reach out.
28:34
SPEAKER_00: But if clients are overwhelmed or frustrated or confused, they're not always gonna reach out.
28:41
SPEAKER_00: In fact, they might be shutting down, they might be silent, they might have already decided this was a waste and I'm not gonna get what I need out of it.
28:50
SPEAKER_00: People have a really hard time raising their hand and saying, I need help.
28:54
SPEAKER_00: I'm stuck, I'm confused.
28:56
SPEAKER_00: So be proactive.
28:58
SPEAKER_00: What is your plan to check in on people?
29:00
SPEAKER_00: How are you checking in on people?
29:02
SPEAKER_00: What are you looking for?
29:03
SPEAKER_00: In our tracking for all of our clients, we're looking for did they complete these steps in their onboarding?
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Did they show up to these calls?
29:10
SPEAKER_00: Have they booked their mentor session?
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Have they booked their one-on-one with Rach?
29:14
SPEAKER_00: Have they introduced themselves to the community?
29:16
SPEAKER_00: And then as they're getting through the process, you know, if someone stops showing up for calls or we haven't heard from people, every month we're like, oh, these people have been a little quiet.
29:27
SPEAKER_00: Let's reach out.
29:28
SPEAKER_00: Like we're constantly checking in.
29:29
SPEAKER_00: In fact, our our program coordinator, Sean, proactively spends a lot of time reaching out to people who are quiet and who have kind of pulled back from the community.
29:40
SPEAKER_00: Because that's a major indicator we've learned is that a lot more of our people will be quiet when they're struggling than to come in the community and say, hey, I'm I need help.
29:50
SPEAKER_00: And the other thing about checking in is providing that accountability to the process that your clients have committed to.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: So I always tell people, I can't care about your business more than you do, but you did sign up for learning about the 90-day CEO operating system and working with us in the CEO collective.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: So we're here to provide accountability, but we're not gonna write your 90-day plan for you.
30:14
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna share with you how our process works to create your 90-day plan.
30:18
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna be available to mentor you through fine-tuning that plan, but you've got to make the decisions yourself.
30:24
SPEAKER_00: Like you're the CEO, you've got to make the decisions.
30:28
SPEAKER_00: So it is a, you know, a little bit of tough love sometimes to hold people accountable to the process.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: But that's why these other pieces, the coaching and everything, is so important.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the final piece of the success path that I want you to think about is how are you celebrating your clients?
30:47
SPEAKER_00: Celebrating your clients is so incredibly powerful.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: One, it keeps them committed to the process, it keeps them committed to going through the whole program and finishing and completing, but it also serves as proof and encouragement and motivation for the other people in the program.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: When they see people winning, they start to change their beliefs about what's possible.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: So you want to celebrate.
31:10
SPEAKER_00: What are the big wins you can celebrate?
31:13
SPEAKER_00: Right?
31:13
SPEAKER_00: What are the big wins in the scope of the work that you do?
31:16
SPEAKER_00: What are the small wins you can celebrate?
31:18
SPEAKER_00: And how are you celebrating them?
31:19
SPEAKER_00: Is it just like a quick email?
31:21
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I saw you did this, congratulations.
31:23
SPEAKER_00: Is it sending them a little surprise gift?
31:26
SPEAKER_00: Like, how are you celebrating them?
31:27
SPEAKER_00: You might want to think through that.
31:29
SPEAKER_00: I also want you to consider how are you celebrating things that are like mindset breakthroughs?
31:37
SPEAKER_00: You've seen somebody had a major shift in how they're thinking, and that's what's going to lead to their success.
31:43
SPEAKER_00: Maybe they have something to celebrate that's not the ultimate result of what they signed up for, but is still important.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: So I this is the equivalent to what I think of as like your non-scale victory whenever you follow weight loss is love-hate relationship with this industry.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: I'm anyway, very healthy at every size, is my motto and belief system.
32:06
SPEAKER_00: But there is so much power in like a non-scale victory.
32:12
SPEAKER_00: Like if people sign up for a weight loss program and all they're looking at is a scale, but they're not looking at my clothes fit better, I slept better, um, my skin cleared up, like what are the other victories that they're having?
32:22
SPEAKER_00: You can kind of apply that mindset to any offer that you have.
32:25
SPEAKER_00: So for us, yes, I want people to grow their business, but when they can take a vacation and leave their laptop at home and not stress because their team is finally on the same page and running things, that is a victory.
32:37
SPEAKER_00: We're gonna celebrate that.
32:39
SPEAKER_00: And so we know what the other victories are outside of the obvious one, which is, you know, making more money, but we want to celebrate the other things too.
32:50
SPEAKER_00: And we also want to celebrate improving habits, improving consistency.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: Um, because this is the biggest thing that in my business moves a needle for people, is when they're consistently taking action, they're consistently following through.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: So we're celebrating that.
33:07
SPEAKER_00: In fact, right now we have a special thing happening in the collective where for the entire 90 days, every week, if they submit their weekly check-in form to their mentor, if they do it for 13 consecutive weeks all 90 days, then they are not just going to win something, they're literally going to earn a one-on-one bonus session with me.
33:31
SPEAKER_00: And we built it in because it's part of our process and we're celebrating consistent action.
33:36
SPEAKER_00: We're incentivizing and consistent action because that's how we get the results.
33:41
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so far we have talked about the first two out of three elements of your customer experience strategy.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: We talked about onboarding, what needs to be included there, what needs to be in your delivery, your success path.
33:56
SPEAKER_00: And now let's talk about wrapping up because all good things come to an end, right?
34:02
SPEAKER_00: And your offer is going to have a point where they're finished, or at least they've completed what they signed up for, and now we need to let them know what comes next.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: So, how do you wrap up?
34:15
SPEAKER_00: This is something that you do want to be intentional with.
34:18
SPEAKER_00: There's a few different layers here.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: I think that I have four steps here that I think through.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: And if you think through this well, then you're setting yourself up for that client to return, that client to renew, that client to level up to a new product, program, or service.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Um, you're also opening the doors for testimonials and referrals.
34:40
SPEAKER_00: So, this is an important session.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: You don't just want people to fall off and then not really, really think through and be intentional about this.
34:49
SPEAKER_00: So, the first thing I think through is what does a wrap-up need to look like?
34:53
SPEAKER_00: What does your wrap-up session look like?
34:55
SPEAKER_00: You may not need to have a wrap-up session, but for a lot of service providers, having a session where you come together and you're officially wrapping up the project, wrapping up the program is really important.
35:10
SPEAKER_00: It brings a sense of closure to the experience.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: So, as a coach, this is where I'll sit down and say, okay, here's where you started.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: Here's your progress so far.
35:22
SPEAKER_00: Here's the wins I've seen from you.
35:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give them a lot of positive reinforcement.
35:28
SPEAKER_00: Here's where you've done amazing work.
35:31
SPEAKER_00: Here's where you've really leveled up your leadership, here's where you've really shined as a CEO in your business.
35:37
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna review their goals, their progress, their wins.
35:40
SPEAKER_00: And if you can't tell, I track these things.
35:43
SPEAKER_00: I keep an eye on these things because it helps me to reinforce to them that yes, they had some great wins.
35:51
SPEAKER_00: I also want to open up the opportunity for them to share how they feel about their progress.
35:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, I will tell you that if you are in a world of helping people transform anything, change anything, go after some sort of goal and get results, there isn't in ingrained negativity bias.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: We are always so hard on ourselves and we often don't stop to celebrate.
36:16
SPEAKER_00: We often don't stop to say, wow, I've come so far, or wow, this has really changed.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: I can see the difference between my mindset then and my mindset now.
36:24
SPEAKER_00: I can see the difference between my systems then and my systems now.
36:27
SPEAKER_00: Like we can be really, really hard on ourselves because we often feel like unless we blew everything out of the water, we didn't do a great job or we didn't get results.
36:37
SPEAKER_00: And that's just not true.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: So this is why you want to review where they started, how far they've come, all their progress, all their wins, all their success.
36:47
SPEAKER_00: You should be tracking that so that you can reinforce this with them, that this was an experience that moved them forward on their journey.
36:57
SPEAKER_00: And this as a coach consultant, this is where we'll also look at, okay, what's next?
37:02
SPEAKER_00: What are the next goals?
37:04
SPEAKER_00: What would be the next steps for you?
37:06
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes those next steps are going to be to repeat a program, to renew their package.
37:14
SPEAKER_00: It could be, okay, you finished this thing with me, this project with me.
37:20
SPEAKER_00: Now here's how I help my clients.
37:22
SPEAKER_00: Once your website's launched, here's the ongoing retainer service to continue supporting you with your digital marketing.
37:28
SPEAKER_00: It could be that you have a next level program.
37:31
SPEAKER_00: So maybe somebody graduated your course and now they can dive deeper with a VIP day or with a one-on-one coaching program.
37:40
SPEAKER_00: So you might have a few different next steps based on your recommendations.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: And that's going to change from client to client.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: You are not obligated to ask somebody to renew if you really didn't like working with that client.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: And you're also not obligated to go out there and create more and more and more offers.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: So this is where the next steps are going to depend.
37:59
SPEAKER_00: But you want to just give them a clear guide.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: And it might be the next step is hey, here's what I would recommend you do next.
38:06
SPEAKER_00: You refer to somebody or you give them some guidelines of how they can continue making progress on their own.
38:11
SPEAKER_00: All of this happens in the wrap-up session.
38:14
SPEAKER_00: You can do the wrap-up session uh individually, you can do it as a group.
38:17
SPEAKER_00: I often love doing it as a group because then I can say, share a win that you saw somebody else have that really inspired you.
38:24
SPEAKER_00: And then they'll give, you know, help hype each other up even more.
38:28
SPEAKER_00: If you are not a coach or a consultant or somebody doing some sort of change transformation work, how do you wrap up a project?
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Especially those of you who are creative entrepreneurs.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: This instead of being kind of a wrap-up session, it would be like this is the delivery of all the things that you've created for them.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: So if you're a photographer, this is a session where you say, hey, here's all the photos.
38:56
SPEAKER_00: And the next step is the photos are done, the edits are done, the galleries are done.
39:02
SPEAKER_00: Now we can sit down and talk about what the next thing is, which could be ordering the photos.
39:08
SPEAKER_00: It could be whatever else, planning the next photo shoot.
39:12
SPEAKER_00: If it's a website, it's hey, here's the website.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: Let's walk through everything that we've done so you understand it.
39:18
SPEAKER_00: Here's how to take over.
39:20
SPEAKER_00: Here's how to log in, here's how to use it, here's how to make changes, or how to reach out to us for all those things.
39:26
SPEAKER_00: It's just the transfer of the project, right?
39:29
SPEAKER_00: The project is done.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: You're gonna pass it off to your client.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: But if all you do is say, here it is, and then you're not actually taking the time to walk them through the end result, taking the time to present it to them, it can just really leave people feeling kind of like anticlimactic, right?
39:48
SPEAKER_00: So that's why this session is so important.
39:50
SPEAKER_00: It's a time for you to present what you have created for them and really kind of wrap it up with a bow.
39:59
SPEAKER_00: Once you have that session, then you want to follow up with an email outlining everything you've talked about.
40:05
SPEAKER_00: So again, thank you.
40:07
SPEAKER_00: So great to work with you.
40:09
SPEAKER_00: We've absolutely loved this experience.
40:11
SPEAKER_00: Here are your next steps, whether it's repeat the program, renew a package, continue working with us in this way or that way, move on to a retainer service, here's a next level program.
40:24
SPEAKER_00: You can give your recommendations for the next steps, whether it's continuing to work with you.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: If it's continuing to do the work on their own, you can map out what the next steps are there.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: If you had to set some goals with them, if you're passing off or saying, here's who I would recommend for the next phase of your journey, you can do that there.
40:41
SPEAKER_00: But telling them what's next helps people feel like, again, white glove service, you're helping them take that next step.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: You'll also have your final deliverables.
40:53
SPEAKER_00: So if there's anything you have created for them, here's how you access it, download it here.
41:00
SPEAKER_00: Your access ends on this date.
41:03
SPEAKER_00: All of those things you'll want to make it really easy for them to get.
41:07
SPEAKER_00: And then finally, request testimonials.
41:10
SPEAKER_00: I usually like to request testimonials in the wrap-up email.
41:13
SPEAKER_00: I'll start to follow up with them usually at maybe three weeks a month after they wrapped up, and then maybe another few months later, just to make sure that I'm getting the testimonials, especially if they were a great client.
41:25
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna be super proactive in going after those testimonials.
41:30
SPEAKER_00: And then the final thing is a wrap-up gift.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: And you can tell I talk a lot about gifts because it is not about how much money you spend.
41:40
SPEAKER_00: It is about bringing some more of the human connection back into business instead of everything just feeling so transactional.
41:49
SPEAKER_00: So this could be a thank you card, this could be a signature wrap-up gift, this could be a surprise bonus that you're offering as they graduate or as they move on.
42:00
SPEAKER_00: This could be a gift certificate for future services, a credit towards future services.
42:06
SPEAKER_00: That can also be an amazing, amazing gift to wrap up a specific product.
42:12
SPEAKER_00: So these are the things I think about all the time.
42:14
SPEAKER_00: When you're wrapping up, how are you elegantly offboarding them, making sure they feel like it was a great experience, making sure it feels complete to people, they know what's coming next, you've said thank you.
42:29
SPEAKER_00: And then for me, it's never, you know, when you're done, you're done.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: In my mind, once you're a client, you're always a client, and my door is always open to you.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: So don't worry, I'm not going anywhere.
42:42
SPEAKER_00: If you feel like you need some support, you need a check-in, you um need whatever, reach out to us.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: We are here.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: So that is how we wrap up.
42:53
SPEAKER_00: And you also share, again, I shared next steps, I kind of tied that into the others.
42:57
SPEAKER_00: So wrap-up session, wrap-up email, wrap up gift, next steps.
43:01
SPEAKER_00: Key, key, key.
43:03
SPEAKER_00: And the final pieces are once people wrap up, make sure you continue following up with them.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: This is again how you build clients for life.
43:12
SPEAKER_00: You continue following up with them.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean you need to follow up with them nonstop every day, all day, but I like to have some little check-ins, like usually around the three-month mark after somebody finishes, I'll touch base.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: Usually about every quarter, I'm going through my database and looking at who can I reach out to, especially if they're not super active on social, which is how I stay connected to a lot of my clients.
43:34
SPEAKER_00: If they're a little quieter and they're not super active on social, I'll just make a note to, you know, email so-and-so, follow up with so-and-so, check in with so-and-so.
43:43
SPEAKER_00: And usually they're just quick emails.
43:45
SPEAKER_00: I'll send a voxer, I'll send a little note, forward them something that made me think of them.
43:51
SPEAKER_00: Those types of things are really powerful and just staying connected to your clients.
43:56
SPEAKER_00: And when you stay connected, again, bring back the humanity.
44:00
SPEAKER_00: When you stay connected to people, people remember you and they will continue to hype you up as much as you hype them up.
44:07
SPEAKER_00: They will continue to come back and work with you and cheer you on, send people your way.
44:13
SPEAKER_00: I hope you enjoyed this episode.
44:16
SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh, I feel like I just gave a masterclass in the things that you need.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: And really, this is the outline of our training on how to design an amazing client experience.
44:26
SPEAKER_00: So there is so much more that goes into this.
44:29
SPEAKER_00: If you want more, come to the CEO Collective because we have a lot of frameworks and tools and templates to help you map this out even more.
44:38
SPEAKER_00: So come learn more about that in the new training that I am launching this month.
44:44
SPEAKER_00: All the details will be in the show notes, all about the three essential systems to sustainably scale your business.
44:51
SPEAKER_00: Customer experience is one of them.
44:55
SPEAKER_00: One of the three.
44:56
SPEAKER_00: So we want to go deep into that, not just in this series this month, but we're going deep into it in this live training.
45:02
SPEAKER_00: If you love this episode, make sure you're continuing the conversation with me.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: Chat with me on Instagram at rachel.cook.
45:10
SPEAKER_00: Would love to hear from you.
45:11
SPEAKER_00: Take a screenshot of the show, tag me, and let's continue the conversation.
45:15
SPEAKER_00: I want to hear what are you taking away?
45:17
SPEAKER_00: What are you implementing?
45:18
SPEAKER_00: What are you working on in your customer experience?
45:20
SPEAKER_00: And if you have any great ideas that I didn't include here, I'd love to hear about it.
45:25
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't subscribed to the podcast, make sure you do so because this is just the first two episodes in this series, and there's more coming all about customer experience.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: So go ahead and subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you will be in the loop for the next episode.
45:42
SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for listening to promote yourself to CEO.
45:45
SPEAKER_00: I'll talk to you soon.