Understanding your client experience journey
This is part 2 of the Client experience series. Read part 1 here - The Power of Exceptional Client Experience if you’re wondering… how can I create an exceptional client experience for my service-based business? Part 1 covers why it is important to shape an exceptional client experience and how to approach this task in order to seamlessly guide your audience from not knowing who you are to confirming a booking.
In this blog post we’ll go through what a high-level typical client journey looks like and how you should be thinking about it.
As explained in part 1, you need to have a CRYSTAL clear understanding of the whole journey that your (potential) clients go through and identify every single touch point from the moment they first learn about you to the moment that they book you and beyond.
This is VERY important because that's the only way to ensure that you intentionally and strategically shape every single element with your client in mind in order for it to be great + you also need to guide your (potential) clients through it, and inform them what the process of working with you is like. Without having the clarity and structure in place, you can't have the oversight needed in order to shape great client experience.
I’ll walk through a 7-step blueprint for understanding a client experience journey. Use this as your guide to map out your own client journey and work on improving all its touch points. I hope that this helps you on your journey towards understanding and elevating your own client journey.
1 - First contact
Your clients journey can start at many different places, depending on the multiple brand touch points that your business has whether online or off-line. This is the first contact when the potential client first learns about your business - they see your ad, they see a social media post or your physical store on the street. At this stage, they have no idea who you are, what you do and they have no idea whether they even want or need your services. This is a super important moment, because first impressions matter more than anything and it takes only a split second for them to form an opinion of your business that can make or break whatever happens next. Your business strategy and your branding are incredibly important in this step as you need to peak their interest enough that they want to learn more.
2 - Initial interest
So at first contact you’ve already peaked their interest enough that they want to learn more about you so they take one small step towards learning more about you. This could be that they either read further what you have to say, click on your ad, read the brochure, walk into your store or the list can go on an on. Whatever step they take, this is where they take a tiny FIRST look at your business after they first learned about you. They are only moderately interested at this stage so you want to make this step as easy and quick as possible.
3 - Information gathering
After their initial interest, they now have somewhat of an idea of what you offer or who you are and they are curious, they want to know a little bit more information. This is where your online presence becomes SUPER important. Even if it's a physical store or if they learn about you on an off-line touch point, let's be honest, the first thing we do whenever we want to learn about a business is we look them up online. Here it’s important to understand all the touch points that your business has online - most likely your social media and your website, or anywhere they can find you online. And from here onwards, you need to strategically guide them towards your website because your website is your home base that you own. It’s your little piece of the Internet that you control and therefore you also control the journey that your clients take through it.
4 -Website journey
Once they land on your website, it is super important to guide them through an experience and a journey that is designed to provide them all the information that they need in order to appeal to them, build trust with them and convince them that you are the right person that can help them. Part of that is also giving them the information about the process of working with you - what's the first step they need to take, what working with you looks like and what can they expect from the process. The goal is to seamlessly guide them through your website towards taking the desired actions, such as booking a call with you or making a booking or whatever other goal your website has.
I’m Agnes, your strategic partner and I specialize in helping business owners confidently and successfully book their DREAM high-value clients.
For 5+ years I’ve worked in professional consulting services, crafting and executing custom-made solutions for clients, problem-solving on the daily and managing projects worth millions. I’ve spent years mastering the method that large companies use to charge premium prices that clients are happy to pay. And now I can help you do the same as a small business owner.
With my expert guidance, I’ll help you strengthen and position your business the right way in order to attract and book high-value clients who happily pay premium pricing. I provide guidance and 1:1 support with strategy creation for building your strong foundation and clear and targeted messaging and hands-on support with bringing it all to life.
If you don’t want to miss out on high-paying clients and leave money on the table your first step is easy - book a free 1:1 session with me here - let’s chat!
5 - Inquiry
They’ve gone through your masterfully crafted website journey and they take the desired action. GREAT! So now they have reached out to you through email, contact forms or any other way they can reach you. So they've taken that first step, shown real interest and inquired about your services. That's the first time in their journey that you're actually able to see that they've gone through all the previous steps and gotten so far. Up until this point, their journey has been invisible to you. Sidenote, of course, there's tracking and analytics that you can apply on your website and other touch points along the way to gain valuable insights but that's not the same as actually interacting with your client.
6- Conversion
The process between inquiry and confirmed booking can look very different for different businesses. This part of the process might be either very quick and easy or more time-consuming. It also depends on the type of services in the price point of your services. But no matter what it looks like for your business, you need to make sure that you again guide your potential client through the process, give them all the information they need to build trust with them, build a personal connection with them and eventually convert them. This is an important part of the process because you're building rapport with them. This is an important turning point because at this stage they're evaluating your offer, likely comparing it to other offers they've seen from other service providers and deciding whether they want to proceed with you. If all goes well, at the end of this stage, the potential client confirms the booking and officially becomes a client. 🥳
7 - Working together
Once they are officially booked, a whole new part of the journey starts when delivering the services. And once again, this will look very different for different businesses. But no matter what it looks like, you should apply the same approach here to strategically and intentionally shape the process with your client in mind so that they have an exceptional client experience. This part of the journey, when working together, is THE most important part of the journey when you need to deliver an exceptional client experience. Throughout all the steps before, you've made promises and set certain expectations that you now need to meet. This is a key component in delivering an overall amazing client experience.
All in all the main idea that you always need to keep in mind is that you need to have that clarity and structure in place and intentionally and strategically shape your customer’s journey from when they first learn about you to when they actually book you. At the heart of all your efforts is really showing your understanding of your clients needs and creating a journey that is seamless and enjoyable for them. Only through focusing on them, and their needs can you build trust, loyalty, and a personal connection with them that eventually turns them into loyal clients.
I hope this blog post has been useful for you and understanding the way you should be thinking about your client experience and how to go about shaping an exceptional client experience. At the end of the day, it's really simple - you need to think about your customer and how to best serve them at every single touchpoint.
I know that it can be very daunting and difficult to get the clarity and structure that you need in order to shape an exceptional client experience, but you don't have to do it alone. If you feel like you're not in control and you don't know how to gain that clarity and structure to shape an exceptional client experience, reach out to me, let's chat!
Bringing your vision to life through a strategy-led approach
Our Signature Experience is an all-in-one service to help you successfully raise your rates and confidently book your dream clients!
Tailored solutions - All businesses are not alike so we also offer completely tailored solutions that fit your business needs specifically in order to help YOU reach your goals.
Who is this for
Business owners who want to start demanding their worth, confidently book their dream (high-value) clients and scale their business to the next level.
What you get
Strategic partnership - Bringing 5+ years of experience in the consulting domain working with industry-leading companies.
Personal 1:1 support - Guidance and 1:1 support every step of the way for a smooth and stress-free process.
Clarity & structure - Clarity and structure of the process through consultations, guided questionnaires and checklists + project management done-for-you.
Feel heard - 1:1 interactions and feedback & revision opportunities to ensure that you feel heard and understood and that we’re meeting your expectations.
Materials & support for success - At the end of the project you’ll receive all the resources and materials as well as personalized implementation and tutorial calls for your long-term success.
Long term value - Clarity, structure and resources for guiding decision- making, appealing to your ideal audience and supporting your business for years to come.
Get useful content delivered straight to your inbox
If you want more helpful tips and useful information about website design and branding delivered directly to your inbox then make sure to join our Mailing list now! As a mailing list subscriber you can expect to be the first to hear about our new content and gain exclusive access to mailing-list only offers.ent and get exclusive access to mailing-list only offers.
⚡️Reclaim ease of mind ⚡️ Own your story ⚡️ Realize your vision