Blog written by: Certified Dubsado Specialist Amy Gould
Client experience is something that should be constantly evolving. It's a good idea to always be looking for ways to improve your client experience. Personally, I make small changes as I see them, but several things had been bugging me, so I decided to sit down and spend some time rethinking the delivery of my service and revamping my workflows to improve my client experience, simplify delivery and keep projects moving along.
• Changed my lead workflow to follow up, provide more information and (hopefully increase sales, but the jury is still out here.)
• Added Reminders to clients and Todos to poke me when projects haven't moved forward in a while.
• Revamped my project statuses to help me keep track of when projects are waiting on me vs waiting on a client action. (Added workflow steps to make it automatic.)
• Added client education throughout my entire client experience to improve the delivery of my services.
These could be applied to any service-based business. I'll go over these changes in more detail to explain what I did, how it's transformed my client experience and give suggestions to implement them in your own workflows.
• I've been really feeling that there were a lot of opportunities to improve my client processes.
• I wanted to improve my lead management to provide more information ahead of the sales call so new leads felt empowered to make a decision.
• Projects had a tendency to sit idle for a while waiting on clients to finish forms. I then felt that I had to scramble to re-distribute my workload when they were completed. This caused me a lot of stress.
• Project timelines were longer than I wanted.
•There were large gaps of time without communication to my clients. I wanted to keep clients more engaged.
• I was spending a lot of time offboarding clients because my clients were really anxious about using Dubsado and "breaking things."
Let’s dive into the changes I made!
I should start by saying that my lead management workflows were OK, but I found that leads were falling through the cracks. For me, this was after proposals were sent. I was lacking an automated follow up sequence.
While I was thinking about this I happened upon an amazing podcast all about how the sales process has changed with the advent of Google, social media, and the internet. They discussed ways to change your process to better inform your leads ahead of sales calls and throughout their journey.
Personally, I LOVE this concept. I’m not about high pressure sales. Giving leads all the information they need ahead of time so they can make an informed decision is what I’m all about. (I’ve taken this to heart when creating workflows for my clients.)
Before: When a lead booked with me, they got a thank you email confirming the details of their appointment and thanking them for booking with me. Proposal follow ups were manual and not very consistent to be honest.
Now: After a lead books a discovery call with me, they are redirected to a webpage on my site with a video that thanks them for booking and provides them additional information about my two main services.
I talk about…
• The process for each.
• The benefits that they can expect.
• What is included in each offer.
• Common misconceptions about automation.
This page also has a written FAQ section, links to client case study posts on my blog and has testimonials from past clients.
Leads still get the confirmation email. However, the confirmation email also provides a link back to this page so they can get more information about my services ahead of our call. (Just in case they clicked away too quickly before.)
I’ve also added some FAQs to my reminder email that gets sent 24 hours before their Discovery call with me along with a testimonial.
I added several reminder emails after the proposal is sent if it’s not completed. (This workflow stops once the proposal is completed.) I’ve added links to blog posts I’ve written on the power of automation for creative entrepreneurs, choosing a CRM, and how to improve your client experience.
If a client doesn’t book after a certain amount of time, it’s automatically archived to keep my leads project status from being cluttered with cold leads.
Look for opportunities to educate leads ahead of your discovery call. You could steal my webpage idea or send information in your confirmation and reminder emails.
Figure out how many times you want to circle back with leads who don’t book right away. How can you provide more resources, information, etc. to help them make a decision and see the value in working with you? (You can use the send if form is not completed trigger in your workflows to make this happen.)
Before: I manually had to check in with project statuses and follow up. I felt anxious about juggling multiple projects and missing things.
Now: I added multiple reminders that follow up with clients if they haven’t completed their onboarding or intake forms after a certain amount of time. I link to information in my online client library or on Dubsado’s webpage for frequently asked questions that might hold them up from completing forms.
I also added Todo’s that trigger when these forms have been completed to let me know that the ball is back in my court so I can schedule their project. There are additional Todo’s that trigger if the project status hasn’t changed in awhile.
Take a look at your processes. Do you have places where things get hung up? Who is the bottleneck? How could you (kindly) poke the person responsible to keep things moving?
Before: I had project statuses, but they didn’t really help me understand when a project was waiting for client action verses when it was waiting for me or my team to do something.
Now: I added additional project statuses that clearly define when a project is waiting for a client and when it’s waiting for me. I also added workflow steps that automatically move the project to the next project status (when forms or to-dos are completed).
Now, if I look at the project statuses I can easily see the projects that we’re actively working on. This makes me feel so much less stressed.
Is there ambiguity in your project statuses? (Are you using them at all?) Making them clear and easy to understand is key. I love adding emoji’s here. If it’s waiting on a client add a person emoji. If it’s waiting on an action, choose an emoji that shows the action. Add workflow steps to automatically move projects from one status to the next so everything is organized (and accurate.)
Before: When I delivered my Done for You Dubsado Service, clients were panicked and anxious about how little they knew. They were afraid of breaking things and some didn’t even use it (even though I followed up a lot and did a lot of extra training).
I found myself giving tours of Dubsado and repeating myself over and over. It took a lot of extra time.
Now: I drip out bits of education along the way. Before the Process Mapping Session I send a quick overview on Dubsado workflows, what actions are available, and what timing can be used.
After the Implementation Questionnaire is completed, I send an email that recommends they start taking the Dubsado 101 course to familiarize themselves with the platform. As each phase of the project is completed, they receive an update email. (This always happened, but I have links to specific lessons in the Dubsado 101 course now.)
Before the Offboarding Session, I send a quick walkthrough of their specific workflows. What each does and how they’re triggered. I’m hoping that these bite sized trainings will help them enjoy the finished product that I deliver. It also gives me an opportunity to add more touch points and keep clients engaged.
Look for opportunities to educate your clients on your service and how they can get more out of it. I usually look for places where things don’t go as smoothly as they could and work backwards. What could I have provided before this point to improve the end result.
For example, if you are a wedding photographers, you could send a series of emails helping a bride...
• Plan for her bridal session or wedding day timeline for first look, getting ready pictures, etc.
• Pack her wedding day bag (including ibuprofen, a snack, gatorade, stain stick, safety pins, bobby pins, etc..
• Have everything ready in their get ready space for pictures (dress steamed and on a hanger, wedding rings, flowers, etc.)
Client experience is definitely something that you don't want to leave up to chance. It’s so worth it to take time out to think through your processes and look for ways to lean on your Dubsado workflows to support them. I definitely recommend improving your client experience by providing information to leads ahead of your sales calls, educating clients so they get more out of your services and adding extra reminders and follow-ups. All of this will take tons of work off your plate and make your service so much easier to deliver.
Want to improve your client experience? Download my free workbook that walks you step by step through improving each of the 5 critical parts of your client experience.
Ready to give these tips a try? Log into your Dubsado account now.
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Amy Gould is a tech-savvy entrepreneur with a passion for streamlining processes. She discovered the power of tools like Dubsado, Convert Kit, Zapier, and ClickUp to work less, make more and WOW clients. As a pet mom to two dogs and four cats, Amy cherishes quality time with her family. When she's not building efficient systems, she enjoys trying new recipes, practicing yoga, and riding her moped. Join Amy as she shares her expertise and empowers creative entrepreneurs to reclaim their time and create a life they love.
