What is A Client Process and Why It’s Important For Your Business to Have One.

Have you ever gone to an appointment where you could just tell that the person responsible for servicing you had THE best way of making you feel like you just spent a million bucks with them? I mean, top quality customer care during booking, communicating, performing the actual service and even saying goodbye. 

Gee, a service you’d pay for over and over again, 

that service you’d finally leave a positive google review for,

the one you’d call your friend afterwards to tell them all about, 

and the service you booked a second time with the same person before leaving the building.

That, my friend, is no done-on-the-fly experience: It’s a well-planned client process.

Okay, time to snap out of the daydream and get to the actual blog post. 

What is a client process?

A client process is the series of actions followed by a customer in every stage of working with you. It includes the way you communicate your services to them, how they book an appointment with you, what’s included at the starting point of working together, how the actual service is performed, the end result of working with you and the communication you keep after working with them. 

Client processes are the best when they have these 3 characteristics:

1. Automation: Incorporating some form of automation into your client process works wonders for you as a business owner. It ensures that you can give your clients the best quality without taking up as much time as a manual process would take. I use a system called Dubsado to automate some of the stages in my client process. 
2. Uniqueness: There is no right or wrong way to move your client through their process with you. Adding unique steps like sending a Starbucks gift card before a workshop, sprinkling your personality into the emails you send them, or mailing your client a “thank you for working with me” package can really enhance the experience. 
3. Communication: You’ve probably heard this a million times before, but communication really is key. The more information you give up front, the less you’ll have to give out later. Your client should feel confident knowing every detail involved in working with you.

Some of the key phases of the client process include the following:

1. Lead capture
2. Onboarding
3. Service fulfillment
4. Off-boarding
5. Follow-up

While some of these phases may require less steps to complete, they are all equally important to ensuring your client has the best possible experience working with you. 

I’ll dive deeper into this topic in a different blog post.

Who’s involved in the client process?

Obvious answer right? Well, the client of course, and you! How your client experiences their time with you from the beginning until the end is important for them, but it’s also important that you plan a client process that serves both the client and yourself. When you’re moving your clients through a process that reflects your personal boundaries and goals as a business owner, you end up providing a better service!

How do I plan my client process? 

Planning your ideal client process starts off with brainstorming exactly what you want your clients to feel when interacting with your brand for a particular service. Do you want them to feel nurtured, informed, excited, or all three? 

Once you determine how you want them to feel, start mapping out what their time with you will look like from phase one (lead capture) to phase 5 (follow-up). Then implement systems like forms, email templates, proposals and schedulers for each of those phases.

We’ll also talk about this more in another blog post.

Why is it important for my business to have a client process? 

Believe it or not, your clients can actually tell when you’ve put time and effort into strategically planning their process with you. Taking the time to map out a step-by-step experience for them is worth it! 

That’s all for this post. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!

Have any questions about your current client process? Shoot me an email at hello@daytodayassist.com or leave a comment below! I’d love to hear from you.

Need assistance planning out your unique client process? Click here to book a Project Plan It™ Session with me. We can talk all about your client process + I’ll give you the steps on how to build it!

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