By Tamara Munoz-Whilden

sponsored provider

Let’s rethink the paper-chase real quick.⁠

If you’re looking to scale past those $5k-10k months, let me tell you a little secret – client satisfaction and retention will go a long way. In these parts, we don’t chase leads. We have strategic funnels that capture leads and convert them to raving clients. Clients who, after experiencing your epic service and/or transformation, will do all the marketing for you in way of referrals.

My clients’ businesses are built on several pillars including funnels and evergreen courses. However, I want to focus on two pillars that are often overlooked when it comes to revenue planning with my clients:

✅ Retention

✅ Referrals

If you’re an online educator, you want to be mindful of the client journey when creating your product suite. You want to create a suite that takes your client all the way from beginner to expert so that you can meet your ICA anywhere in their journey.

If you’re a service provider, you’re going to want to make sure that you have offers that support your ICA’s different needs or you create a sustainable retainer model.

Beyond this, you want to pimp out your client experience. Yep. Pimp it out. (y’all remember Pimp My Ride? Am I dating myself with this reference?)

You want your client journey, from beginning to end, to be elevated. You want your client to feel held and supported through the entire experience. This is one of the most, if not THE MOST, important systems to have in your business. 

⁠

We’re in the business of retaining clients – details matter. Customer service matters. The way you communicate matters. Timeliness matters. Honoring your commitment matters. Establishing a rock solid working relationship matters.⁠

A satisfied happy client usually means referrals. Which is one of the reasons why I put so much emphasis on the client journey – it’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Your happy clients are going to be your biggest advocates. Once you wow them and gain their trust, you’ll start seeing the referrals come. My suggestion? Set up a referral system for your clients – this is not only an incentive for them to refer you, but it’s also a nice THANK YOU to them for being your #1 fans!⁠

As you continue to build out systems in your business, keep in mind that we don’t have to make making money difficult. The key to growth isn’t just new clients. If you get a new client today and lose a client tomorrow, you’re back where you started from. Growth comes from obtaining new clients while retaining old clients and keeping them ALL happy and satisfied.⁠

⁠Let’s breakdown your client journey:

Application/Discovery Call

Make it easy for your potential clients to apply to work with you. You can do this using an intake form (you can use a CRM like Dubsado for this) where you can qualify your leads. Not everyone is your perfect client, so make sure you have questions that will disqualify your non-ICAs.

On your discovery call, be sure to establish clear expectations and boundaries from the get go. “This is what you can expect from my service/program/container…” And service providers, it’s always nice to mention when you’re usually available, “My typical work hours are M-F 12pm-6pm” or “I have a 72 hour turnaround time on tasks, and a week turnaround on bigger projects”. Clear communication and expectations keep both parties happy in the long run.

Onboarding

When sending the contract and the invoice, be sure to send a nice welcome email detailing how the onboarding process is going to work. This will put your clients at ease because you’ve got this handled. All they have to do is show up.

A nice touch with client onboarding is client gifts. Depending on the investment level, it’s always nice to send a little welcome gift. I have clients that send flowers, others that send gift boxes, and I have a client who always goes out of her way to find a nice bottle of champagne for her clients.

Service Delivery

This is customer service basics, but be sure to keep lines of communication open and meet your deadlines! Be reliable and stand by your word.

When it comes to being a service provider, always under promise and over deliver. You never want to be caught in a situation where you overpromise and cannot deliver on that promise – it doesn’t feel good for either party.

If you have ongoing services, always check-in with your clients about a month before your contract ends with a renewable proposal. And if you’re an educator, don’t forget to hit your client up with a “what’s next” email to funnel them into your next super-supportive container so that they can continue to thrive.

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Ready to systematize your client journey? Use my Systems Made Simple freebie to breakdown your client experience into repeatable systems that will ensure recurring success.

Freebie mentioned above: https://tamaramunozwhilden.com/lbbfreebie

Work with me: https://tamaramunozwhilden.com/services

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