My sister works at one of those self-aware restaurants – the kind with a high opinion of itself. The management instructs their staff that everything at the restaurant is an experience: a brunch experience, a cocktail experience, a dining experience.
I rolled my eyes. Insisting on calling everything an experience is a little egregious, don’t you think?
But actually, I really like the concept.
On my Facebook Live Marketing Show, content strategist Alaura Weaver said to think of the sales funnel as a sales hourglass. Yes, you want your prospect’s experience flowing through the top of the hourglass to be seamless. But once they “drop” into the bottom half of the hourglass – once they convert – your work isn’t done.
You want you client’s experience working with you to be seamless, too. Ideally every interaction with you is a positive, helpful, memorable experience for your client and/or your prospect.
Customer service and marketing are closely linked. You want your marketing efforts – outreach, promotion, positioning, content, and more – to mirror what it’s like to work with you. Good podcasts are very effective for this, because listeners can hear your voice, your mannerisms, and your sense of humor, and get an idea of what it would be like to talk with you In Real Life (assuming that you act like yourself on your podcast!).
Likewise when you’re wooing a prospective client, you want to give her the same level of customer service you would a current client. Let her ask all her questions, take time to get to know her, listen to her concerns and excitement.
Two examples:
- A great experience: My coach referred a friend to work with me, and I had two calls with this woman. On the first, we talked for 45 minutes. She told me what she wanted, I told her what I recommended, I told her a client story, we talked about budget. A week later we had a follow-up call in which I presented options for working together, and we talked for an hour answering her questions and explaining details of my services. At the end of that call (before she hired me), she said, “I really appreciate how much time you’ve spent with me on the phone.” YAY! A day later she hired me 🙂 I was so happy to hear she had a great experience on our calls, and I enjoyed it myself because relationships with people are my favorite part of my business.
- This experience could be better: I wish I could figure out a better way to respond to emails. My current system is that I check emails once, and pause my Inbox for the rest of the day. It’s a good set-up for productivity, but it means that I don’t always respond to emails promptly. I’m embarrassed about this: I want my clients to feel they can ask questions or make requests and get a quick response. On the other hand, emails pile up so quickly, they can easily take more time than I anticipate, which leaves less time for doing creative and productive work. How can I make this experience better for my clients (prompt responses, trust that they can reach me) and better for me (so that my day isn’t overtaken by emails)?
One of my best experiences as a consumer came from 1-800 Contacts, of all companies. I called their customer service line and damn near fell of my chair when an actual human person picked up the phone and said hello! He helped me with my question and earned my undying loyalty, all in a short phone call.
I was already a customer of 1-800 Contacts, but even if I hadn’t been, that experience of talking to a person instead of leap-frogging through an automated menu MADE MY DAY. It happened two years ago and I still think about it. In an age when so much is automated, something as simple as a person picking up the phone stands out.
What could you or I do to provide an experience that stands out like that?
