A must-have strategy for every OBM to create amazing client experiences
In the dynamic world of online business management, standing out from the crowd is more important than ever. One of the most effective ways to differentiate yourself and provide value to your clients is by creating amazing client experiences.
We’re going to delve into the concept of client experiences, dissecting what they are, why they’re essential, and how they can transform your role as an Online Business Manager (OBM). We’ll discuss the importance of viewing your interactions with clients from their perspective, understanding their needs, and exceeding their expectations.
This isn’t just about providing a service or product; it’s about the entire journey a client takes with you. It’s about making every touchpoint meaningful and memorable
So, whether you’re an experienced OBM looking to elevate your client relationships, or you’re new to the field and want to set yourself apart, this deep dive into client experiences is for you.
This episode shares:
- The definition of client experience from an OBM standpoint
- The cost considerations when creating client experiences
- The five benefits of transforming from managing client transactions to creating client experiences
- How to create amazing client experiences
What is an amazing Client Experience?
Client experience is the sum total of how clients perceive their interactions with you. It’s not just about the quality of your services or products, but how clients feel when they interact with your business. It’s about the emotions and thoughts that your business evokes in your clients.
Look at it based on your senses:
- How are they perceiving this experience?
- What do they see?
- What do they think?
- What do they feel?
- What do they hear?
It’s looking at it from their point of view and their perspective.
It’s trying to sit in their seat and make sure that it is a pleasant or an exceptional experience
The goal is to ensure that every interaction is a pleasant or exceptional experience. This perspective shift is essential. It’s not just about delivering a service or product; it’s about the entire journey a client takes with you. It’s about making every touchpoint meaningful and memorable.
Action: 🎯Start by putting yourself in your client’s shoes. Consider their perspective and how they perceive their interactions with you.
The Cost Considerations of Creating Client Experiences
Creating client experiences may not generate immediate revenue, but it does offer significant long-term benefits. The investment of time and money into client experiences can seem daunting, but the payoff is worth it.
The biggest cost is actually time. We all have a finite amount of time, and we have to use it wisely. So why should we spend some of our valuable time planning out client experiences? The other cost, which is less than the time investment, is the investment of money. This one is somewhat more flexible because you can control it and there’s lots of different avenues you can go down and you get to choose whether it will be very expensive or not so expensive.
Tip: 💡 Consider the long-term benefits of investing in client experiences, such as increased brand reputation, organic referrals, and the opportunity to charge higher rates.
Five Benefits of Creating Client Experiences
You can build a relationship and connection with people and start creating an actual experience rather than just “Hi, I did the thing. You’ve got the thing now pay me my money. See you later.”
1. Stand Out and Create Connection
Creating client experiences helps you stand out from other OBMs. It allows you to build a relationship and connection with your clients, making you memorable and fostering a sense of security and value.
This is the power of a positive client experience. It’s not just about delivering a service; it’s about how you make your clients feel during the process. This emotional connection can be a powerful differentiator in a competitive market.
If you are interacting with clients in a certain way and it feels good for them, they’re going to remember that feeling and they’re going to say, “Ooh, I’ve not done this way before. This is quite nice” and they attach their memories and their feelings to that interaction with you.”
2. Increase Your Brand Reputation and Authority
Creating exceptional experiences helps control how people perceive your brand. It shows that you’ve invested time and effort into your clients, which increases your authority and reputation.
This is about authenticity and consistency. It’s about showing your clients that you’re not just talking the talk, but walking the walk. It’s about proving your expertise and commitment through your actions.
3. Create an Ecosystem for Organic Referrals
By creating enjoyable experiences for your clients, they are more likely to recommend you to others. This leads to organic referrals, reducing the time and money you need to spend on marketing to cold prospects.
This is the beauty of a positive client experience. It turns your clients into your biggest advocates. They become your marketing team, spreading the word about your services because they genuinely love what you do.
4. Charge Higher Rates
The higher we perceive the experience, or the more valuable we do, the more we are willing to pay for it.
Creating exceptional client experiences opens the opportunity for you to charge higher rates. The reason is simple: you are providing something more desirable than just a transactional service.
This is the value of an exceptional client experience. It’s not just about the service you provide; it’s about how you provide it. It’s about the care, attention, and personal touch you bring to every interaction. This added value justifies higher rates.
5. Happy Clients Equals Happy You
When your clients are happy, you are happy. Investing time and money into creating amazing client experiences can make your business more enjoyable and profitable.
This is the ultimate goal of creating amazing client experiences. It’s not just about business success; it’s about personal fulfilment. It’s about creating a business that brings joy to you and your clients.
My days are happier when my clients are happier and we can have great conversations and we can achieve the things we’ve set out to generally, they’re happier and I’m happier.
Action: 🎯 Reflect on these five benefits and consider how you can incorporate them into your client experiences. Remember, it’s not just about delivering a service; it’s about the entire journey a client takes with you. It’s about making every touchpoint meaningful and memorable.
How to Create Exceptional Client Experiences
Creating exceptional client experiences is a process that requires a deep understanding of your clients and their needs at different stages of their journey with you. This involves meeting clients where they are, whether they’re in the onboarding phase, delivery mode, or offboarding stage. Each phase has its own unique needs and considerations, and understanding these is the first step in creating a memorable client experience.
1. Meeting Clients Where They Are
The first step in creating exceptional client experiences is to meet clients where they are. This means understanding their current mindset, what they’re thinking, feeling, hearing, and seeing, and what they need to be experiencing. This understanding allows you to tailor your approach and interactions to meet their specific needs and expectations.
For example, a client in the onboarding phase will have different needs and expectations than a client in the delivery or offboarding phase. By understanding these differences, you can tailor your approach to meet these needs and create a more personalized and meaningful experience for your clients.
2. Mapping Out the Client Journey
Once you understand where your clients are in their journey, the next step is to map out their needs at each stage. This involves identifying the bare necessities that a client needs at each phase, and then adding layers of connection on top of that.
These layers could include communication, gifts, experiences, surprises, and other elements that enhance the client experience. By building up these layers, you create a holistic client experience that is tailored to your clients’ needs and exceeds their expectations.
3. Implementing and Refining the Client Experience
After you’ve mapped out the client journey and identified the layers of connection, the next step is to implement this strategy and test drive it. This is where you put your plan into action and see how your clients respond.
But the process doesn’t stop there. Creating exceptional client experiences is an ongoing process that requires continuous refinement and adjustment. As you receive feedback from your clients, you can tweak and improve your approach to better meet their needs and enhance their experience.
This continuous refinement shows your clients that you’re committed to meeting their needs and improving their experience. It shows that you’re not just providing a service, but that you’re invested in their journey and committed to making it as enjoyable and fulfilling as possible.
Wrapping It Up
Creating amazing client experiences is more than just a strategy; it’s a philosophy that every Online Business Manager (OBM) should embrace. It’s about seeing your business not just as a provider of services, but as a creator of memorable experiences. This approach may require an investment of time and money, but the benefits are well worth it. By creating exceptional client experiences, you can differentiate yourself from other OBMs, build stronger relationships with your clients, and create a business that is not only successful, but also enjoyable and fulfilling.
Remember, it’s not just about delivering a service; it’s about the entire journey a client takes with you. It’s about making every touchpoint meaningful and memorable. And most importantly, it’s about creating a business that brings joy to you and your clients.
So, take the leap. Start investing in your client experiences today. Embrace this philosophy, invest in your client experiences, and watch as your business transforms for the better. This is the power of creating amazing client experiences. It’s a journey that starts with understanding your clients and ends with a business that is not only successful but also brings joy to you and your clients.
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Follow along with the transcript
Creating amazing client experiences – What they are and why every OBM needs them
[00:00:00]
Hey. Welcome to the next episode of the Audacious OBM. I’m Leanne Woff, and [00:01:00] today we are talking creating amazing client experiences, what they are and why every OBM needs them. Let’s dive in.
So if we’re going to be covering why I believe that every OBM needs to invest in client experiences first, we need to understand what it is I mean by that.
So what does client experience mean from an OBM standpoint? The way I look at it is based on your senses. So if you think about your interactions with clients:
How are they perceiving this experience?
What do they see? What do they think?
What do they feel?
What do they hear?
It’s looking at it from their point of view and their perspective.
[00:02:00] So it’s trying to sit in their seat and make sure that it is a pleasant or an exceptional experience, because I don’t think any of us really want it to be a negative experience. At least that’s never how I ran my business.
Okay, so we know what, now let’s think about why. Does creating client experiences generate revenue?
Do you get an immediate ROI in terms of money?
And the short answer is no, you don’t. It’s not like you build this experience and then bang, you’ve got extra money in your account. You don’t charge for this experience. So why would we do it then? And then if we pull another layer, not only do we [00:03:00] not make instant money back from doing this activity, it actually costs us.
So what are the cost considerations when it comes to creating client experiences?
From my standpoint, the biggest cost is actually time. We all know we’ve got a finite amount of time. We have the same amount of time, and we have to use it wisely. So why should we spend some of our valuable time planning out client experiences? Because there’s only one of you. So that is a big cost for you. The other cost, which I believe is less than the time investment, is the investment of money. Now this one is somewhat more flexible because you can control it and there’s lots of different avenues you can go down and you get to choose whether it will be very expensive or [00:04:00] not so expensive.
So our costs are time. And money. And again, if we’re spending time and money and we’re not making immediate revenue back, why should we bother? I’ve been thinking about it and it’s something that we dive deeper into in O B M Academy, but to give you a taster, these are the five benefits to transforming from managing.
Client transactions to creating client experiences. So I’ll walk you through the five things and that will help create a picture of why I believe every OBM needs to do this. This is all under the premise of stop being a checkout chick. We want to create experiences so [00:05:00] you can be the person that is just taking transaction by transaction, following a process, ticking a box standing at the checkout, processing the sale, and then off you go.
Or you can build relationship and connection with people and start creating an actual experience rather than just, hi, I did the thing. You’ve got the thing now pay me my money. See you later. All right, so number one,
creating client experiences will help you stand out and it will help you create connection. Now, what is it that makes you different from other OBMs and how can you get people to notice this difference. A really easy way to do it is in your experience. If you are interacting with clients [00:06:00] in a certain way and it feels good for them, they’re going to remember that feeling and they’re going to say, “Ooh, I’ve not done this way before.
This is quite nice”, and they attach their memories and their feelings to that interaction with you. And so they feel a little bit more connected in creating experiences. We’re building security with our clients, we’re investing in them, and it does, it makes them feel secure and valued, which then helps them feel connected to you and makes you stand out in their minds.
Number two. It will help increase your brand reputation and your authority. So what do I mean by that? We wanna control somewhat how people perceive our [00:07:00] brands, how we do the things that we do, why we stand out, what the face is behind the name, and. Creating exceptional experiences is a really great way to do this because it is practicing what you preach right now when you are developing client experiences, especially if you’re doing it purposefully and not just guessing or doing it on the fly.
It takes a lot of thought. And as you create these experiences and implement them, that thought shines through. Clients see it and they feel it, and it shows that you’ve invested already in this. This is something you are doing with intent. It’s taken effort, it’s taken time. It’s not just something you are [00:08:00] doing to get a quick win.
It’s well thought out. And the fact that you’ve gone to that level of thought, effort, energy shows, you know what you’re doing. You have some authority here, otherwise you would just be haphazard. So it increases some stability. It builds our reputation with our consistent processes. And the perception of, oh, they made me feel really good, and they seem to do it so easily, and it increases your authority as you guide clients through these interactions with you.
Number three, it will help you create an ecosystem for organic referrals. Now, what do I mean by that? Can you imagine [00:09:00] if you ran an OBM business, A business you adored, and it was successful, and you didn’t feel like you had to constantly beg for sales or to get your clients to refer you to other people that they know By creating experiences your clients, Are going to do it automatically.
They’ll do it organically. Why? Because they’re enjoying that experience. They’re seeing the difference. They feel good, and so they talk to their friends. And then if their friends have an issue or are experiencing a problem that they need a solution to or just have a need in general. They want to achieve something and they need support.
Your clients are going to recommend you because we’ve [00:10:00] already built in that memory connection and feeling for them. If you want someone who is invested, that will help you achieve the goals you’ve laid out and who will go the extra mile, think about it deeply and be invested. You need my OBM because that’s what I’m experiencing right now.
And they do it organically. So it’s not a tailored conversation. It’s not something that’s been asked for. It’s something that as they go about their daily lives, you come into the picture because you are making an impact on them, and then the referrals flow through. And then you get to spend less time and money on marketing to cold prospects because your clients are doing the selling for you because you’ve put the initial time and energy into making them feel good.[00:11:00]
Now, number four, it opens the opportunity for you to be able to charge higher rates. Now, why does it do that? How do we validate that? The reasoning is simple. You are creating something that is more desirable. You are not just creating a set me a task and I’ll email it back to you. Job done. It’s a whole relationship and connection.
It’s an experience. It’s the reason that you pay extra if you wanna get something hand delivered to someone, rather than just dropped off in, their mailbox. It’s about the feeling. It’s the tactical, tangible component. And as people, the higher we perceive the experience, or the more valuable we do, the more [00:12:00] we are willing to pay for it.
And so if we start building a reputation, For really investing and knowing our clients and making sure that they’re cared for and that their wants and desires are met when they need to be met, that level of consideration is worth more money, to work with someone who just gets you, is worth more money.
It’s the experience and it shows that. All of the effort you’ve put in, here’s the payoff guys, and why would you charge less if you’re delivering far more than the person next to you who’s doing the bare minimum? And people see it, and as long as it is all centered around what your clients really need and what they [00:13:00] really desire, it’s not even a battle.
They’re going to choose that cos they’re going to get results quicker and they’re going to feel better doing it
now. The last one, happy clients equals happy you. I don’t know about you, but when I work with people that I care about and that I’ve spent a lot of time investing into and getting to know, building that relationship. And knowing that they trust me. My days are happier when my clients are happier and we can have great conversations and we can achieve the things we’ve set out to generally, they’re happier and I’m happier.
And I think that is a reason on its own for you to invest a little bit of your time and your money. Into thinking about these experiences [00:14:00] because if we can make business easy and profitable and enjoyable, then I think we’ve won, like we’ve officially created a business and not just a job. And creating amazing experiences is one way that it can help you do just that.
So we’ve covered off why we should bother, what the benefits are of going through this exercise and this effort, and now we’re gonna look at how do you create these exceptional client experiences To do that, I like to split them into. Different categories or different statuses, you wanna meet people where they’re at.
That is always step one when creating any kind of journey or experiences. [00:15:00] It’s where is the client sitting right now? What are they thinking, feeling, hearing, seeing, and what do they need to be thinking, feeling, hearing, seeing, and how can we get them to do that? How do we give them what they need? So when a client is in the onboarding phase, they need different things to when you’re in delivery mode or when you’re in offboarding mode.
And we need to consider what those differences are, what those needs are, and how they change from one stage to the next. Because then we can start mapping how we’re going to fulfill those needs. So we wanna first. Map out the bare necessities. So at a very minimum, this is what a client needs for each of these phases.
Then we’re going to start adding layers for connection on top of that. So we might add our [00:16:00] communications layer and we might add a gift layer or an experience layer, or a surprise and delight, or a connection layer. There’s all these different layers and you slowly build up, until you’ve got this awesome holistic client experience.
Then you implement it and test drive it. And you know what? Everything else, it’s never finished because as you do this and you see the feedback that you get, You’re going to change what your experience is and you’re going to improve it and tweak it, and that is gonna make clients love you more because again, you’re adjusting based on them and what it does for them.
So I hope that gives you a really good overview of what creating Amazing Client experiences is all about, and I [00:17:00] hope now you understand. Why I’m asking you to spend a little bit of time investing into creating these experiences, it will change your OBM business for the better. It really will. Now, over the next few weeks, I’m actually going to go through each of the stages in more depth.
So we’ll cover onboarding, we’ll cover delivery, we’ll cover offboarding. And I’ll tell you some of the things that I did to enhance the experience for each of these stages. So be sure to tune in and I will talk to you next week. Thanks everybody.
I would love for this to be a two-way conversation. Have a great week, guys. See you next week. [00:18:00]
