In this episode, we spill the beans on how to revolutionize your client experience by tweaking and repeating. From creating efficient systems and templates to ensuring clarity and alignment in contracts and proposals, we explore the strategies you can implement to create a streamlined client experience and bring in the referrals and testimonials you deserve. Join us as we reveal the benefits of continuous improvement and offer practical insights to help you enhance your client interactions and boost your business to new heights!

We have worked with many different service providers over the years. And in that time we’ve learned a great deal from their wide-ranging responses to any number of situations and scenarios that inevitably pop up with clients — be they totally bizarre or bordering on the mundane. In today’s episode, we take a closer look at how to deliver a sustainable client experience. One that is consistent from client to client and can be maintained and altered as your business grows and scales.

When you’re in the thick of the behind-the-scenes work of running your business, it’s easy to lose sight of the client experience. This is why it’s so important to have systems in place that allow you to not only receive client feedback but to come up with solutions that are then seamlessly integrated into your business. We break down the most common issues we’ve seen service providers get stuck on and offer insights on how to fine-tune your internal systems for a unique client experience with staying power!

Developing consistent client delivery is a surefire way to set up your business for success and today, we break down how best to do so. There are stages to this, especially if you’re a solopreneur offering a broad variety of services. The most important phase, for the purposes of today’s episode, is phase one. It’s important to spend time improving your processes and developing efficiencies from the get-go, as tedious as it may feel. The question we get asked the most in our trainings is about efficiency. The answer is uncomfortably obvious and it’s merely a matter of prioritization. Tune in to learn the simple art of tweaking and repeating and discover how best to create efficiencies for yourself while simultaneously optimizing the client experience!

Over the last three to six months, we’ve been hearing a common complaint from business owners that they need more leads. Guys, quit panicking. There’s a few market shifts that we need to be aware of, but they’re not necessarily changing how you’re going to acquire clients. Everything with clients may feel like it’s changing but in fact, everything is the same! We’re serious; everything is the same.

Marketing is cyclical. You’re going to have something that works now that may not work in 6 months, and then in 2 years, that thing could come right back around again! There are also things that are a common thread forever and always; spoiler alert: it’s relationships. Then there’s going to be hotspots, and what you really shouldn’t do is build a business that relies on these “blips.” Marketing is coming back to its roots, shedding things that don’t work, and bringing things back that have been buried for a while. If you’re interested in everything we have to say on this topic, tune in today!

All of us, as service providers, need to be reminded of the importance of gauging whether we are, perhaps subconsciously, tying our personal identity and self-worth to what we bring to the table for our clients. There have been some conversations popping up recently in which very successful service providers have been wondering why certain clients are not listening to their every word or taking their professional advice. They are made to feel both frustrated and insecure, as they recognize the clients aren’t going to see the results they’re able to procure for them, simply because they refuse to adhere to the strategy. We, personally, are not immune to these thoughts, and today, we want to share our personal experience and some exercises to help you dispel imposter syndrome and communicate clearly and calmly with clients who won’t hear you out. It’s time to actively separate your self-worth from your work and quit taking on your clients’ “emergencies”!

If you are in the small business space as a buyer or a seller, you might have noticed a wave of disgruntled online shoppers that don’t necessarily fit the stereotype that wants to speak to the manager! In today’s episode, we want to talk about what we are dubbing the Digital Karen. Since the start of the pandemic, Emylee and Abagail have noticed more and more conversations between makers, shoppers, and sellers who are having a difficult time dealing with the increase in customer service issues that have been popping up in their inboxes and DMs, from unrealistic custom order requests to one-star reviews for reasons that are beyond their control.

There has been a growing need for customer education regarding what is and what isn’t within the control of shop owners and business owners. For a long time, buyers have convoluted the experience of buying from big companies like Amazon or Nordstrom and tied that same level of expectation to shops on Etsy and Shopify, for example. In today’s episode, Emylee and Abagail talk about how sellers can emotionally and mentally deal with the age of the Digital Karen and continue to create a positive customer service experience amidst uncontrollable delays, as well as what buyers and shoppers can do to make the experience better for business owners!

Today on the podcast we have Courtney Chaal, the founder of The Rule Breaker’s Club where she teaches women to package and sell with brilliance and offers awesome products, and her work has been featured in Inc., Creative Live, and The Huffpost to name only a few. She is crazy-talented when it comes to messaging specifically, so this interview is right on time. We get that we shouldn’t necessarily be changing our offers or postpone our launches, but how do we talk differently about our services, so that it appeals to people at this moment?

What messaging do we need to tweak to make it relevant, and where is the balance between being empathetic and helpful versus making sales because we’ve got businesses to run? Courtney shares the top tips that she herself is implementing in her business, from getting your mindset right and brainstorming ideas, to asking your audience what they need and putting it all together in a project plan, so strap in and let’s dive in!

Today on the podcast we have Cami Monet, a watercolor artist, and custom wedding stationer. She is all about paper goods with purpose and personality. Camille Monet operates under two branches where she has custom wedding clients and does all their custom stationery. Her product line is also available for both retail and wholesale. When she isn’t doing all of these things, she also has a podcast with a friend, where they share ways to make business strategy a piece of cake for paper people.

In this episode, we’re talking a little bit about processes, using Dubsado, and all about how to create a high-touch premium service with your clients. This is for anyone who wants to dip their toe into charging premium prices this year, and for those who are already offering premium services. This episode will also give you some good ideas on how to be high-touch without having to be in the process every time. Camille shares details about her speedy process on getting clients in the door and paying. The customization and personality aspect of her process is unlike any other that we have heard of, so we know you guys are going to get some really good takeaways today. Let’s get going!

Today on the show we have Jordan Gill. Jordan is an operations consultant and the founder of Systems Saved Me. She helps overwhelmed, one-woman shows become streamlined solopreneurs and her jam is creating a cohesive operating system for managing your tasks, files, and inbox. But today we are actually talking about something that could really change the game for you if you are running a service-based business. If you are the type of service-based babe who resents client workloads and is not a fan of the lengthy, back-and-forth communications, and is thinking about changing your entire business because you are almost on the brink of burnout, we encourage you to listen to this episode first!

What we are sharing today is all about VIP days. With VIP days, you’ll create an amazing, lengthy, costly, profit-inducing service for your clients that also leaves them with a great impression of you. VIP days will also help you to free up your time for the rest of the year so you can do other things in your business. Jordan shares all about how she structures VIP days, how they changed her business, the lessons they taught her as a creative, and how you can implement them in your own business. Spoiler alert – in part of this episode we are talking about using a system that is going to make your VIP experience even better. And that system is Dubsado!

Hey everybody and welcome back to The Strategy Hour! We hope you’re as excited for today’s episode as we are because we have something special for your earbuds that we know you are going to love. Today we will be talking about email welcome sequences and how to do them right. It took us some time and a few missteps to get our’s where we are today and we are happy to share all the blunders we made with you for you and your business’ benefit! We want to help you get your welcome sequence just right for your needs and most importantly to make it profitable, so buckle up!

During this discussion we’ll be guiding you through our history with our email tools and ideas and showing all our listeners just what worked and what didn’t. And at the end of the chat we will be sharing something extra special that can take you one step further in your marketing so make sure to listen out for that. We cover the purpose and reasons for having a welcome sequence that is the bomb, we also do a deep dive on why our first welcome sequence was so bad! Imagine that! From there we share some of the reasons why it can be so difficult to get this right, especially in the beginning and we finish off by emphasizing what you should be focussing on when you are putting your sequence together. So let’s get all the way in!

Today on the show, we have Becca and Jake Berg of Dubsado. We are super excited to have them on. They are a husband and wife team that are the brains, power, and geniuses behind Dubsado, which is a client management system for creatives. They have built one amazing and beautiful platform for all of those things that you have 75 different logins for, including your contracts, how you get paid, and how you respond back to clients after they book with you. All of those pieces are neatly tied up in one amazing software bow.

In today’s episode, you are going to get a peak behind the curtain. We are walking you through the steps they took to build the software company, from idea to launch, and doing all of this amongst building a family and having full time jobs. They share with us how they have been able to grow and scale their business, and how Becca had to make sure it was her own. They also dive into exactly how they were able to make this awesome idea into an actual product, get it launched, and then how they have been able to scale and grow their team. We are even talking about some inside scoops on how to better perfect your client based business and get paid faster. So we are excited for you to jump in, listen, and learn!

Gift giving might not be your love language, but you should pick out any opportunity to dazzle your client with something special! Sometimes the biggest gift you can give is communication: being 100% clear about where you are in the process, at all times, because most clients just want to see results and that they’re getting the best quality. When we land new clients, we often quickly forget about them when we go back into our little cubby holes to dig into the job they’ve given us – and perhaps we don’t even see them again. We need to stop this weird behavior! There is so much to gain from staying in contact when we get paid or once we have completed the job. What can we do so they don’t forget us, allowing us to make a lasting impression?

There are three main parts to any relationship with a client: the beginning, middle and end. It’s important to remember that your client can choose to get out at any stage of this relationship, especially if they feel like you’re not holding their hand throughout it. It has happened to all of us: you land the client, get going with the work, but then you get busy with other clients and trying to build your business and you end up ghosting them. So how do you prevent this from happening? Be sure to join us for this episode to find out how to absolutely optimize your client experience from beginning to end!

Today on the show, we have Becca and Jake Berg of Dubsado. We are super excited to have them on! They are a husband and wife team that are the brains, power, and genius behind Dubsado, which is a client management system for creatives. They have built one amazing and beautiful platform for all of those things that you have 75 different logins for, including your contracts, how you get paid, and how you respond back to clients after they book with you. All of those pieces are neatly tied up in one amazing software bow.

In today’s episode, you are going to get a peek behind the curtain. We are walking you through the steps they took to build the software company, from idea to launch, and how they did it while building a family and working full time jobs. They share with us how they have been able to grow and scale their business, and how Becca had to make sure it was her own. They also dive into exactly how they were able to make this awesome idea into an actual product, get it launched, and then how they have been able to scale and grow their team. We are even talking about some inside scoops on how to better perfect your client based business and get paid faster. So we are excited for you to jump in, listen, and learn!

Today on the podcast, we have Jordan Ellis of Jordandené. Oh my gosh, this girl! She is so awesome. We have known Jordan for what feels like forever, but really it has only been two years. She was the first student ever for both of us, and since then, Jordan has gone on to grow a giant geek-chic business where she sells goods of all different types. She has shirts and aprons and the cutest little kids clothes ever and it just warms our hearts to see how much she has been able to accomplish in just two years, and she shares so much knowledge with us today, all about growing a product-based business online.

She talks to us about the changes that her business has made since she first started on Etsy way back in the day, how she is now on Squarespace, and how that works for her. She also shares the mission behind her business, how she creates an experience for her customers, a unique way for her to have scarcity in a product-based business, how blogging works for her, and all about hiring your first employee. She goes deep and gives some tips for those who are just getting started in the product world as well as those who are wanting to up-level what they already have.