Daily Task: 15 minutes
Take 10 client pictures or record 2 video interviews.
Project Focus: LEG
Now it’s time to map your entire client journey.
Take out a blank piece of paper. Turn it sideways (to “Landscape” orientation.)
Draw a long horizontal line along the middle.
Above the line:
Write the client’s first interaction with your business on the far left side of the line. That’s probably when they book their first appointment. Don’t worry about the steps they take before that yet (ie lead flow.)
Move an inch to the right, and add their first appointment time.
Their first two steps with your business are the act of booking their appointment and showing up for their appointment.
Move another inch to the right. What’s their next interaction point – a second appointment? Something else?
Continue to record each step a client takes with your business.
Below the line:
Record every action take by your business between the client’s steps.
For example, below their appointment booking, record the confirmation emails and reminders that are sent to them.
What actions do you and your team take between client visits?
Map those all below the line.
This is your “client journey”, and simply mapping it out will improve long-term client retention, because:
1 – every client will have the same awesome experience
2 – you can find ways to upgrade and improve your client experience
3 – you can identify a path of ascension for your clients (keeping them around longer, and upgrading the service they buy from you)
4 – you can test different retention strategies scientifically. That means you change one part of your client journey at a time, and measure the results.
5 – you make sure the client always has a future with your business. You can point to the next step and tell them what it is. Clients quit when they “run out of future”: when they ask themselves “Where is this going for me?!” and can’t answer.
In some cases, businesses actually publish their client journey on their walls, and clients seek to ascend themselves along the visual path. That’s up to you. For now, having any plan to retain clients is far better than having none.
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