Ep# 161: Serving Your Clients Beyond the Sale with Maggie Patterson

Holy moly, this episode is for YOU. I am so excited for you to hear this conversation with the amazing Maggie Patterson.

Maggie Patterson

We are talking about the idea of serving your clients beyond the sale.

So often we put so much energy into the process of bringing in more leads and then closing those leads, but we don’t put enough emphasis on serving those clients well and keep them around for the long haul.

We dive deep into retention strategies and nurturing the clients that you already have.

Maggie shares the do and the don’ts of serving your clients, the mistakes you are likely making that are losing you money and credibility, and the simple steps you can implement into your business now.

Have your notebook ready for this one!

In this episode, we chat about:

Buyer’s remorse

You know that feeling when you pay to work with someone or purchase a course and then you see what’s actually on the inside and it’s not at all what you were wanting? That feeling is called Buyer’s Remorse, and it’s awful! It stems from unmet expectations.

Make it easy to work with you

  • Make the path to purchasing your offer very clear. 

  • Have a well-written contract that clearly explains the process and deliverables. 

  • Make it easy for your clients to pay you. 

  • Don’t assume your client knows anything about your process. 

  • Have an on-boarding process in place and continue to check in and follow up.

“It’s your job to handhold your clients to some degree.”

The best approach to on-boarding

What’s going to work best for the type of clients you work with? What kind of business do you have? The more expensive your offer, the higher-touch your on-boarding process needs to be.

There is certainly room for automation, but make sure to add your own human touch, too. Your clients know when things are automated, and the human touch points are what elevates the process to high-end.

Negative feedback is information

Whether a client feels disappointed or a boundary has been breached or you feel that something should have gone differently… that is an opportunity for you to take that feedback and figure out how to do something better to improve your client experience.

Setting boundaries that honor you AND your clients

If you don’t set the boundaries from the get-go, then you’re putting yourself in a lose-lose situation. Either you’ll feel taken advantage of or you’ll have to have a very awkward conversation.

Be clear about your boundaries in multiple places--your proposal, your contract, your welcome email. This creates trust with your clients, and trust is everything.

Turn the boundary around so it’s in service of them: “This is the way that I can best serve you.”

Client retention

When you build a relationship with your client where they like and trust you, they stick around for years.

When a client leaves, why are they leaving? Make sure you know this information to help you improve your experience in the future. Don’t be afraid to ask why.

Would you rather do the hard work to retain your clients and build long term relationships, or would you rather do the hard work to continually bring in new clients? 

Resources from this episode:

Business, Business Coaching Session, business woman, Entrepreneur, Scaling Up, PodcastElizabeth HartkeBuilding a Business, Business Woman, Online business, Scaling Up, scaling up, entrepreneur, entrepreneurship