There are a lot of tasks and responsibilities on our plate as business owners. From business planning to marketing and everything in between, we are busy bees. Automation can play a key role in taking the load off, especially as we strive to deliver an amazing client experience. However, automating your client experience must be approached with thought and intention. Otherwise, mistakes in your client processes are bound to happen. And those mistakes are costly! I flag these regularly when performing client experience audits for my clients. It’s important that you avoid them too. Here are 3 mistakes you could be making when automating your client experience. I’ve also included things you can do to avoid these mistakes so your clients feel cared for at every step.
Automating Your Client Experience Mistake #1: Letting Smart Fields Run Wild
If you use a CRM like Dubsado for your client management, you’re most likely familiar with smart fields. Smart fields are text placeholders that allow you to autofill information in forms and emails once added to a client profile or project. Some examples include a client’s name, wedding venue, location, secondary point of contact, special milestone, and project dates. It’s a great feature for adding personalization to emails and forms that are sent automatically for you through your CRM program. Touch points built into your client experience can run on autopilot thanks to smart fields.
So what’s the problem? While smart field details can be added manually to a client project, they are usually captured through mapped fields in a lead capture form or questionnaire that a client fills out and submits to you. As a result, you have to rely on accurate information from the client, especially when your first engagement with that person is an auto reply.
So let’s say a potential client completes your lead capture form like this: First Name – “moya”. Wedding venue – “TBD”. Project Date – “anytime in November works for me”. Business Name – left blank. With those inputs from your potential client, the next auto email in your client experience workflow will read: “Hello moya! I would love to help you plan your dream wedding at TBD during the month of any time in November works for me…..” OUCH!! Not a good first impression at all and I see this happen all the time! It’s an easy mistake. You’re focused on getting the setup correct behind the scenes. However, the reliance on accurate responses is the part of the equation that sometimes gets overlooked.
The Fix: Tame Your Smart Fields
I certainly want you to work smarter not harder. Smart fields are a great way to elevate your client experience when using automation to do some of the work for you. However, to get the full benefit of this awesome feature, make form responses required inputs. This will prevent fields from being left blank and ensure that you get the information you need. Also, use a date selector form element to capture exact dates, be specific with your questions, and offer response examples with those questions. Finally, add a task to your workflows to verify and correct mapped details before any auto triggers occur. Yes, this task is a manual step but it’s so worth it.
Automating Your Client Experience Mistake #2: Not Telling A Client When An Email Is Automated
Don’t panic—I don’t mean telling clients that your CRM is doing all of the work for you. However, I do believe that having a mix “humanizes” the automated experience even more and therefore, will elevate your client experience. One big mistake I see happening here is with meeting appointment confirmation emails. With Dubsado, your appointment confirmation email is automatically sent to clients—as in seconds after they book a meeting with you. And the canned email you set up to send automatically for you is written to sound like you’re the one actually sending it seconds later. As this happens, your client may start to wonder if other emails are being sent automatically, losing that warmth and personal connection with you. Not good!
The Fix: Call It What It Is (Sometimes)
If an auto action such as sending a meeting confirmation email cannot be delayed, kindly state in the email that it’s automated. You can start the email by simply stating so. As an alternative, add a note at the bottom of the email in a fun way that’s in keeping with your brand voice. Reminder emails for meetings and payments are other opportunities to mix it up and state that the emails are automated. By making this distinction, you’re giving your other automated emails a more personal feel. This will boost your client’s connection to you and your brand.
Automating Your Client Experience Mistake #3: Sending Cookie Cutter Feedback or Testimonial Forms
Too often, we don’t give the offboarding process enough attention. Many business owners focus on the inquiry and onboarding phases of their client experience and neglect the send-off. It tends to be the phase of the client process with the fewest steps. In addition, most feedback forms that are sent to clients are standard and only have one level of personalization—the client’s name. This is a big miss. The same special attention and personal touches you gave your clients at the beginning of their time with you must continue throughout the offboarding process and beyond. These are the touchpoints that will further separate you from your competition, create brand loyalty, and generate referrals.
The Fix: Personalize Your Feedback Forms
There are many steps in the offboarding process to consider when building an amazing client experience. That’s for a later post. However, one way to avoid sending cookie cutter forms when offboarding clients is to personalize your testimonial forms before it is sent to your client. Share something specific from your time together or sing their praises first about how amazing they were to work with and why. You can also tailor the form questions based on specific things that occurred during your time with them. This added step will certainly be remembered.
Automating steps in your client experience is a great time saver. Plus, there are amazing tools like Dubsado that can help you do so seamlessly. However, be mindful of these mistakes as you build your workflows. The number one goal should always be client satisfaction, even if it means a few manual steps here and there.
Let’s sum it all up:
- Don’t let your smart fields run wild! Ask specific questions in your forms and include response examples so the correct information can be mapped. Make form elements required fields to avoid blank entries and double check mapped responses submitted by your clients.
- Let the word “automated” out of the bag sometimes! Any automatic email that cannot be delayed should state that it’s being sent on your behalf. This will humanize the automated experience even more.
- Don’t send cookie cutter testimonial forms! The offboarding process is just as important as onboarding and working with your clients. Tailor your questions so they are specific to your time with the client and sing their praises. Include a form introduction sharing why you enjoyed working with them before asking them to complete the form.
