You only get 24 hours a day. So how you can leverage your time to be more visible and grow your business? There are a number of ways you can do this, which includes creating systems to automate tasks in your business. But that is just one part of what you need.
Whether you work your business full-time or you’re building it on the side, you have to leverage time to get things done that will lead to business growth. That means you have to have a well planned schedule, a business growth strategy and then you have to execute the strategy.
Now I know I’m not saying anything you haven’t heard before. But I’m going to break this down to you differently so that you can visualize how you can fit more into your day while minimizing distractions and get better results. So today I’m going to focus on three very specific areas you need to give attention to that take a little effort but will yield bigger and better results when it comes to your visibility and the impact it has on your business growth. So you know I’m going to start by talking about business systems. This is a non-negotiable that you need to stop ignoring.
So often when it comes to creating systems, most people have this idea that it’s this big, complex thing. And then of course, we’re going to avoid taking any action because it’s exhausting just to think about doing it so you don’t. My goal is to break systems down into bite size chunks so that you can get your systems in place in the mom cracks of time. Now I’m not going to talk about all of the six core systems every business needs because I’ve done that in different episodes already. But there is one specific one that has a huge impact on your customer experience, your customer care process. So the first thing you need to do is be more client focused.
Be Client Focused
There’s a small window that we have to really follow up before a person loses interest in our services. Are you able to respond to a potential customer in 1 hour or less? That can be a general inquiry through your website, a direct message on social media or when they sign up for your free download. First impressions are a lasting impression!
So, what is the first impression you are making the first time someone comes across your profile online or the first time they reach out to you isn’t all that great? Well, Walt Disney said it best, he said “Do what you do so well that they will want to see it again. And will bring friends.”
So if the first impression you leave is not a good one, you will have a hard time landing new clients and even worse you won’t have any repeat clients either. The first thing I want to clarify is the difference between customer experience and customer journey because they are not the same but they work hand in hand for better or for worse.
Customer experience is how people feel after they’ve been in contact with you whether they work with you or not.
The customer journey is every single touchpoint they’ve had with you from the moment they contacted you.
So what would your clients say their experience working with you has been?
It’s important for you to know because there are three main areas of your business that are impacted by the customer experience you provide:
1. Number of ideal clients you attract
2. Number of happy clients you retain
3. Number of new clients you get from referrals
Unfortunately too many solopreneurs are under the impression that the customer care process doesn’t start until your contract is signed and you’ve been paid. This actually starts with their first point of contact with you. You need a streamlined process that includes automation and you will elevate that relationship to a point where they will buy into everything that you put together because you have become an influencer in their life.
So let’s talk about the pieces you need to include in your customer journey. First of all it needs to be customer focused, meaning every step keeps them in mind. That means they understand why it’s happening and there aren’t so many steps that it leaves them feeling overwhelmed.
So when you’re mapping out the journey, you need to keep that in mind because It either helps build trust (which is a critical component in the know, like and trust factor) or it creates doubt about your ability to deliver your services. I talked about the three things you can do to boost your customer service in this blog post. This is very important because it provides a glimpse into the inner workings of your business.
Now when you nurture the relationship well with a new prospect correctly, that will convert to a sale. When that happens, you have to continue to nurture the relationship with an on-boarding process. This is a critical system that far too many people skip and that can be costly. The on-boardng process is where you explain how you operate meaning you share your business boundaries and you explain how your services work. And depending on what you do, you definitely need to find out more information from them. Remember they may be new to outsourcing so this is a great way to walk them through things to set expectations and also allows them to ask questions.
And if they have outsourced work before, they haven’t worked with you before. So help put their minds at ease. Something else to keep in mind, if they have had a bad experience outsourcing work, your on-boarding process could be critical to them letting go of the tasks they are paying you to complete. But if they don’t get warm and fuzzy feelings, you are going to have a hard time getting them not to micromanage. So I want you to check out this blog post where I talk about how to set and communicate your business boundaries. But I share a simple welcome process you can implement that will get you started off on the right foot with new clients.
Another part of the journey comes into play when it’s time for a client to move on for whatever reason. Your relationship with them shouldn’t come to a screeching halt because they aren’t going to be paying you anymore. Client off-boarding is the final step in building that oh so meaningful client relationship that will keep them coming back to you time and again with more projects AND they are more likely to recommend your services to others. According to Neilson ratings, 92% of consumers believe suggestions from friends and family more than advertising. Beyond friends and family, 88% of people trust online reviews written by other consumers as much as they trust recommendations from personal contacts.
That is another reason for you to have an off-boarding process. You want to get feedback and a testimonial from your clients after they’ve worked with you. Not to mention it’s a great way to continue to nurture the relationship with your clients as your services come to an end and even into the future. Now listen closely to this. That means that in order for you to generate more referrals (and repeat work) you have to not only provide your clients with great results, but provide them with a positive, unforgettable, and professional client experience.
So if you want to know how to stay front of mind with your clients for years to come, check out this blog post for an effective off-boarding system you can implement. Now that we’ve covered nurturing the relationship with your clients, let’s talk about another way to nurture relationships that will benefit your business and help it grow.
Build Genuine Connections
Have you ever heard the saying that your network is your net worth? The quality of the relationships you have with other professionals dictates how much influence and impact you have. A very good friend and former client once told me it’s not about who you know but it’s about who knows you. When you nurture relationships with other business owners, your name is front of mind as they network with others. I’ve experienced this myself when it comes to speaking at virtual summits. I have not had to pitch myself to speak at any virtual events for the past three years. I’ve been invited to participate because of recommendations from someone in my network or they enjoyed my presentation at another virtual event.
So the question may be how can I build those types of relationships with a tight schedule. You can do this using Instagram! That’s how I’ve done it and it only takes me 15-20 minutes a few days a week. This is what I do. One, I make sure I don’t lose track of time. So I have 3-4 10 minute sprints through the day when I’m on Instagram and I have a specific task I complete with each sprint.
During one sprint I look at stories and I engage by liking, commenting, completing polls, etc. During another I switch my feed to my favorites and I do the same on the static posts. But I also look at who else left a comment and I check out their feed and sometimes their stories. If I like what I see I follow them and add them into my rotation. At least two of the sprints are used to reply to comments left on my posts and to respond to DMs. This helps me be very intentional in small increments and helps me build great relationships that lead to great opportunities!
It is very easy to do and most importantly, it strengthens the relationships I have with the women in my online community. Once those relationships are established and begin to grow, it opens up the door for the third way you can leverage your time to increase your visibility.
Leverage Other People’s Audiences
Social media helps you stay front of mind with people who already know you. But you need to be seen by new people in order for you to make a bigger impact which leads to growth. So I made this point last because first you need to build the relationships and then you can leverage the audience of those connections, not in a sleazy way, but by establishing connections and continuing to build new relationships. That’s why I see who else is commenting on posts on Instagram. It shows me that they do more than just like a post, they join the conversation. So when I see a good comment, I also reply to them which also helps me make new connections.
Another way to get in front of someone else’s audience is to be a guest on podcasts. But again, it pays to build relationships in advance so that podcast hosts are already familiar with you if you decide to pitch yourself as a guest. I’ll be transparent about who I have as a guest on my show. If I don’t know you, more than likely I am not going to invite you to be on the podcast. I get a ton of direct pitches from people I have never heard of. That means I don’t know if what they have to say is valuable for you as my podcast audience and I don’t want to waste your time.
So I am very picky about who I have on the podcast and honestly, I’ve directly invited them to be on the show because of the existing relationship we have. I know their personality, I know that they know what they are talking about and we already have a certain vibe that I like. And for those that apply to be a guest, and no I’m not talking about those who send me an email pitch, I mean those who complete the application on my website (hint, hint). After they submit their application, they automatically get a confirmation message that invites them to connect with me on Instagram. Those that do score a few more points in their favor because they took the effort to connect with me. A few have even sent me messages introducing themselves and letting me know how they found the podcast.
I can get on a soapbox on the topic of podcast pitches but I’m not going to do that today. Maybe that needs to be a podcast episode in the near future. But anyway, if you want more tips to help you leverage other people’s audiences to increase your visibility then click here to check out my conversation with Lisa Simone Richards. She shares her ABC’s of visibility which will help you increase your visibility without using social media.
Now I know I gave you quite a few options to help you maximize the mom cracks of time you have to increase your visibility. Of the three things I shared with you today, I want you to focus on your customer care process first. There are many pieces to that but even just getting a basic system in place will drastically change your results for the better.
Let me shorten the learning curve when it comes to your customer care system. This can be done during a 30 minute System Strategy Session with me. We get on a Zoom call and map out the steps you need. I’ll provide templates you can use after the call and it will be off the to do list. If you have part of a process in a place already we will identify what you still need and fill in the gaps. We can also talk about some automation options to save you time and make things work more efficiently and consistently. Schedule your Strategy Session today!
