3 Tips for Client Experience with Colie James
Branding with Friends | Episode 39
Wondering if you need Dubsado or another CRM? Find out what you need to make the most of these types of tools in this episode of “Branding with Friends" featuring workflow and automations expert, Colie James.
Meet Colie James, Workflow and Automations Guru.
Annie: Hi there, welcome to a new episode of Branding With Friends the show where branding meets key business topics. Here you're going to learn tips straight from the experts on everything from inclusivity to content creation to publishing a book. We focus on what you can do right now to use these topics plus the power of branding to attract your ideal clients. I'm your host branding expert, Annie Franceschi of Greatest Story Creative, I help service business owners tell their story and show their value through clear messaging and consistent branding. I'm also a former Disney storyteller and professional speaker and the author of two best-selling books, Establish Yourself and Permission To Try.
And today I am really excited to introduce you to one of my new friends in the business world. I am not sure if you have thought about getting a CRM before or had been working on your client experience. Maybe you've played with them, that said no matter where you are in this journey I am so excited to bring on a guest who's going to teach you about client experience strategy before you get any software or tools to help you sort those things out.
So today my guest is the amazing Colie James. Colie is a fellow Disney lover. She's a family filmmaker, workflow and automations guru, and the host of the Business First Creatives Podcast. She's based in Denver, Colorado, where her heart pumps for helping photographers and creative service business owners automate their ish, reclaim their time and get back to living.
She believes if it doesn't bring you joy automate that ish or she might say it with a different word. With more than 10 years in the creative space, Colie believes that every creative deserves to build a business that's sustainable and profitable. And nobody should quit their nine-to-five only to work 24/7 in their business. Amen to that. Thank you for joining us today Colie.
Colie: Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to have this conversation with you.
Annie: Me too. We connected just maybe like two months ago because of our shared love of Disney. So I didn't include that part in your bio, because we need to talk more in-depth about this. So tell me about how often do you go to Disney?
Colie: So before the pandemic, from the time that my child was five until she was about 10. We went to Disneyland every year. And we've also gone to Disney World one time in her life and that was when she was five. But during the pandemic, once they reopened California to out-of-state visitors I bought a new pass because they had canceled my previous one. And then for 14 months, I took my child every single month we flew from Colorado, we went to California we stayed anywhere from two to four days. And like every month, that was our gift for surviving homeschooling.
Annie: Well, that's what we like to call parent goals. You know, like the best mom ever. The mom I aspire to be you have an older child, my child's only three, but he's been to Disney already. He's been on two Disney cruises, and one Walt Disney World trip, and obviously immense privilege.
We should caveat all of this, but you know all this to say for you know, enjoy your joy, right? And so you and I had connected because I reached this year I went on a retreat, I went on a business retreat with my client and my friend and my assistant, Sarah Potts, who is also someone who helps you as well. So we were able to connect him he was like, you got to talk to Colie. And we talked about this amazing Disney business retreat. So all that to say is something like Disney brings you joy, bring more of it into your business.
And I think that that's a great place to start with client experience. Like if you are not enjoying the experience of running your business, guess who's not going to enjoy working with you, right, so we got to make sure we're getting the heart behind it.
And we couldn't have a better and bigger Disney nerd with us on the call today. So grateful you're here. We do on branding with friends, if this is your first time listening, we always have somebody like Colie come on and give you three actionable tips, things you can actually do hanging up this call or stopping listening at the end of the episodes that you can start to really brand your business better and take it down this path.
If you want to have a better client experience, Colie is going to tell us how she's going to share two of her top tips. And then her third, she's going to save for the end because she's also brought along a gift for you guys.
So with that said, I know Colie you and I had talked about is this episode about Dubsado. Because your expertise is this software called Dubsado, which many coaches are familiar with, some have tried it, etc. And we kind of took a step back and said, you know, let's talk about something broader than that. Like why you would use a tool like Dubsado. So let's start there. What is what's your first tip? And I think it does connect to this idea of like, why we aren't just talking about a software today?
#1 Action TIP
Map out your client journey
Colie: Yeah. So often when people come to me, they tell me that they need a CRM, they need help automating things. And the first thing that I say is okay, but like, what's your customer journey? Like, tell me about what the experience is like working with you. Tell me how you interact with your clients, when you want to interact with them, what kind of actions they take, from the moment that they inquire with you until you deliver your service, you know, to completion. Because I think everyone gets caught up in what software do I need. And that's not where you start with elevating your client experience, you actually start with creating the client experience from beginning to end. I do feel like the piece of software that you choose inevitably tells you what steps you can take and how you can automate it, whether or not it's on branding. But ultimately, we have to start with your customer journey, and how you interact with your clients.
So the very first tip that I'm going to give everyone, if you haven't done this, is you literally need to block out one hour of time on your calendar, you need to get a blank piece of paper or five, couple of your favorite markers because I like to do things color-coded, you know, it brings up the happy in me. And then you just literally need to start down and write down every interaction that you have with your clients. So your client fills out your contact form on your website, or they send you a DM on Instagram, or they call you. Well, okay, that's step one. Because your client is like interacting with you online. But like when they inquire with you, that's that first step. After they inquire with you, what do you want to happen next? Now, most often with coaches, you want to have a conversation, you want to qualify them, you want to make sure that your offer is aligned with their needs. So if scheduling a consultation call is something that you need to do that is perhaps Step Two for you. Now, how are you going to invite them to the call? Are you going to send them a text message? Are you going to actually call them on the phone? Are you going to send them a scheduler?
So do you see where I'm going with this guys? I do think about every step. And you write it down. And I don't want you to start thinking about automating or not automating you just have a list of things that you do with your client. And that is tip number one for elevating your client experience.
Annie: Yeah, I think that that's huge. And I'm always having to, you know, I have a talk on branding and client experience myself. And I always say it's like my most process-heavy talk because people don't realize that it's not just a well-branded process, a process that people talk about that feels really professional and really tied into who you are, and how great you are, has a lot to do with the thought that you put into it.
And that's a lot of what I heard you say is like, you know, map out what you want to have happen. Because if you don't do those things, you know, if you are just winging it, you're likely missing steps, you're not coming off as a professional, you want to, you're not strengthening that opportunity for referrals and people sharing your information because you want to have this seamless process from beginning to end. And that is not a setting on a tool so much as it is a strategy, you have thought out. And you can do that with the pen and the paper.
And I've done that, sounds like you've done that. And, you know, it's old school, but old school works, you know, it's the thought is the thing that this machines and the AI and this and that that we have at our disposal cannot do for us. They cannot replace all the decisions we need to be making in our business. And these are really important decisions as to what you want your clients to experience.
I also think there's a tip to add to this, which is, if you feel stuck in some ways on this, sit with someone who may I'm betting you have a friend who or someone who's become a friend, who is your client, get their feedback on it to like get their insight. I, you know, I'm so lucky that some of the people I even work with or that are like my virtual assistant are also my clients. So I can go you know, what do you think of this? Does this make sense? But that's a great first tip. So map out our customer journey, our client journey. What's the second thing we should do once we kind of have that underway, and we have a clear list of I want this to happen, then this, then this?
#2 ACTION TIP
Write out your own conversational email templates
Colie: The funny thing is, I tell everyone, I'm not a copywriter, I just play one on the internet. Because I feel like I talk about copywriting so much to the point to where people are like, Oh, are you a copywriter? And I'm like no.
But my second tip for everyone trying to figure out their customer journey is that you sit down and you write your emails. I don't know about you. But I found in the first few years of my business, the most wasted activity that I did was every time I sat down to send an email to a client, answer a client email, I was struggling with what to say, how to say it, oh, I need to include this link to this pricing PDF that was in Dropbox. And I don't remember where it is. Let me spend 15 minutes wasted trying to find it.
And so as much as you can get down email templates that you can use in your client experience. That's tip number two. And the thing guys, a lot of people give me pushback like well, if it's an email template, you know, it sounds very robotic, and it doesn't feel high touch guys. templated emails can be incredibly high touch if you are popping your personality in them, and you are actually writing them like you talk. And one thing that you mentioned earlier, Annie, and I'm just waiting for the opportunity to inject it in is you said something about consistent branding. And I will say what we're really talking about today is providing a consistent client experience.
And so everything that I'm talking to you about today is to give every single one of your clients the same experience from beginning to end so that they don't get lost in the process and you don't get lost in your process, constantly trying to figure out well, did I do this for this client? Oh, no, that was Susie last week, okay, let me find this email, let me find this brochure, and send this out. I mean, this is going to help you map out and organize your customer journey in a way where you make sure that you are doing every single thing that you need to do for every single one of your leads and every single one of your clients.
Annie: It's huge. I am so glad you brought this up. Because you know, when you said, you know, write your emails, I was like, Well, what does she mean? Does she mean a nurture sequence, I can, but write your email templates, I think is enormous. And I, you know, my business exploded with interest in 2016, after I did a series of speaking events, and I had a new problem, which was I had a ton of interest but no systems. So I went from no interest, you know, little interest to huge interest, and no systems and no ability to kind of deliver this seamless experience. And I was wasting so much time, like, as you said, going back. And so I started what I call Batch December, and I take that every year, I take the month of December off, and a lot of that time is spent getting my head around my processes. I wrote those first email templates in 2016. And I have barely touched them. Yeah, since then.
And there are ways like I love to do it, I know you do it through Dubsado, I use a tool called Text Expander, which is a keyword shortcut utility for Mac. And for those who don't speak jargon, it's a computer, it's basically a program on your computer, where you can come up with your own little hashtags for things so that you can write any kind of templated email or templated, anything you want. And then you just go hashtag, whatever. So if I were to send, you know, an email for an estimate, I can just type hashtag estimate, it's going to drop my whole email in there. And with Text Expander I don't know if Dubsado does this, you have little fill-in sections.
So that's one way to add in more personality to is like you put in the person's name. I even have things like hope you have a great week or weekend. And so I have like a drop-down and I can choose like is it the week that was a weekend, you know, those sorts of things. So it feels really tailored to them. Or, you know, we did this when we just met a few months ago. And I have an email called hashtag what I do. And it's my referral networking email, there's a freebie on Greatest Story Creative called your Best Referral Bio, check it out and grab it at GreatestStoryCreative.com. It comes with an email template that when you network with somebody, like Colie, you can send an email, say, hey, it was great to meet with you. I love your amazing solutions, like your Dubsado VIP Day that, like your blank, I just changed to whatever we talked about. And so I literally have to take two seconds, three seconds to change that one thing, and it feels highly personal to you. But it took me, you know, no time at all. Right? And then you made some great introductions for me.
And like you all those things, because we thought about it ahead of time. It's like, you know, work hard once right? You know, I've heard that from so many mentors, and I've had to adopt that. And it sounds like a lot and it is at the beginning. But it's so much more and it saves you so much time every week. And it has helped me and I think it sounds like it's helped you not drop balls and give people that consistent experience.
And you know, that's where you can if you have a branding strategist on you know, on your team like me, someone who can look at these emails go great. Yeah, I'd have these this, this, make sure your logos or your fonts colors done. Yes, do it once, do it once. Don't keep doing it, try overthinking it and wasting your time. So I'm so glad that you brought up email templates, because they literally saved my life constantly. So I know we've got so we've sort of got our first two things. So we're going to map out our client journey, and we're going to write our email templates. Before we get to our third tip, I know you've brought something along for folks today. So what is that thing that if they want to take the next step with you or learn more from you? What can they discover on your website?
Colie: So guys, I have a video training called Love Your Leads. And I find that what most people struggle with is you're getting leads, but you're not converting them at the rate that you want. And a lot of it is getting your client experience, particularly the inquiry and the booking stages, as you know compact and as high touch and as converting as you can. Because if you drop balls in the beginning, like I like to joke around and say that you don't get the opportunity to drop the ball again later. So you have to do as much as you can up front in the process to convert your leads.
And I have three tips in this video training that are really going to tie into what I've talked about today to help you get those things done to help you get your client experience mapped out and inside of the program of your choice because it is not a Dubsado specific video training.
But it is going to help you make sure that you are thinking about the things that are going to get every lead that comes into your business converted if they are a good fit for your offer. Now I'm not saying convince people who want something that you don't offer, but if you have what they want, I want to make sure that you have the highest chance of bringing them into your business as a paid client.
Annie: And that's a perfect kind of dovetail into our third tip. So you said we need to map out that journey with pen and paper. We need to write those email templates so we're not wasting time and always delivering that great experience. What's the third thing that folks should keep in mind?
#3 Action Tip
Make your offer irresistible and clear, handling objections upfront.
Colie: Guys, I want you to make sure that your offer is irresistible. And I know that that's like a fluffy word. So let me explain what I find most often when people come to me, and they're like, well, Colie, you know, people are not hiring me, I think I need to lower my price. And almost 95% of the time, guys, it has nothing to do with your price. And it has everything to do with how you have presented the offer, and how you have made it clear that it helps them solve their problem.
And so the thing that I want everyone to do is give your offer an audit, make sure that the price is clear, the deliverables are clear, and the process is clear.
And it also brings me back to that freebie Love Your Leads that I hope all of you guys go and watch. Because making sure that you have addressed the most common objections that you get is part of the actual offer itself. Once you dive into CRMs of your choice, you're going to be presenting your client with the offer in the form of a proposal or a quote, it just means you're telling them what the surface is, and they have the opportunity to hire you. In Dubsado. In my proposal, I address frequently asked questions, I lay out the process in a vertical timeline, I want to make sure that by the time they get to the end of my offer, they have no more questions as to whether or not what I'm offering is something that they need and whether or not they want to work with me.
Because guys, that's the other thing that I want to point out, your offer shouldn't be separate from you. And so I feel like you know, especially for those of us that do consultation calls, I feel like we present ourselves on the call, we want to make sure that we get along, we want to make sure that we can hang out. But when it comes to the offer, I see a lot of people presenting like what I call a 90s generated computer invoice.
Like you're just telling them the name of the of the offer, and you're giving them a price tag, make sure that you're still connecting you and what you specifically do, and what is what differentiates you from other people that they could hire, when you're actually making the offer. So clear and consistent. I want to make sure that when you know your grandma, who has nothing to do with your business reads it, she still understands what you're offering, and what it's going to cost and the time and all of those other kinds of things.
Annie: Preach, preach. We're recording this a week before I am teaching a new program called Pack Your Process, which gets at the heart of this because I find you know, I don't know if you find this Colie, I know you work with a lot of coaches, too. I feel like a lot of coaches are like out there being like, I'm selling eggs, would you like eggs? Would you like three months of eggs, or six months of eggs? And it's like, I don't need eggs, I don't need three months of coaching, I know that something's gonna help me redo my career like, and I think it gets to the heart of what you're saying is like, how does this offer help me solve my problem? Right?
Colie: I’m gonna jump in, because like you just literally, so Also guys, and this is not really part of this. But I feel like I have to tell everyone that I know. What your client thinks they need, might not be what they actually need.
And so you have to find a way to create the offer to where it addresses what they see as their bottleneck, their problem, you know, the thing that's preventing them from making more money, taking more time, whatever it is that they have is the goal for their business, you have to find a way to address that. But also give them what you as the professional actually know that they need. And those are two different things. And so you can do that with the emails.
Okay, so let's just take one step back, Annie I just want to say something about those email templates. I am talking about client experience, email templates. So like when someone inquires, I'm not necessarily talking about what we would consider a traditional welcome series or traditional nurture email marketing. Yeah, there's certainly space in those emails to do that.
So in the first email that you send to them after they've inquired with you, if you know that people often worry about the amount of time that it's going to take to work with you address that objection in that email. Every single time you communicate with them, you can address something that they are questioning in their mind. You don't have to wait for the phone call. You don't have to present it only in the offer. Saying it multiple times is what gets you hired so that they know that you understand how they're feeling. And even if they don't think that they need the specific offer that you're giving them, you're addressing what they think they need and then showing them how you're going to solve it with what you actually offer.
Annie: I love it. This is like a masterclass I'm taking notes in case anyone hasn't you know, gotten this but and I do this right like it's I help people with this from the branding angle. But I'm really glad that you brought this up and I think you know, whatever this is when this lands this summer, you know, hopefully Package Your Process is still a thing. I'm planning to be offering it privately as well as group cohorts.
But I think that It's really, really important that you'd be out there selling something clear. And something that is really positioned as a solution to a problem. It's not enough to have a name for it. If it doesn't, I think you kind of hit on something that I always talked about how it's like, there are people, people don't actually know what they need right they’re problem aware, but not solution aware.
So I always refer to it as like, you have to build this bridge. Everything you're saying has to connect to where they are, and take them where you're going to take the absolute. If you only talk about where you're taking them, they don't necessarily get that they're invited on the journey, or that it's relevant to them.
Colie: Annie, that's a great point. That everyone's welcome at Disney.
Annie: That's me, yeah, the happiest place on earth. With that said, thank you for sharing these amazingly gold tips about having a well-branded client experience that will come to life through Dubsado, another CRM or your own, you know, sort of piece together system, which is what I do. So our tips are, to map out that client journey, write those email templates, and don't forget to have an irresistible offer and experience when they learn about what you do. So I think between branding and client experience, you can't go wrong here. Thank you again, Colie, for joining us.
Colie: This has been such a treat. Annie, thank you so much for having me.
Annie: This was a blast. Awesome. Well, next time maybe we'll have to have you come back when I get all the questions that are like okay, Annie, I did it now. Colie come talk about Dubsado. So maybe we'll have a Disney and Dubsado day. But until then check out Colie and I hope you will tune in next time for our next Branding With Friends guests when another topic is going to meet branding and help you grow your service based business.
Until then you can find all our past episodes, free resources like that elevator pitch referral email templates on our website at GreatestStoryCreative.com You can always set a free time to talk with me if you're curious about Packaging Your Process. Also at GreatestStoryCreative.com And until next time, stay awesome. Thanks guys.
“Branding with Friends” Episode 39
Show Notes + Resources
Here are 3 key tips for client experience in business:
Map out your client journey
Write out your own conversational email templates
Make your offer irresistible and clear, handling objections upfront.
Resources:
Access Colie’s Free Love Your Leads Download:
https://coliejames.com/lyl-trainingConnect with Colie on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/coliejames
Dive deeper into branding and growing your greatest business with Annie Franceschi:
• Subscribe to the Greatest Story Creative newsletter to have new episodes of “Branding with Friends” sent right to your inbox the day they premiere!
• Find past episodes at BrandingwithFriends.com
• Connect with Annie for consultations, resources, and more here on greateststorycreative.com
• Follow Annie & Greatest Story Creative online:
--- Facebook - facebook.com/greateststorycreative
--- LinkedIn - linkedin.com/in/anniefranceschi
--- Instagram - @annie.franceschi
To learn more about client experience workflows and automations or seek Colie's help with your service business:
Get Colie's Free Love Your Leads access
Connect on Instagram
