Excellent customer service improves your brand reputation and strengthens your ability to rank.

Service providers who deliver a luxury client experience are more likely to succeed. This is because they take care of their existing clients, who are more likely to keep returning. By focussing on the entire customer journey – not just the welcome – they have less overall problems.

Look, it’s all over the internet, I don’t need to convince you why you need to deliver great customer experiences, you already know that. What you need is a simple guide to help you define a luxury client experience so that you can position yourself as an authority.

In this post I am going to outline four key components that set the foundation for your customer service journey.

First things first:

SET AND KNOW YOUR POLICIES

Communicating your policies clearly is vital for creating the right expectation for your customer. More than anything, your policies protect you and your business as it gives you the opportunity to specify your boundaries. Yes, you may lose a potential customer because they read something they don’t agree with. That’s ok! In fact, that’s ideal. Nobody enjoys working with nightmare clients, and neither will you.

Here’s a few things to consider when writing your policies:

• Booking policy – how and when, deposits or payment schedule, etc.
• Refund policy – exceptions, service credits, etc.
• Cancellation policy – how and when, forfeits, etc.
• Conditions of service – waivers, agreements, virtual or in person terms.

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DELIVERABLES

Your content does not end on your website or social media channels. Sure, these things are important for attracting and capturing your leads, but you can’t stop there. Put that same effort into your proposals, agreements, invoices, workbooks, receipts…the quality of all these things is making a lasting impression on your customer so make sure it’s one that you want.

This is also where you can determine how you will go above and beyond for your client. For example, are you going to throw in a value add into your proposals to inject more excitement in the beginning, or are you going to send a thank you gift at the end of the project when you ask for a review?!

Gifting best practice: Purchase a gift that is around 5% of your client’s investment with you. You may need to flex this based on your own pricing model. As an example, a $1,500 client spend will warrant a $75 gift value (with shipping if applicable) but above all else, make sure the gift is personal and meaningful to your client.

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SERVICE RECOVERY

There’s no avoiding it; you will have to address a complaint or a problem at some point in time. Whether or not you’re at fault there is a lot to be said about a way a business conducts themselves in service recovery efforts. I’ve even known for problem resolution to strengthen a customer relationship, so be prepared to turn things around quickly.

• How will you respond to negative or constructive reviews?
• How much responsibility are you willing to take when a third-party provider causes things to go wrong?
• What resolutions will you offer to reduce long term impact?

Try not to sound defensive. Be respectful and courteous at all times, and refer to your policies when needed. You also need to be genuine in your apology and be proactive in your approach to make things better. 

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Last, but not least:

REPORTING

This is important as you continue to evolve and refine your processes to ensure you are spending the right time in the right places. Collecting data, yes I know it’s boring and tedious, is so incredibly valuable for showing you:

• Who your main audience is – and where they came from.
• Where they spend time communicating – email, text, social media, etc.
• What improvements you can make on your website – the pages or CTA’s that don’t perform.

Now most of the hard work is going to be done for you if you have all of your accounts and software set up to collect analytics. All you have to do is siphon these metrics together to help you identify how your customers are feeling/behaving so you can show up to serve them.

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And there you have it, my four key components that will set you up for success as your brand builds a reputation for delivering a luxury client experience!

Are you ready to put this into action?

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