Making life easier for your customers (and yourself)

What happens when you stop looking at your business from the inside and start looking at it for your customer's point of view?

At this month's Fold meet-up we welcome Fliss Lee, brand wing women and strategist, for a workshop all about customer experience.

It definitely got us all thinking.

When you're self employed, there's always something else to do... you're delivering your service, answering emails, sorting the admin, chasing invoices and trying to remember all the other little jobs that come with running a business. It's easy to focus on getting the work done and forget to look at what the experience actually feels like for the person on the other side.

That is where Fliss' workshop came in very handy.

It's the little things that make a difference.

One of the examples Fliss shared was her chimney sweep.

He's friendly, does the job quickly, and by all accounts is good at what he does. But, what makes him particularly brilliant isn't just the service its self.

After the appointment, he sends Fliss her invoice through Xero AND an email confirming her appointment for the following year.

That's it. A simple process. But think about what that means for his customer.

Fliss knows her log burner needs sweeping each year. She doesn't particularly want to have to remember to contact him, find a date, and then book another appointment in amongst everything else she's got going on.

Well, now she doesn't have to. Fliss is happy because one more thing has been taken off her to-do list. The chimney sweep is happy because not only has he made life easier for his customer, he's given himself a much better chance at securing that repeat booking.

Everyone wins, because he's though about what happens after the job is done.

Where could you make things easier?

It's a good reminder that customer experience isn't just about being friendly and delivering a great service, it's about looking at the whole journey from the first time someone comes across your business to what happens after they've paid you.

Are there things your customers have to chase you for? Are you asking them to remember something that you could automate? Are there questions you answer over and over again that could be covered in a welcome email or guide?

And importantly! What processes can make your own easier too?

Sometimes we put up with clunky ways of doing things because that's just how we've always done them. Or, we assumer that making things better means investing in expensive software, adding more steps or god forbid, trying to create a whole new system.

It really doesn't have to be that complicated. It could be setting up some templates for emails you constantly send. A more straightforward booking process or a really simple way of making sure customers know what happens next.

A little time spent thinking can save a lot of time later.

What made Fliss' workshop so good was that it gave us the space to stop and think.

When your busy working in your business, it's not always easy to spot the things that could work better. Sometimes you need someone to ask the right questions, or if you're lucky, a room full of other business owners to get you thinking about what's possible.

Start with one part of your customer journey that feels more complicated that it should be, look at it from your customer's perspective, then ask yourself what you could do to make it easer.

A big thank you to Fliss Lee for joining us at The Fold and getting us all thinking about the small changes that can make a big difference.

You can check out ways to work with Fliss Lee here, and if you fancy coming along to The Fold have a nosey at our upcoming events here.