We all know the biggest way to grow as a service provider is through word of mouth, but how does that even begin? It starts with an outstanding client experience for every client you work with. Whether it’s the lowest or highest tier, a seamless and elevated client experience is what makes you stand out among millions of other service providers. In a saturated industry like photography, virtual assistance, social media management, online coaching, etc. some make the mistake of thinking that talent alone or variance of aesthetic increases their ability to differentiate among competitors. Unfortunately, the industry is just far too saturated for skill and experience to be enough.

So, what makes a client gush to all of their friends about the amazing photographer/VA/SMM/business coach they know?? The experience they had. What made it special? What made it unique? What made the difference? As a client of different photographers in the past, and as someone who worked as both a VA and SMM, here are 4 things that stack up to an outstanding client experience.

If you don’t know me, hi! I’m Hanna and I’m the lead designer/brains and beauty behind Digital Gems Branding, a website and brand design studio for creatives, female founders, online service providers, and everyone in between. Here at DGB, our mission is to create websites that convert viewers to clients, so making strategic but timeless branding and websites are our bread and butter. If you want to see more about who we are and what we do, click here to visit our home page.

1. A professional, user friendly website 💻

Sure, you may be rolling your eyes at me when you read that because I’m a website designer, of course that’s going to be number one. BUT, when I was window shopping for a wedding photographer, the number one thing I looked for was their website, because in my opinion, that is a huge tell of your professionalism as a service provider and a business. A DIY Wix/Wordpress/Squarespace website, no matter how talented your art is, will ALWAYS ALWAYS give “cheap“… (and you wonder how other photographers are able to go from charging $1,000 to over $10,000…). When comparing your services as a creative or service provider, what are the high-growth performers doing? They all have exquisite websites. (Seriously, go stalk their insta and look at their website). A prospective client wants to have an engaging, positive, and unique experience from the get-go on your website. More and more clients are finding creatives and service providers via social media, so it is PARAMOUNT that your branding is consistent and your website is up to par with your socials.

Along with that, it also NEEDS to be functional and user friendly. If this button↓

doesn’t work… how long do you think a user on your website is going to spend trying to find out where to go to inquire about your services? Probably not long at all. When someone is looking to spend a large chunk of money, whether it be through social media management or wedding photography, they’re going to assess you. While marketing and messaging is the backbone of attracting the lead and closing the deal, you NEED to put your best foot forward as this is the very first impression your *future* clients are getting.

2. A professional and automated back-end 🗄️

Don’t mistake this for me claiming any expertise in systems – I am for sure not a systems expert. BUT, I am a fellow business owner who takes a lot of pride in understanding and piecing together a seamless back-end for my clients. The first thing you need to do to understand and improve your back-end is to map out the client experience from the first step they take to reach you up until the last interaction they have with you.

The first step will be the client taking action on your website by submitting an inquiry/lead form. From that point on, you need a main dashboard for organizing everything from questionnaires to schedules and meetings. I highly highly recommend using a platform that allows you to create a client portal. I use Notion for my client portal, but I also have Honeybook, which can be used as a client portal as well.

My Notion client portal↓ (not sponsored lol I wish) is a hub where my clients can have a calendar view of the project timeline, reference meeting notes, view the contract, upload their assets, and see progress updates.

The most important thing for your back-end is that it doesn’t feel amateur. If someone is paying you, they’re expecting a professional experience, so the more streamlined your systems and processes are, the better it will look. (ie. please don’t just email back and forth with no form of organization or use of any systems) At the verrryyyyy least, use Google drive??

3. Clear communication 💌

You’ve probably heard this one a million times, but I promise you – it’s for good reason. Building off of the back-end, communication needs to be clear. Your client should never have to stress and they should not have to put much effort into communication (ie. make it easy! People love when things are easy for them!). Remember, they hired you, so they are going to expect a professional experience. I like using Microsoft Teams or Slack for communications because it’s easier to integrate with other systems and clients value their privacy AND they want YOU to value YOURS as well. It establishes credibility to use software such as Last Pass to handle password information and schedule meetings via Calendly – gone are the days of texting clients and expecting them to remember the meeting without a calendar invite.

Communication goes a lonnnggg way and encompasses so many crucial elements such as making a comprehensive list of everything you need for the FIRST call, so you don’t have to message them 20 questions after the call because you forgot to ask them something.

4. The cherries on top 🍒

The little extras will go a longgg way when someone thinks back to their experience with you (AKA testimonial time!!!). Here’s an example of some things to include in a client experience *but just surprise them with these*:

For photographers:

• Pinterest inspo for what to wear
• Extra images!!
• Cute packaging if they have any material deliverables *red bows yes please*
• Pick up a coffee for them on the way to the shoot (because who doesn’t absolutely die when someone does this for them??)

For online service providers:

• $5 Starbies giftcard on significant launch days *yay celebrations*
• Weekly report or add-on report for no fee (if you don’t already do this, just give them a quick lil message of stats from the week or day or so)
• Graphics for their personal socials to promote their biz ones!!

For business coaches:

• Daily or weekly inspo/motivational personal message
• Free templates of your processes
• Free 15-min calls every once in a while! (Boundaries are important here but for the clients that truly see your value, this will ONLY build credibility and appreciation)

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Coming full circle here, a seamless and elevated client experience is the ONLY way you’re going to go from 4 fig to 5 fig months and that alllll starts with a classy ass website. Going into the holiday season, this is a MUST HAVE – you can close more clients than you ever have this holiday season IF you invest in your brand and yourself with a custom designed website.

Now how the heck are you going to get a professional, strategic website in time for Black Friday??? My Web in a Week offer is JUST WHAT YOU NEED. Semi-custom, branding bundle, and all the things you need to get a HEAD START this holiday season.

Get ahead of the holiday season rush – get a brand new, completely YOU, completely strategic website BEFORE BLACK FRIDAY when you apply today!!!!