Please find the slides to my workshop on How to Create 5-Star Website Experiences in WordPress at WordCamp CapeTown down below:
You can also find all resources, including the workbook in this folder.
My Speaker Notes Below: (Might not always make a lot of sense but added for extra reference)
How many of you would like to have a streamlined and fun process to create websites for clients? How many of you would like your clients to be blown away by your service and become raving fans referring you to others?
If so you read on.
I Run Simply Digital Design a boutique Web and marketing studio working mainly with photographers and other creatives – but I do say yes to other projects as well. 🙂
I’m a WordPress community team member although I’m probably one of the worst members but I make up for it by spending my time running the WordPress Pretoria Meetup, leading an awesome team for WC JHB this year and organising the Speaker Diversity workshop
I’m a mom of 3 – 2 girls and a boy and I have a very supportive partner who doesn’t really understand any of my weirdness but at least doesn’t complain about it.
There is no “one way” to do anything in business. So my idea with this workshop is not to stand here and tell you about the “Perfect Process” or to get you to just copy what I’m doing and overhaul your whole way of working– no the idea is to help you figure out what will work specifically in your business and to identify maybe one or two things that can make a big difference for you and your clients.
Incoming is Everything that happens before the client pays the deposit.
`lead contact you or get referred. you set up a meeting and after the meeting you send them an estimate or proposal, the client happily accepts your proposal. you send them an invoice and the client pays you. Obviously never as easy as that and a lot can happen in this time.. we’ll look at some ideas later
On boarding happens from when your client pays the deposit until the project formally begins. `you can include the discovery process in here or have it separate as ì have but basically onboarding is when you inform your client of everything you need from them and educate them on how the process will work, the timeline etc.. As we will see later onboarding is the perfect time to educate clients, to help them prepare and to set the stage for the rest of the project
Discovery doesn’t have to be after onboarding but ì like to have it as a separate process as ì see it as the time period where ì get stuff from the client where onboarding is more me giving things to them.
So onboarding usually consists of a meeting or workshop where more detail discovery is done and can also include a branding and content workshop
Design and Development can be split in to two processes and includes everything you need for the delivery of a successful Design and/or Development project.
Launching can just be going live or can include Social Media announcements, a party or event or just a couple of beers to celebrate.
Off boarding
30 day of free maintenance – introducing them to my care plans
Training and goodbye package
Website In a Week
The idea behind this concept to build a website in a short focused time. Depending on the time you could only work with 1 client at a time or at least have the illusion of working with them exclusively.
The most important part of these style of service delivery is that all preparation needs to be done in advance, Logos, Branding, Photos and all content need to be created before the week can start.
Another very important thing is that both the tech stack and the delivery process needs to be productised and standardise. In my case we use a base site that has a starter theme, all the go to plugins and of course Beaver Builder installed so I just make a clone or use something like All In One Migration and easily set it up.
I also have the process set up in Asana and it’s got specific tasks that needs to be done every day to get the site done in a week.
Client knows what to expect – Open communication keeps them I invite client to the the Asana Project and assign feedback tasks to them
Advantages of this way:
Get booked out weeks or months ahead: Clients needs to pay a deposit and then get’s booked in to the calendar..
Get all content you need before you even start – they then need to get all the content ready. So in our case we will have a discovery workshop beforehand and will then decide if clients need new logos, branding elements a photoshoot or help from a copywriter. All of this then get’s done before their booked in date.
Quicker to develop – When you can create something quicker it means higher productivity, profit and a greater experience for the client
Collaborative process -Clients feel their input is taken without them leading the process
Another very important thing is that both the tech stack and the delivery process needs to be productised and standardise. In my case we use a base site that has a starter theme, all the go to plugins and of course Beaver Builder installed so I just make a clone or use something like All In One Migration and easily set it up.
I also have the process set up in Asana and it’s got specific tasks that needs to be done every day to get the site done in a week.
Client knows what to expect – Open communication keeps them I invite client to the the Asana Project and assign feedback tasks to them
Get paid on time – Specific milestones for payment and also the set time that this happen means there’s no confusion about when payments are due. Client’s book in and then the balance just before the site goes live – which should be the Friday.
Because clients know that the day or the week was their dedicated time they don’t keep coming back with revisions and request afterwards.
The #1 way you can stand out in your market isn’t by reducing your prices or putting in more hours. The #1 way you can stand out and wow your clients over and over again is by creating a 5 Star Client Experience.
Identify where you will have the most impact
Turn basic transactions into experiences
Look for Additional ways to wow clients
Education
Educate clients on how you want them to behave, deliver content or give feedback and set the expectations throughout the process.
New clients might not know what to expect
Other more seasoned clients might be used to taking chances so by educating them how to work with you it’s important to set boundaries
Communication
We all know that communicating with clients is key to a successful project
Unfortunately, a lot of us creatives or coders are really big introverts and this part can feel like a huge burden. Creating a communication process helps with this as it is pre-planned and some times even automated
Keeping up the conversation
Reinforcing expectations throughout the process and keep the client relaxed knowing what’s happening next. Having a transparent development process in a tool like Asana or weekly progress meetings or emails keep clients happy.
Stay on top of communication, don’t shy away from it. Be overly clear. Repeat yourself even if it feels weird. If you’ve documented many of these conversations over past projects, you’ll be able to copy / paste and tweak your templates and look awesome.
Preparation
Needs to be addressed with Education, Help clients visualize what you need and teach them out to provide it. clients should know that there will be homework. And that there will be a deadline for them to deliver otherwise there will be consequences like a delayed project or them moving to the back of your calendar or line.
To create a 5-star experience for your clients you need to help with the preparation as much as you possibly can. Content workbooks, checklists, copywriting could all be part of your process.
Stop expecting clients to create content in a visual vacuum. Most clients can’t picture content and images flowing into a design the way we can. It’s unfair to expect content without any kind of structure or visual reference. In the face of overwhelm, many clients will outright avoid the task before them (just like the rest of us).
Collaboration
Collaborative Process
it’s deliberately creating a better way to work with your clients not for them.
A strong system will help you proactively guide your clients rather than always reacting to drama – and – you’ll minimize your time on repetitive work and maximize your time for creative work.
So the secret here is to be in control, to set your boundaries but then to lovingly guided your clients to work with you and to help you arrive at the best possible outcome. Collaboration tools, email templates and things like wire frames or style-tiles.
Value add or Fun
All of the previous things help you create a streamlined and seriously professional experience for your client, but what we want to do is Delight them! I
Put yourself in your customer’s shoes. What do they need/want? What might make their experience of your services feel more special and unique? How can you show them you care? How can you solve a problem for them related to your service?
Ideas can be stationary gifts to help with preparation work or a coffee voucher when it’s time for them to do their homework, it can be a launch party or just launch drinks
Take inventory of your current digital offerings (paid and free). Which ones might benefit from the addition of a physical touch point? Touch points could include a postcard to check up on progress, a welcome packet with pertinent information or a survey and small celebratory gift when they complete the process.
WORK THROUGH THE WORKBOOK
Brain dump all task you you do from start to finish
BREAK TASKS INTO PROJECT PHASES
Next, break up the list you just created into sections or project phases that match the way you like to work.
WORK THROUGH THE 5 ELEMENTS FOR EACH PHASE
The Resources I mentioned.
- WP Elevation: Â *Affiliate link* Contact me if you want a credit for a free look inside.Â
- Erin Flynn
- Jennifer Bourn – Client Onboarding Best Practices
- Laura Elizabeth’s Client Portal
- Design Process Resources
