This article was written by Shawn Burcham, Account Manager at Upper Hand.
We’ve all experienced those painful moments of frustration or confusion when it comes to ordering things online. Whether it’s having to fill out multiple contact forms, navigate through an unclear website of choices or dead-ends, or waiting for a delayed response, these pain points all impact your decision or at least question whether or not it’s even worth spending money with that business.
Running a business is a complex venture, so how can you make the complex seem simple to your clients so that they enjoy each interaction they have with your business? We’ve outlined 3 ways that can make the biggest difference when it comes to being able to simplify the client experience.
A recent Walker study found that client experience has overtaken price and product as the key brand differentiating factor. In today’s digital world, oftentimes the client’s first experience with your business doesn’t start with when they walk in the door but how they interact with your business online. Netflix and Amazon are giant successful tech companies because of their obsession with the client experience. Oftentimes those companies are able to predict what their clients need is for them, making the experience simple and keeps their clients coming back for more. So, how do you create a compelling online experience that sets the right tone for your business prior to them even interacting with your staff in person?
Utilizing multiple platforms and options can be costly and time consuming so how do you set-up your client’s online experience to be much more of a one-stop shop than a scavenger hunt. Giving your clients the ability to find what they want at the click of a button can be the difference between a sale or not.
With a software like Upper Hand, you have a ready-made app experience that can put all your business offerings in one place for clients to view and register for in a matter of seconds. Your website should be set up to minimize the amount of clicks necessary to achieve the desired outcome. An excellent example of this is Inside the Lines Sports (one of our customers!). You can see their website homepage has clearly labeled headers and links that send clients straight to the product they are looking for, all leading to a specific landing page inside the same software. As a business owner having as many of your operation components in one place is crucial, but as a client, the ability to use one account to purchase what you need is a massive time saver and headache reducer.
67% of customers prefer self-service over speaking to a company representative. Can your clients make purchases without the need for a phone call or waiting on an email response? With Upper Hand’s profiles, clients can not only keep track of all of their family’s profiles in one account but have the ability to schedule, pay balances down and make necessary account changes on their own.
A good self-assessment question to ask is, “Does the platform we use allow for clients to select the who, what and when without having to contact someone first?” If the answer is no, then start thinking about the hassle a client has to go through to connect with a trainer or a representative to comb through availability and package options before confirming their choice. A good way to think of this is each step or action you add to the process contributes to lowering the probability of them becoming a client or coming back for more. With that in mind, start thinking about how you can set your business up to minimize those deterrent or reasons someone would look somewhere else.
Human error is an inevitable component of running a business. This can lead to loss of revenue, upset clients and time consuming internal processes. That’s where we think automation can provide a much more advanced way to provide solutions for your clients. Here are a few questions that clients may ask themselves before signing up that can help be solved with automation:
Offering Memberships is a great value add that allows clients to be charged a recurring fee to receive certain benefits during a given period of time. As a bonus, it allows the business to receive dependable recurring revenue equipping you to identify gaps and future growth opportunities.
Giving your clients Flexible Payment Options doesn’t need to come at the expense of your business. By offering payment plans, package offerings or even a way to reserve their spot and pay at a later date can showcase that you aren’t a one-size-fits all sort of business.
Clients wanting to minimize the hassle of dynamic scheduling changes need the ability to book their time for the foreseeable future. A tool like Repeat Booking allows you to sign your clients up for the same time within a given period of time, valuing your client’s needs and concerns about getting them on the schedule.
It doesn’t matter what kind of business you’re in – improving the experience for your clients has been proven time and again to increase retention, satisfaction and revenue. The differentiator between a client choosing your business over another can come down to the simplicity and availability to purchase your offerings. It’s time you make the right steps to stand out and provide a world class experience for your clients even before they step in the door. Invest in your client experience today by scheduling a conversation with our team to learn more.
Looking for a way to grow your sports training business? Upper Hand can help. Schedule a demo today to see how you can grow your business with sports management software.
And just like that, another year has come and gone. As we look back at the past 12 months, we saw a lot of growth, innovation, and development. And, we saw a lot of intention behind the changes that you implemented. Both in your athletes, and in your businesses. At Upper Hand, we’re excited to have made quite a few innovative changes of our own.
Building and maintaining a positive team culture is important in creating a safe, enjoyable experience for athletes and coaches. Team culture is established by leaders (coaches) and reinforced by athletes who believe in it. This means that it’s truly the responsibility of coaches to decide they want to build a positive environment and work on it every day.