Make your small business run easier by putting systems in place

All systems go!

We’ve all been there, we want to make our clients experience the most special and personalised it can be. What we think this means is to tailor make each and every email we send to them, whilst this is a great thing to do, is it really utilising your time and energy in the best way possible?

We want to give our clients the most enjoyable experience possible and that means we need to be at our best. Being at our best does not mean we have to write a different email for every job we do.

For most service based entrepreneurs we have a signature package or two. For myself that would be my Photoshoot Day and V.I.P. Brand Package. I’ve been there where I’ve written a hundred different emails which basically say the same thing.

I decided that wasn’t where I should be spending my time, my time could be used on creating better content for my clients and in and around other aspects of my business. What my business needed was essential email responses when my client signed on to work with me.

Put Into Action...

Email Responses

Go through your favourite emails you’ve sent to a client after they’ve signed up for working with you, put them in a document and amalgamate your favourite ones so you can see the best way you’ve explained the process of working with you from the very beginning to the end of the program/package.  

Another way, which I love… Pretend you are your own customer to the services you provide and think about how you would like to be emailed detailing the process step-by-step. This should include how you send them invoices (if applicable), contracts, timelines for your working together and any other instructions they would need. Jot down all your thoughts.

Create a General Email Template document in Google Docs (or whichever program you prefer) and put in place everything I mention above. Once that’s created, copy it for as many different programs you have and then alter them for that particular program.

I’ve done this for my Photoshoot and V.I.P. Package - I did this so I didn’t have to edit each time, for each different package.

You should have the whole sequence laid out, so that it’s easy to copy and paste and all you need to do is just change out the dates and names.

Welcome Pack

What’s a Welcome Pack? This is where you lay out the whole process of working with you, in a visually, on-brand PDF Document. It will have the instructions on what your client needs to do and complete, the timeline of working together, plus the logistics of that particular package.

This is a nice way of giving your customer a professional, thoughtful experience of working with you. There aren’t hundreds of back and forth emails, just a very concise step-by-step guide.

Yes, all of these pieces do take a lot of time but the reward is sooooo worth it. A little bit of time at the start is 100% worth those future emails of trying to say the same thing differently and using up mental bandwidth.

Mark Zuckerberg wears the same outfit every day. He claims dressing in the same way allows him to focus his energy on more important decisions at work. That is why you need to put systems such as email responses in place.

Need some professional help designing and creating your very own Welcome Pack and onboarding systems, drop me an email at liz@elizabethellery.com I’d love for us to chat and see how I can help you best.