How to Be a Better Coach: Improve Your Client Retention Rate & Client Experience [ep.155]
Hello lovely lady and welcome to Higher Self and I!
Do you want to know what the secret is to skyrocketing your client retention rate? It's creating an unforgettable client experience! In today's podcast episode, I will give you my top tips and strategies for becoming a better coach and service/product provider for your clients. I don't want to brag, but my client retention rate is pretty high, so you can trust me. I'm talking from experience here.
I cover it all, from delving into the nitty-gritty of your clients' learning styles to enhancing your understanding of mindset. I explain how the client retention rate is linked to the client experience and share what the client experience looks like in Rebecca Haydon HQ. I chat about why building rock-solid relationships with your clients and delivering on your promises is crucial, especially if your clients have had a bad experience with investing in their business before.
Plus, I drop some hints about a potential future course that could equip you with even more skills to be a better coach! So, what are you waiting for? Let's skyrocket your client retention rate and create an unforgettable client experience!
Topics covered on Improve Your Client Retention Rate & Client Experience:
What does it mean to create a positive client experience, and why is it so important?
How can you ensure that you're delivering on the promises you make to your clients?
How does client experience affect your client retention rate?
Why is understanding your client's learning style crucial for their success and yours?
How can you adapt your service delivery to cater to different learning styles?
How can improving your understanding of mindset help you improve client experience and increase client retention rate?
What role does building strong relationships play in client experience?
Why is it essential to build strong relationships with your clients if you want to increase your client retention rate?
Connect with Bec:
Quote:
"I would rather under promise and over deliver than over promise and under deliver." - Rebecca Haydon
"The relationship building with a client is so important because the trust needs to be there with each other in order for them to have the results." - Rebecca Haydon
Transcription:
Our AI tried its best, but expect a few quirky typos in the transcript. Embrace the imperfections and enjoy the read!
[00:00:00] Hello, hello, welcome back to Higher Self and I. Oh, I have got a very juicy episode for you today. It's actually something that I have been mulling over a potential course of mine in the future and it comes up time and time again and I really think it's time that I spoke about it, especially in a podcast episode because it's where it's my favorite form of content it is my favorite form of Deliverables of content to you.
[00:00:34] So we're gonna dive right in and that is how to be a better provider For your clients now the the word coach comes up a lot like how to be a better coach for your clients But I I do understand that not everyone who listens to the podcast is a coach But you are providing a service for your clients when they come in And whether that is a product based provider or physical people provider, whatever you are, I think this podcast is going to really help you step into that next level of how to be a better one for your clients and how to understand your clients more.
[00:01:16] And I think in turn, what this will give you is a better retention rate, a better referral rate, and a better experience both for you and for the client. Now, my retention rate has been through the roof pretty much since I started my business. And I really think that's down to the experience I give my clients, the relationships I build with my clients, and how they see and feel progression.
[00:01:46] In our time and our, in our container together. Now this isn't to say that every single one of my clients will carry on with me. And sometimes I'm like, hey, you need to go and have a, a, a break. A coaching break or go, go it alone. I get that. But the retention rate of people coming back or people staying on, for me, has always been very, very high.
[00:02:09] I do have a percentage somewhere that I should have pulled for this, um, for this podcast episode. I might pop it in the show notes, uh, because one of my team members, one of my previous team members, actually started to do a retention rate, uh, section on my click, click up of the percentage of people who will either continue on or will buy again, etc.
[00:02:30] And I truly believe that is because... Of, like I said, the experience, the relationship, and how knowledgeable I am in how my clients work. And I really wanted to give that information to you today too, for things for you to start having a look at. So... The first thing for me, which is really, really important, is to obviously create an experience.
[00:02:58] You know, [00:03:00] oh boy do you know, that my top value is experience. And for me, my clients, whether they're in the membership, whether they're just buying a masterclass, whether they're coming to the free experience, whether they're a one to one, All of those experiences mean so much to me, and I want them to have the best experience.
[00:03:26] So, as much as I can create that experience for them, I can. Uh, for example, when they're on board with me, I have recorded a video that basically celebrates them. There's a big confetti burst, I got confetti everywhere, all over the house. But just that little touch of, um, celebrating them, or making sure the experience is really flowy, and not clunky, and...
[00:03:55] All the links work and they can access things okay, that for me is really important and I thrive and strive every single day to make sure that that is okay and if there are things like, you know, tech fails us sometimes and we are humans sometimes, but if there are things that drop off or don't happen, I make sure that the next time that it happens, that experience for me is 10 out of 10.
[00:04:24] I want them to feel so safe in that investment that they have all the information that they need, that they have everything that they could possibly want for our time together, and that is through the conversations, that is through the experience, the onboarding experience, and the way that I am with them when they first come in.
[00:04:45] Me celebrating them in the DMs and really understanding that I'm not just a really... great salesman, which I find this happens in the industry a lot, and I know a lot of people have been burnt by this. You know, those business owners out there who are incredible at marketing, they're incredible at selling to you, but the follow through when you actually get in the container is abysmal.
[00:05:10] And I've heard so many stories, and I've had so many clients come in nervous to make the investment because of those stories, and I never ever want that to be a thing for my clients. So really look in at the client experience to make sure that your clients are, truly feel held by you. And that kind of brings me into my first point, which is what are you promising versus what are you delivering?
[00:05:39] So I think a lot of the time in marketing we can promise a lot of things. We can kind of over promise. under deliver and Really having a look at what you are promising when they're coming in and making sure that if that is what you're saying You are [00:06:00] delivering on that because I would rather I would rather under promise and over deliver Then over promise and under deliver.
[00:06:09] You're going to create such a different relationship depending on what that looks like. Now, as a human being, I very, very much so over deliver for my clients and I have to watch out because it is a people pleasing tendency for me. However, I've done so much work on that pattern, so much work on my people pleasing pattern and I've had, I've got so many boundaries in my business now that I know that When I over deliver, it's pure, it's sheerly from the fucking love of what I do and the love for my clients, and I love that it comes from that.
[00:06:43] So, make sure that when they're coming in, you're really thinking about what you're promising versus what you can deliver. For example, I used to have this thing where I would say a certain time that I was gonna get things done for my clients. And, Sometimes life gets in the way, and sometimes I wouldn't do it, and they would be expecting it.
[00:07:10] And that's okay, like, it's okay for them to expect it, because that's what I've told them. However, me not delivering that to them would then cause some belief systems, some stories to come back up. Oh, well, I knew she was gonna be like, oh, well, the last one was like that, so lo and behold, here she is. So I had to become very boundaried with how I respond back to when I'm going to check things for clients.
[00:07:33] And again, some things fall under the radar sometimes. But how I'm going to check things for clients, what that looks like. This has happened to quite a few clients as well, where they're like, Oh my God, like, if I've got that many clients, how am I going to sustain it? What's it going to look like? And how can I put the boundaries in place?
[00:07:49] Boundaries and communication are one of the... Top notch things in my business to be able to hold the clients that I, that I hold to be able to have the breakthroughs that my clients have and to be able to scale my business. I need those boundaries in place. You know, every one of my clients knows that it's a 48 turn our time.
[00:08:09] 48 hour turnover time on me checking their content etc. So putting those boundaries in place so both parties know where they are and if those boundaries cannot be met or those rules can't be met having the conversation with them as well. The next thing that I really love to do is to really understand about my client's learning style.
[00:08:32] Now, I had a client who Delivered information in a certain way that suited her. And we had conversations together that not all people receiving that would potentially receive it in the right way, in the intention that she had behind it because of how she was delivering it. And I think it's really important for you to fully understand and know [00:09:00] that not one client is the same.
[00:09:03] Not one client has the same learning style, the same way of doing things, the same implementation process. And I think this is where my NLP skills come in and my mindset skills, hence why I wanted to create a course for this, so I could teach you these skills. Let me know In the DMs, if you listen to this podcast and you're like, Yes, I would absolutely love something like this.
[00:09:25] It was It'll be a very mini course, I think, but the thing that I wanted to talk about today was really understanding your client's learning styles. So If you've heard me talk about it before, our learning styles are auditory, auditory digital, kinesthetic or visual. And it means that we process and we take on information a little bit differently.
[00:09:48] There's many tests that you can do to understand your own learning style, so I'm very kinesthetic. I'm a very kinesthetic learner and I'm going to go into each of those with quite a lot of visual in my profile too. Um, I will tag. the test in the show notes below. So if you have never done your learning style before, you can get to know it.
[00:10:07] And what might be nice, I can obviously tell from my clients from the moment that they speak, because of the NLP that I have, that I can tell what sort of learner they are. And how I show up for the container, because it's very different from client to client. But it might be good for you to send this to your clients to get them to do it before they start with you, so then you can understand their learning styles.
[00:10:30] So kinesthetic is very doing. I have to be doing to truly understand. I have to be like in there and doing it with my coach. I have to kind of be Implementing and doing it for me to fully take it on, for me to fully understand. Other than that, I have to visually see it. So, that's why I don't do well with, um, uh, what are they called?
[00:10:54] Podcast audio, no, book audios. I cannot think of what it's called. Um, listening to a book via audio, that's where I'm trying to go. Um, I always love the concept of that, I always love the thought of that, but I need that physical book there. I need to be looking at the words to take it in. And yes, sometimes I can take in...
[00:11:18] information auditory, I can do that, but I'm better if I'm listening, listening auditory and I'm writing notes. So I'm actually bringing the visual side and the kinesthetic side in from physically writing the notes. So some people can learn just by listening. You know, some people just need to listen to something and they learn it.
[00:11:36] That's an auditory. Auditory digital means that they need the exact breakdown. They need to have like step by step by step, very analytical. Lots of IT people are auditory digital because they need the kind of analytics, the breakdown, the ins and outs, and obviously visual, visually seeing things. So we have.
[00:11:57] All of them in our profile, I'm [00:12:00] calling them profile, but in our learning style, but one or two of them will be most predominant than others. And actually really understanding that for a client and understanding how you deliver for a client is really important. And quite frankly, I actually teach this.
[00:12:17] with my content strategy as well. You know, we can have lots of different learning styles within our one content strategy and it's important to include them in so we can speak to everyone's learning style. But knowing your client's learning style is going to enable them to feel comfortable with you because learning and taking on new things, whatever you're teaching them, like for me, Taking on new habits, breaking through beliefs, having new strategies, feels uncomfortable because they're in the stages of learning.
[00:12:50] They're having to be consciously competent of what you're teaching them. So if you're not delivering it in their learning style, this doesn't have to mean that you change your whole business by the way, but just having a little think of. A couple of things that you can do differently. Delivering it to them in a way that go they go, Oh, yes, I get it, I understand, is going to, one, make them learn faster, and two, make them resonate more, the information will go in quicker, and you won't be repeating yourself like, uh, Like a cookie.
[00:13:24] What is going on? I couldn't think of the metaphor of someone who repeats themself. Um, anyway, so really understanding your client's learning styles is really important to becoming a better provider for your clients. You are creating and passing on a service and that service is You want to be, I know you want to be, like, a really good fucking service, and this is how you can really start to enhance that.
[00:13:55] So, really understanding their learning styles, and then thinking of how you can deliver things in certain ways. So, for example, not all clients might like to use technology. You know, I had a I literally had a conversation with one of my clients the other day and she was like, Look, Beck, I love a piece of paper and a pen.
[00:14:16] I really want to write out these questions. And I was like, no problem, write them out, take a picture, send them me through, I can check it like that. You know, I'm not gonna go, no, I need them on a Google Drive. You will sit down and you will do it on the computer. Like, I'm not gonna do that because she resonates more with doing it pen and paper.
[00:14:34] That's how she likes to do it. That's how she can get into the flow. So, actually, how can I create a better experience for my clients? It's by molding myself, as the business owner, to their learning styles. It takes a while, and you have to play around with it. And sometimes, I will try to deliver. A question or a reframe in a certain way and it doesn't resonate with them and I have [00:15:00] to deliver it in another way But I'm always open and curious to getting the best results for my clients I want ROI for anyone who joins anything I ever do so it's it's my duty to step into that container with my client to get the best, for them to get the best results.
[00:15:21] And they have to meet me halfway, they have to put in the work, I am not there to do the work for them, but equally, I want to create a space where doing the work feels safe, and yes, it feels uncomfortable, but they feel they can do it. Number two today is understanding their mindset better. I cannot tell you how many conversations I have with different business owners who don't do mindset, who still have to work on mindset with their clients.
[00:15:51] Mindset is always going to be there. If you are purely teaching the strategy, there is still going to be mindset blocks coming up for your clients. Now this doesn't mean that you have to be a mindset coach, nor does it mean that you coin yourself a mindset coach because you help them with their mindset.
[00:16:10] I cannot... Cannot bear. It's, it's such a bugbear of mine. I think because I've done, I've, because I've done my qualifications in NLP and, and hypnotherapy, et cetera, when people have just done a little bit of mindset work themselves and then they coin themselves a mindset coach. Urgh! God. It rattles my... It rattles my brain.
[00:16:31] However, understanding the mindset and maybe a couple of reframe questions is really helpful. And I've helped so many of my clients do this so they can understand their clients better. They can ask better questions. You know, coaching is just asking better questions. Coaching is a reframing the way that they are seeing things.
[00:16:54] Coaching is really understanding the story that they're coming from and how we can make it, make them see it in a different way. This is why I was so passionate about this little course that I've been talking about. Because actually, if you can just understand a few tools, if I could just pass on. A few mindset tools, a few questions that make it easier for you to ask your client to understand their blocks.
[00:17:21] The quicker they will move through and the better, the more they will win with you. So really understanding their mindset better and that's not you taking it on. You know, a lot of the time I see, um, a lot of business owners taking their clients kind of mindset problems and creating a story about themselves.
[00:17:41] You know... You're making the story mean something about you, when really it's a mindset, it's a mindset, uh, blocker or issue that your client has that you need to step up and kind of reframe or, or ask questions or get curious, or equally, in turn, send them my way, you know, send them to someone who can [00:18:00] really understand their mindset and help them with that, hence why I get a lot of people coming through referrals and coming through, um, ways where they've heard me, uh, coach another client because they can see, oh wow, okay, it was my mindset all along.
[00:18:17] So understanding your client's mindset a little bit better is going to help you become a better provider for your, for your clients. And I think mindset is always going to be there. There's always going to be beliefs. There's always going to be blockers. And like I said, doesn't mean that you have to turn into a mindset coach.
[00:18:34] Unless you want to, go and do your qualifications and then step into it. However, it does mean that if you can understand your client's mindsets better, you can ask them different questions, you can approach the, approach the situation in a different way, and you actually can understand your mindset better.
[00:18:52] Which is a win win. And then the last thing today that I wanted to speak about was that relationship building. You know, for me, I think just that naturally the person that I am, the relationship building with a client is so important because the trust needs to be there with each other in order for them to have the results.
[00:19:14] If they don't trust you or they don't, I mean, they've trusted Trusted you enough to make the investment, but then again, if you're kind of giving them a deliverable that they, they believe that we're gonna get and now they're not getting, it's going to Kind of whittle away at that trust and that relationship building and you know That's why most of my clients become very good friends and will do forever more I'm sure of it, but the relationship building with clients is equally important as well So I hope this has given you a little bit to think about a very different take on what I usually talk about but I think Whether you're a coach or whether you're a provider of any kind, like, I think these couple of things might be very useful for you to really give that experience, to give that, um, yeah, experience to your client that they're so craving for when they invest in you, and not just being the incredible marketer, incredible sales, salesperson, but actually following through on the promises that you were delivering in your marketing to.
[00:20:22] Thank you. is really important for me. So let me know if you have any questions. Make sure you go and do that little learning styles, uh, quiz. And if you were to be interested in this, the course doesn't exist right now. It was just, it's a thought that I've had for a long time that I was waiting to see when the right time was to put it out.
[00:20:41] It kind of feels like we're getting there, but I would love to teach. How to become a better provider. I would love to teach you how to become a better provider, a better coach, a better mindset understander of your clients. So in turn, your clients can get better results, you get [00:21:00] better results, everyone's a winner.
[00:21:02] And when they win, you win, and when you win, they win. So, it's a 10 out of 10 for me. Let me know in the DMs if it was something that would Tickle your pickle of being like a really short one to two week course. Okay. I'll see you on the next episode. Mwah. Bye!
More about Higher Self & I:
Higher Self & I is the podcast for ambitious female entrepreneurs who are ready to achieve and sustain mind-blowing results in their biz. It’s a show that will release you of your victim mindset and give you complete freedom and energy to jump into the self you always knew you could be. Each week, Rebecca Haydon will help you lock your mindset into gear and empower you to step into the person you always knew you were meant to be – a bad-ass CEO who is here to claim her freaking millionaire life!