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Two Ingredients of An Awesome Client Experience

Focus on the shit that matters.

When was the last time going to the vet was an awesome experience? For me, it’s been way too long. And while this story is about a vet visit, my experience applies beautifully to small businesses of many kinds, salons included.

When it comes to client experience in the social + digital age, there are several opportunities which allow us to engage our clients and make them feel special and cared for. And in doing this, we can also capture their experience and turn that into stories to share online and off.

Going to the vets office (and the salon) sometimes comes with a bit of anxiety. Knowing that, it’s clear that Mohawk Alley Animal Hospital made it a priority to make their experience less stressful and more joyful.

The Photo Booth
The first thing I noticed when entering Mohawk Alley Animal Hospital on Courage Jude’s first visit was a photo booth. What? A photo booth at the vets office? Yep. A photo booth at a vets office.

For all the pet parents out there we know that capturing photos with our babies is a big part of our daily existence. Mohawk knows this too. We were immediately put at ease, because #selfiesession

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Simple Booth Photo App + iPad at Mohawk Alley Animal Hospital in Echo Park, California

The name says it all. Simple Booth. And based on their website, it truly is that simple to create a space where clients can capture their experiences to share with their friends and create content for you to share on your social platforms. They have three different packages to choose from for different sized business and needs. Then just add an iPad and you are in business. Just as we share creating a space to capture your work, this takes up very little space and it so worth it. #yourcontentisyourmarketing

Business Is Personal
The next thing that captured my eye, and heart, was also incredibly simple. A personalized welcome. That’s it. And you know it only took a few seconds to make such a huge impact. So much so that I have dedicated an entire blog to it. Good Morning Courage.

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Both of these “little things” are two ways to make your client experience even more awesome. These two “little things” along with a system to execute on them consistently, can turn an average visit to your business into an awesome visit.

Two simple ways to make your clients experience even more awesome, memorable and special. Two ways to encourage word of mouth. Two ways to deepen the relationship between you and your clients. Two ways to create more awesome. What are you waiting for?

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina xo

PS: A big shout out of love and gratitude to the awesome humans at Mohawk Alley Animal Hospital for making Courage Jude’s first visit one that brought smiles to our hearts and faces. And to Courage’s new vet Dr. Lena Braham, we love you!

dr-lena-braham                                                 Dr. Lena Braham and Courage Jude Louis Kovner

 

Is Your Business Disoverable Passion Squared blog

Is Your Business Discoverable?

The single biggest problem with communication is the illusion that it has taken place. George Bernard Shaw

One of the most effective ways we grow our business is by engaging new clients. Word of mouth and referrals are the way this happens. We all know this. With the social + digital web, we have an awesome opportunity to amplify word of mouth and referrals. Yet, unless we are present on the platforms that people use to find businesses, then we have missed the opportunity to be discoverable.

So let me take you on a little journey, and before you jump on, put your “client” hat on…

Intent
I want or need something

Search
I am going to look for it

Discovery
Yay, I found it.

Action
I am going to click, call, book, buy…. or NOT!

There are two ways I like to look at search and discovery. There is social and digital. Both need to be looked at now as mobile search as nearly all of our day to day online activities are happening via our mobile.

Social
Social search is what it sounds like, searching on social. This is what we do when we use the search bar on Facebook, peruse hashtags or use the discovery page on Instagram or even use Snapchat to find businesses via a tool like Ghostcode, Add Nearby, etc. See where I am going with this?

Digital
Digital search is a more traditional type search like Google, Yelp, YouTube, Yahoo, Siri, etc.

The Job of Search Engines & How You Benefit
Both social + digital platforms and search engines are designed to deliver to us the most relevant and recent results for the terms we used to search. So if your business is relevant to the search and you are active on the platforms you have chosen, you have more of a chance of being in the top results.

Put Your Consumer Hat Back On
Ask yourself and think about the last time you searched for something online.
What terms did you use?

Now think about clients looking for your business.
What terms would they use to find you?
What is your “thing”? What experiences do you offer?
Who is your audience?
All these things need to be thought through to ensure you get matched up with the ideal target clients.

The words, posts, photo descriptions, about sections, etc. need to be relevant to your brand and business so when I go looking, I find YOU.

What Pages Matter?
Well, there are some that matter to all and then some that matter depending on your target audience as we always want to be where our clients are. But here is a good start.
Yelp
Google Business
Facebook
Instagram

Now Its Your Turn!

This week, I want you to set aside one hour to do some more searches of your own. Then head back to your social + digital pages and see where you can improve your chances of becoming more discoverable. Think words, think pictures and their descriptions, think contact info, brand name, services and specialties, all those things matter.

And if you feel extra inspired, click here and let me know what you discovered and what actions you will take.

Love + Awesomeness-
Nina

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Gary Vee Cares

“The best marketing strategy ever? Care.” Gary Vaynerchuk

NOTE: This post was originally published February 28, 2013 as is still relevant AF.

Gary Vee is a business bad ass, author of Crush It and The Thank You Economy and now his newest piece of awesome Jab Jab Jab Right Hook: How To Tell Your Story In A Noisy Social World.

He started selling lemonade and baseball cards at the age of 8 to running his family liquor business to creating WineLibraryTV and now Vaynermedia, which works with personal and consumer brands to build unique and efficient online brand strategies. Gary is also one of the most passionate thought leaders in the new economy, or what I love to call, thanks to Gary, the “thank you” economy.

On February 28,2013 I had the honor of interviewing Gary as part of his #1aDayQandA. This was WAY before the awesome #AskGaryVee Show. An insane commitment he made to his fans to engage and bring value to his community. Why did he do it? He cares.

We talked why social, why caring matters more than ever for both big and small business, why storytelling is a gotta do, online and off, about passion, the power of Twitter, context, content and much more.

So grab your Starbucks and press play. You are in for quite a treat from one of the best, most passionate and caring biz leaders I know today. (and yes, I was freaking out which you will hear!)

Here are some of the highlights from my time with Gary…

  • Passion is the gas the drives the engine. True story.
  • All businesses began as a small business. Google at one point was just two dudes. Money is no excuse not to engage.
  • Business is about supply and demand. Caring is in short supply. But always in demand.
  • Business is all about storytelling and sharing those stories where our clients live. And that includes online.
  • We are all in the content business, well, only if we want to be a relevant, growing business.
  • Conversations about beauty are happening all day, every day on the web, especially Twitter, the clients are there, it’s your choice to join the conversation, or not.
  • How do you find time to engage on the social web? You make a decision. The End.

A big shout out of LOVE and GRATITUDE to Gary for being so generous with his time. And for being awesomeness squared.

What did you think of my interview with Gary? Share your thoughts in the comments below or directly with me. I’m listening.

(shared with LOVE from Nina)