What is a Client Workflow Anyway?
Workflow, client process, client journey, client acquisition process, client life cycle....man there are a lot of big words out there. At the end of the day, all of these terms mean the same thing.
This is a good question: What is a client workflow anyway? Keep reading to learn more and why it matters to your business. It’s the “what” or the foundation around which I create all the tools & automations for my service based clients.
Your client workflow is the journey or set of steps a client takes from when they first find you, all the way through to giving you their money, doing business with you, and becoming an established customer.
But putting your workflow/process/journey into words can be hard sometimes.
It’s Time for an Analogy
I'm an analogy girl! I love a verbal illustration of a situation for context to help clarify muddy ideas.
Let's do this: Think of your client workflow as an epic road trip across the United States.
You want to travel across the country, from the West Coast to the East. You plan to set out for the cross-country trip from Seattle and want to make it to Boston. But the trip is too long to make in just one day or just one drive. So you’ll have to make pit stops along the way.
If you’re going to have to make stops along the way, why not make them at interesting points across the country?
The road trip is coming together. You decide you want to see:
The Seattle Space Needle
Mt. Rushmore
The Gateway Arch
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Niagara Falls
Boston’s Quincy Market & Aquarium
So you set out on the road trip of a lifetime! But what’s one thing you need to guide you?
Directions.
Without directions how do you know where to turn and not get lost on the way to each one of these fascinating stops? Where will you stop to refill your gas tank? How about eating meals, taking breaks to stretch your legs, and where will you sleep? How will you know where not to turn to avoid ending up in Albuquerque, NM? (Bugs Bunny fans, I know you hear me now)
Think about your directions:
Are they taking you on highways or back roads?
Are they putting you on the most efficient path to your next destination?
Do they account for gas stations and rest stops with bathrooms?
When you do have to stop for rest, won’t you have to interact with someone at a hotel to reserve a room?
Your Epic Road Trip = Your Client Workflow
Ok, it's time to pivot back to being a business owner. Let’s compare that epic road trip to your client workflow.
Your clients will be going on the road trip
The path your trip takes along your road trip is your client workflow
Those interesting stops along the way represent your lead and project statuses
And the quality of the directions is equal to the quality of your workflow
When you start your road trip in Seattle, you represent your business lead. When your road trip successfully concludes in Boston, you represent a happy, signed client whose service you have delivered.
Let’s go back to the beginning of your road trip. Remember you’re starting on the West Coast and you want to see the Seattle Space Needle.
I want you to ask yourself these questions:
How will you find the Space Needle?
What do you expect to see when you get there?
What would you expect to experience while visiting this fascinating facility?
What do you want to avoid while visiting it?
How do you get directions to your next pit stop? (i.e. Do you have to unfold a big map and bust out a highlighter or does your GPS advance you to your next destination automatically?)
What obstacles could you encounter while on your epic road trip?
How long does it take you to get to your final destination in Boston?
What highways or back roads will you have to take along the way?
What do you expect to see or experience at the end of your road trip?
What happens AFTER your road trip? Do you tell people all about it and your experiences at each interesting stop?
What happens if you DON’T make it across the country to your final destination?
Now that I’ve got your wheels turning (👈🏼 see what I did there? 🤣) around your business’s client workflow (or whatever term you want to use), we’ll start to break down the questions noted above to find any possible workflow gaps.
The next article will lay out all of the assets available to hold up and deliver your client workflow process. Click here to dive deeper into all the parts of the workflow puzzle.
