What is an Optimised Client Delivery System?

Yesterday a connection on Facebook asked me to clarify what we mean by an "optimised client delivery system" and how having one helps to increase your ongoing client capacity, and I thought this could be valuable to others.... so here goes!

What is a Client Delivery System?

Okay so what is an optimised client delivery system and how does it impact capacity?

The system itself is every step you, your team, your client or any third party need to take to deliver what the customer bought after they commit to the purchase.

Depending on the industry, what the customer bought might not be a physical product. It may be a result, an intangible outcome, like peace of mind, increased confidence, higher revenue, and so on.

So, whether it's a widget, a dongle, a digital product, a live course, a collection of coaching calls, an audit, research, a marketing campaign/assets, a legal brief, an edited manuscript... whatever end result they agreed to buy - the next steps your company take to deliver that to the customer are the client delivery process. Everything. From onboarding to offboarding.

The SYSTEM itself includes every email, form, invoice, resource, login, meeting, schedule, survey, homework, communication app, deadline, software, agenda, feedback loop, upsell opportunity and more. The complexity of the system will depend on the size and type of business, and how many offers are in their offer suite, because each offer will have unique steps to delivery .

Looking at that abbreviated list of steps, functions, resources and touchpoints like that, you can see there are lots of little drop-off points, little opportunities for delays, confusion, overwhelm, procrastination, etc. Those hiccups cost the company money.

Each single instance of delay, on their own, is pretty insignificant.

But now add them all together. When it's happening because of a flaw in the system, the problem keeps repeating, compounding the problem, causing other problems further down the process.

Next thing you know, deadlines are being missed, clients are being chased, clients are complaining about quality, people stop answering calls/messages, refunds or chargeback requests are arriving, good reviews are getting fewer and farther between - a total shit show!

So, the real impact of an unoptimised system is what it does to your quality and, ultimately, what the lack of quality does to your reputation and then sales - like a downward spiral.

And this usually happens because of an overly complicated process:

too many steps, missed steps, too many hands, unclear expectations, inconsistent communication methods, weak training, and so on.

So, the need that exists is simply to reduce the complication and make the system as efficient as possible.

We use a 3-step process to optimise to:

✔️build/update the profile of the RIGHT FIT CLIENT to update messaging, your qualifying process and train lead generators/sales-

🔸Best fit means they have the pre-requisite experience, attitude, resources, and so on (not the same as ideal client in marketing)

✔️clarify the RIGHT PATH - identify the essential ingredients for success,

🔸remove duplicate and unnecessary actions, forms, etc

🔸add in steps/checkpoints/docs that make future steps smoother,

🔸automate steps/forms/loops where possible.

🔸create clarity in the process for key stakeholders and train as needed... etc

✔️identify and mitigate the potential risks and create the boundaries, SOP's, reward/consequence, automations and training to give clients the best support while still honouring you and your team. (The RIGHT SUPPORT)

What can you expect after you optimise?

Once the system has gone through the optimisation process, you will start to see a few things happen that have a highly positive impact on capacity and revenue:

1. You and your team feel more clear, relaxed, and confident about the work you do. You are happier, more engaged and motivated. You'll literally move faster and have a better attitude so the quality of work, and how quickly it's done, both improve.

You are now spending at least 5 hours less, per week, to service your existing capacity of clients. (Often even more time is given back). Now, those five hours plus can be used to serve more clients.

2. Clients are taking responsibility for their part in the process and no one is spending time chasing them; because even if they are behind, automated reminders go out and the consequences of not doing "their part" are clear and easy to enforce. Documents are moving back forth as they should through automations. Communication is timely and consistent, limited to one place so everyone is on the same page. Expectations are clear. Accountability and proactivity are at an all time high. All the time suckers have been optimised so productivity, and mood, go up. More FUN is being had by all.

4. The calibre of client being signed is now more closely aligned with the ingredients that set a client up to succeed with your product/service, so now your clients are getting better results!!

Better results means you now have a group of people who feel incredibly loyal and, assuming you have a strategic offer suite, they are easier to sell into your next offer - not to mention repeat custimers tend to spend an average of 67% more on their next purchase.

5. Automated feedback loops, resale opportunities and referral requests are running in the background, ensuring that even if you get busy and forget to ask, those crucial requests are still going out because making a sale without spending time finding and nurturing a new lead is far more profitable than starting from scratch.

All in all, increasing your capacity means you need either more space, or more time, in your business. Optimising client delivery gives you both.

Until next time,