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Picture a business you love to support. What makes you feel good about them? Perhaps it’s the irreverent tone of their emails or how they describe their products. Maybe they make ordering and returns super easy. As a frequent customer, perhaps you receive the occasional coupon. All of these things add value to your experience working with the business, more commonly known as the client (or customer) experience.
It’s no coincidence that successful businesses provide an exceptional customer experience. The quality of a client experience impacts customer loyalty, business referrals, and online reputation. Customers have high standards for the businesses they hire and express displeasure if their expectations aren’t met. Over time, multiple positive experiences can grow your brand and revenue—and negative ones can do the opposite.
Here’s a step-by-step guide to ensure your business provides the best client experience possible.
- Customer experience goes beyond service. It includes every interaction—from your website and communication style to billing and delivery processes.
- Trust is built through consistency. Reliability, responsiveness, clarity, and confidence all contribute to stronger client relationships.
- Clear communication prevents problems. Setting expectations early around scope, timelines, and pricing reduces misunderstandings.
- Client journeys should be intentional. Mapping stages like discovery, onboarding, and delivery helps create a seamless experience.
- Systems improve efficiency. Tools like scheduling, automation, and intake forms streamline operations and reduce friction.
- Feedback drives improvement. Regularly gathering client input helps refine your process and elevate future experiences.
What is customer experience?
Customer experience describes how clients feel after interacting with your business. This includes responses to one-on-one communication, such as meetings and emails, and how satisfied they were with the results of your engagement.
However, customer experience also covers the overall perception of your business. This can often reflect more intangible things. For example, was the tone of your communication professional enough? Was it easy to schedule a meeting? How complicated was your billing process? Could they find necessary information on your website?
The difference between customer experience vs. customer service
Customer experience covers all aspects of the client-business relationship, across multiple touchpoints.
This can include:
Online presence: website and social media channels
Communication style: tone and frequency
Deliverables: text, photos, videos, services
Onboarding/billing processes: contact forms, invoicing, checkout pages, payment options
Methods of communication: emails, phone or video calls, texts (SMS), direct messages, live chat
Troubleshooting process: response time, problem solving strategies, refunds or discounts
Brand: mission, values, marketing approach, web design
A positive customer experience also can begin early in the client journey, even before a formalized relationship. For example, a customer might land on your site and immediately see you as an attractive option thanks to your informative website and your clearly stated rates and services.
Customer service describes moments when a business interacts with a client about a specific request or action item, like answering questions or troubleshooting a problem. Over time, customer service interactions compound to create customer experience.
What makes a great customer experience?
Great customer experience is rooted in empathy. Consider how you might like to be treated as a client, and apply that to your own approach.
Customer experience also often has an emotional component. This is especially true for professionals who might share deeply personal moments with their clients—think coaches, photographers, wellness practitioners, event organizers, hairdressers, etc. Keep in mind that some of your clients might need some extra consideration.
Above all, great customer experience is built on a foundation of trust, where the client feels understood and respected. However, trust isn’t granted automatically. Instead, business owners can build a secure professional relationship with clients over time by adopting the traits below.
Reliability: Being reliable means consistently meeting deadlines and following through on promises. These things signal to a client that you value their time and are prioritizing their needs.
Responsiveness: Clients want to know that a business they hire isn’t going to disappear, particularly during stressful periods. As you start an engagement, it can help to outline a realistic timeframe (like within 48 hours) in which you’ll respond to messages.
Personalization: Taking the time to get to know your clients and their goals leads to better results. After all, projects are rarely one-size-fits-all. For example, photographers might be shooting graduation photos one day and engagement photos the next. Clients who feel understood tend to be happier with the results.
Clarity: Projects become problems when a business and a client aren’t on the same page. Before client work begins, agree to expectations around project scope, deadlines and budget. Having these items in writing is also useful in the event questions arise.
Confidence: Clients hire businesses when they are looking for expert skills or advice. Carry yourself with confidence so the client feels reassured that their work is in good hands.
An example of a positive vs. poor client experience
For this example, imagine you are a freelance writer, and a client hires you to write copy for a website relaunch.
Positive experience: A potential client finds your website and sees you offer writing services. On a dedicated services page you present clear descriptions of your offerings and your price ranges, as well as a scheduling option. You have a discovery call with the client to determine their copy needs. With the information you learn, you prepare and send a document with a project scope, budget, and timeline. As the work begins, you send the client a test page to make sure you are on the right track. Once given a green light, you send the client a weekly update email outlining your progress and any pain points that need to be addressed. As the work winds down, your billing and scheduling system automatically sends them a final invoice and schedules a project debrief to discuss the work and any future needs the client might have.
Poor experience: A potential client sees you mention on LinkedIn that you create website content. When they visit your website, they find and about me and contact info but nothing about your services or what they may cost. Still, they drop you an email. After some back and forth, you have a discovery call with the client to determine their copy needs. With the information you learn, you send the client a budget and timeline and begin writing. When you are about halfway done, you send them a sample web page. The client is dissatisfied and has extensive feedback. Because of these requested edits, you get behind on the project. When the initial deadline is no longer feasible, you don’t convey your issues or negotiate a new timeline. Instead, you file some of the project on the original due date and tell the client you need more time. The client is unhappy because their website launch is on a strict deadline. You work nights and weekends and finish the project to your customer’s satisfaction. When sending a final invoice, you bill for more money than the agreed-upon amount because it took longer, and it’s a fee hike your client wasn’t expecting.
Map the client journey
Although every client has different needs and goals, their journey to hiring a business follows a specific framework called a client journey.
The key stages include:
Discovery: At this stage, clients are doing research into what business they might want to hire. Access to information is key here. Business websites with clearly outlined information, pricing, testimonials, and even an FAQ have an edge.
Consideration: In this stage, prospective clients have zeroed in on potential businesses and are weighing their options. You might receive an inquiry from a potential client or an exploratory meeting. Having a visible contact form and online scheduler reduces the friction for clients.
Onboarding: Creating a formal onboarding process can help set the right tone for a professional relationship. Before starting with a new client, schedule a meeting to go over deliverables, budgets, and expectations. You can also use these conversations to ask questions and get clarity about project scope.
In-Progress Work: This is the stage when you are actually doing the contracted work. During this time, stay in contact with your client and communicate any setbacks clearly.
Delivery: At this point you are providing the contracted products or services to a client, ideally on time and on budget. Be sure to follow branding and style guides. If you are sending something tangible, deliver final products in a professional way, such as a secure file-sharing system.
Post-service: Gather feedback and reviews. Ask a client what worked and what didn’t about your project engagement. This can help you iterate on your process and improve your overall customer experience.
Eight ways to improve customer experience
When clients hire a business, they want a seamless experience from start to finish. Here are eight ways to make that happen.
Create a detailed website. A detailed website is your business calling card. It conveys your brand and values, two things that can differentiate your business, and serves as a persuasive sales tool. You might describe what kind of services your business provides and a bio. Additional elements such as an FAQ and testimonials can also help clients decide to hire you.
Prepare a project intake form. This is a win-win option for both you and your clients. The customer can provide tailored information about their project, including things such as budget and deadlines. Businesses can use these details to inform an onboarding call and create internal workflow. To save even more time, you can build these forms into your site’s contact form.
Streamline communication. Today, clients can reach businesses in multiple ways, including text messages, social media DMs, and emails. Emphasize your preferred contact method up front and keep all project communication limited to that channel. This can reduce miscommunication or missed messages.
Implement scheduling tools. An online scheduler allows people to book meetings on their own time, cutting back-and-forth communication and making appointments more seamless.
Set clear expectations up front. Client-business relationships sour when both sides have different expectations around pricing, project timelines, and email response times. Establish ground rules up front around important matters. You can also send out a contract and tax paperwork in advance so payments are easy to process later.
Leverage automated tools where possible. In addition to seamless calendar booking, you can set up an automated invoicing system on a predetermined schedule. On the email front, you can reduce friction during onboarding and the project itself by scheduling automated emails covering confirmations, reminders, and follow-ups.
Gather and apply client feedback. After you wrap up work with a client, have a debrief discussion about how things went. Client feedback can reveal places where your business model needs tweaking and help you iterate your process. In other cases, you might send out a survey asking for feedback. This can be as simple as a form with a handful of questions asking about customer satisfaction. You can offer an incentive in exchange for their opinion, such as a coupon for future services.
Reward frequent customers. Loyalty matters for service-based businesses. Reward good clients with a reduced fee for future projects or another incentive, like a free consulting session. A referral program where clients receive a discount or bonus for sending new business your way can also boost client experience.
And six common mistakes to avoid
Even the most organized businesses experience hiccups during projects. How you respond to these challenges can affect the client experience.
Assuming things about a project or client. It’s always better to ask questions if you aren’t sure about a particular aspect of a project. You never know when a client might balk at something small. A web designer might learn that a client hates black-and-white photos, or a coach could discover that their clients aren’t a fan of in-person meetings.
Overpromising and underdelivering. This is one of the most common business mistakes, as it’s often difficult to estimate how much time a project might take. Being honest about your own capacity can reduce the chances of this happening.
Inconsistent communication. Not being in regular contact can cause stress for a client. Having a regular weekly check-in can ease their minds and ensure projects stay on track.
Not sharing challenges right away. During a project, you might realize that a deadline is unrealistic or you need additional information to complete a task. Communicate these potential roadblocks to a client sooner rather than later. This gives both of you a chance to troubleshoot and find a solution before the project timeline goes awry.
Lack of clear process or next steps. This is another common issue that is often fixed by communication. Asking clarifying questions, so you understand your client’s needs and perspectives, can get the process back on track.
Confusion over billing and pricing. Negotiating money is often stressful, but having those discussions up front can save misunderstandings later. Make sure that your customer understands what they are (and are not) paying for so they know what to expect from deliverables. For example, photographers might charge extra for retouching. Having a contract with a detailed outline of your prices and process can protect both you and the client.
Refine and evolve your client experience
Providing a strong client experience isn’t a set-it-and-forget-it process. It requires measuring and refining your approach as you continue to grow your business.
If client feedback points out that your website is unclear, do a site revamp. This could be as simple as adding prices to your services page or revising your product descriptions. You might be able to fix correspondence delays with email automations. Offering additional payment options might make your services more appealing (or efficient) to customers, especially if your invoicing process was onerous.
It’s also helpful to ask satisfied clients if they’d be willing to leave a good review or give a positive testimonial. These can help enhance your brand and reputation and give potential customers insights into your business.
Don’t forget to also let good customers know you’d love to work with them again. This encourages repeat business, as they’ll remember that compliment in the future.
You can elevate a good customer experience into a great one by being proactive about your business operations. Start small by auditing one part of your client journey and see where you can make improvements or make your workflow more efficient.