Podchaser Logo
Home
#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

Released Thursday, 21st March 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

#663: Backstage Pass: My Customer Experience Team Shares Their Top Strategies

Thursday, 21st March 2024
Good episode? Give it some love!
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:00

I've seen over the years how businesses

0:02

can differentiate their products and services

0:04

with an incredible approach to customer

0:06

experience. And I believe

0:09

when you look at customer experience

0:11

as something that's not just about

0:13

responding to emails and customer questions,

0:16

but also about driving company strategy,

0:18

that you can turn a

0:20

one-time buyer into a lifelong

0:22

fan and brand advocate.

0:26

I'm Amy Porterfield, ex-corporate girl turned

0:28

CEO of a multi-seven-figure business. But

0:31

it wasn't all that long ago

0:33

that I lacked the confidence, the

0:35

budget, and the time to focus

0:38

on growing my small but mighty

0:40

business. Fast forward past

0:42

many failed attempts and lessons learned,

0:44

and you'll see the business I

0:46

have today. One that changes

0:48

lives and gives me more freedom

0:50

than I ever thought possible. One

0:53

that used to only exist as

0:55

a daydream. I created

0:57

the Online Marketing Made Easy podcast

1:00

to give you simple, actionable, step-by-step

1:02

strategies to help you do the

1:04

same. If you're an ambitious

1:06

entrepreneur or one in the making who's

1:08

looking to create a business that makes

1:10

an impact and a life you love,

1:12

you're in the right place, friend. Let's

1:15

get started. I

1:23

know you're focused on marketing and selling

1:25

your digital products, but I know many

1:27

of you also have physical products, and

1:29

I want to talk about Shopify. Shopify

1:33

is a user-friendly commerce platform

1:35

that helps you, my dear

1:37

online entrepreneur, build an

1:40

online store and make more sales

1:42

at any stage of your business.

1:44

They're the force behind Allbirds, Rothy's,

1:46

Brooklinen, and millions of other businesses

1:48

at every size. Let me tell

1:50

you why Shopify is an online

1:53

entrepreneur's dream platform. It's because it

1:55

helps turn your browsers into buyers

1:57

with the internet's best converting checkout

1:59

experience. In fact,

2:01

it converts 36% better compared

2:03

to other leading e-commerce platforms.

2:06

Yeah, loving that. And I

2:08

don't know about you, but as an

2:10

online entrepreneur, my customer's experience, especially when

2:13

it comes to checking out, is so

2:15

important. Plus, not only do they support

2:17

your customers, they support you as the

2:19

entrepreneur. Shopify's award-winning help desk

2:22

is there to support your success through

2:24

every question and every step of the

2:26

way. There's a reason Shopify powers

2:28

10% of all e-commerce

2:30

in the US because businesses that

2:33

grow grow with Shopify. Sign

2:36

up for a $1 per month

2:38

trial period at shopify.com/Made

2:40

Easy, all lowercase.

2:43

So go to shopify.com/Made Easy

2:46

now to grow your business,

2:49

no matter what stage you're in. That's

2:52

shopify.com/Made Easy. Welcome

2:56

back to another episode of Online Marketing

2:58

Made Easy. I'm your host, Amy Porterfield,

3:00

and as always, I'm so glad you're

3:02

here. In today's episode, I'm

3:04

going to be sharing strategies for

3:06

achieving a top-notch customer experience in

3:08

the online business world. So

3:10

at this point, it's hard to believe, but

3:13

I've been doing this for 15 years. And

3:16

I don't know how that happened, blows

3:19

my mind, but here's where I'm going

3:21

with this. If you told

3:23

me 15 years ago that I'd have

3:25

a thriving business that even has a

3:27

customer experience team and a

3:29

badass one at that, and even

3:31

furthermore, that I'd be teaching my

3:33

audience some tried and true strategies

3:35

from that said customer experience team,

3:37

I call your blast. I

3:40

share all this to say that I see

3:42

you, my friend. I see you keeping your

3:44

nose to the grindstone and making it happen

3:47

and wearing all the hats in your business,

3:49

including customer experience. I was there too.

3:51

I remember when I was the

3:54

person answering every single email in

3:56

my help desk, and

3:58

I also know what it takes to grow. bigger

4:00

to get yourself out of it and

4:02

grow a team that can support you. But

4:05

know that it takes

4:07

time. And I believe that you can

4:09

have an amazing customer experience team that

4:12

supports you and your students and gets

4:14

you out of the weeds of

4:16

everyday back and forth emails. Because there's

4:19

bigger things I know you want to do. You

4:22

want to create your courses and your memberships

4:24

and your masterminds and create all the content

4:26

that goes into all your trainings. And I

4:28

know you want to get on stage and

4:30

launch that podcast. There's so much you want

4:32

to do. And so there's

4:34

some things that you won't be able to

4:36

do as you grow your business. And

4:39

over time as your business grows, you won't

4:41

be able to answer every help desk ticket

4:43

that comes in. And you're going

4:45

to need a team. And hopefully

4:48

you'll remember this episode and you'll come

4:50

back to it and you'll listen again

4:52

when you're ready so that you can make it

4:54

happen. But no matter where you are

4:56

in your journey of building your business, I want you

4:58

to listen to this episode and

5:00

either take action right away because you're

5:02

ready or put it in your

5:05

back pocket. Remember the lessons you've learned here. And when

5:07

the time is right, you pull it back out and

5:09

you say, let's go. I

5:11

think it's important to dedicate an

5:14

episode to this topic because I've

5:16

seen over the years how businesses

5:18

can differentiate their products and services

5:20

with an incredible approach to customer

5:22

experience. And I believe

5:24

when you look at customer experience

5:26

as something that's not just about

5:29

responding to emails and customer questions,

5:31

but also about driving company strategy

5:34

that you can turn a one-time

5:36

buyer into a lifelong fan

5:39

and brand advocate. So

5:41

that's another thing. Sure, you want to get out of

5:43

the weeds of answering emails in the help desk, but

5:46

customer experience can be so

5:49

much more. And I can

5:51

honestly say that my beautiful

5:53

customer experience team has elevated

5:56

what we do in terms of supporting

5:58

the company and our students

6:00

and I'm going to share some of that today. So

6:02

for the first time ever, I want

6:04

to shine a light on this very

6:06

important department and take you behind the

6:10

scenes. Now, choosing a

6:12

favorite department is a bit like asking parents

6:14

to choose their favorite child. It just can't

6:16

be done. And truth be told,

6:18

I actually don't have a favorite department on

6:21

my team. And here's why. When

6:24

I hire for any department on my

6:26

team, I look for a cultural

6:28

fit and we'll never be

6:30

a phrase uttered by someone I would

6:35

hire that would say, well, that's not

6:37

my job or that's not my department

6:39

or that's out of my wheelhouse or

6:41

anything like that. That

6:43

means everyone on my team is

6:46

a little bit like a Swiss army knife.

6:48

They're curious, gross minded,

6:50

always eager to lend a hand

6:52

where needed. I don't want

6:54

them spread too thin. I don't want them

6:57

to have to do all the things all

6:59

the time, but I want each person that

7:01

comes into my company, including

7:03

me to be willing to

7:05

step in if needed,

7:07

to be willing to lend a helping

7:10

hand to another department. If

7:12

they are capable of jumping in

7:14

and supporting my customer experience department

7:18

really exemplifies this mindset and culture.

7:21

This department has evolved over the years

7:23

to handle so much more than just

7:25

responding to emails and helping my students,

7:27

which is important, but they

7:29

do so much more. They're the

7:31

brilliant minds behind many of the systems

7:33

and workflows that keep my business running

7:35

smoothly. For example, when my signature program

7:38

digital course academy is live, I

7:40

send out weekly emails to students who are

7:42

enrolled in the course, but I don't send

7:44

these out in real time. My

7:47

customer experience department has built workflows

7:49

in my email service provider to

7:51

automate the entire process so that

7:53

those emails hit at the perfect

7:55

time to the right people. Some

7:58

other responsibilities they manage. things like

8:00

delivering bonuses during my launches.

8:03

So if there's a fast action bonus

8:05

in the middle of the launch, they

8:07

set up that whole workflow, making sure

8:10

it goes to the right people at

8:12

the right time. In addition, they're leading

8:14

my concierge sales team, they're reporting on

8:16

webinar attendance numbers, and they're running my

8:18

scholarship program. Beyond that, they

8:21

serve as a communication bridge to

8:23

other departments by creating internal documents

8:25

so that everyone in my business

8:27

is aligned with my offers and

8:29

launch schedule. If you're

8:31

curious about the specifics regarding what

8:33

my customer experience team manages during

8:36

my launches, I had a

8:38

great chat with my director of customer experience.

8:40

His name is Josh in episode 5.15 and

8:43

it's called Behind the

8:45

Scenes of my latest DCA launch, the

8:47

highs, lows, and magical moments. So I'll

8:49

pop a link to that episode in

8:52

the show notes. So if you go

8:54

to amyporterfield.com/663, all

8:57

the links to this episode will be found there. So

9:00

Josh leads my customer experience team

9:02

as the director and he oversees

9:04

two incredible customer experience managers,

9:07

Corey and JB. And

9:09

I also have a customer experience

9:12

coordinator, Christine and a VA, Shira,

9:15

and a group of part-time contractors

9:17

who I bring on board specifically

9:19

for our launches and busy times.

9:22

Now, I just covered a lot of projects

9:24

and people and I realized at this point

9:26

you might be thinking, Amy, all this sounds

9:28

really specific to your business. How does listening

9:31

to this episode apply to me? Well,

9:33

I'm glad you asked because in

9:36

this episode, I'm not diving into

9:38

the details of each specific project

9:41

I just mentioned. Instead, what I'm

9:43

excited to share with you are

9:45

the underlying strategies that my customer

9:48

experience team uses to manage their

9:50

time, avoid overwhelm, and crush all

9:52

these responsibilities. So regardless

9:54

of how you've structured your business, I've

9:57

handpicked four key strategies for

10:00

from my customer experience team that

10:02

are adaptable to any project you

10:04

undertake. I'm also going to

10:06

explore how they can help you set up

10:08

your success, even if you're starting as

10:11

a team of one. So

10:13

let's not wait any longer to dive in

10:15

because I know no matter what stage of

10:17

business you're in, you're going to find massive

10:19

value in this episode today. So

10:22

while I was talking to my customer experience

10:24

team about this episode, I saw

10:27

how every strategy they shared has evolved

10:29

over the years to set my business

10:31

up for success. OK,

10:34

so let's dive into the different strategies that

10:36

I want to share with you today. This

10:39

first one, it's especially

10:42

good. Here it is. Start

10:44

the day with a clear understanding of

10:46

your main goal, the projects

10:48

on your plate, and the time they'll

10:51

require to accomplish. Now, I

10:53

know you can say this strategy works for

10:55

anything, but just think about it through the

10:57

lens of a customer experience team.

11:00

So my customer experience team

11:02

applies this by knowing their

11:04

primary goal every morning is

11:07

to make sure all customer

11:09

emails are responded to within

11:11

a 24-hour time frame. So

11:13

this goal is specifically set up

11:15

to establish a high standard

11:18

of customer service excellence, but

11:21

it also prevents my team from getting bogged

11:23

down and spending their whole day answering

11:25

emails because there's other things

11:27

that this team can do

11:29

to help move the business

11:32

forward. Again, it's not just about answering

11:34

a bunch of emails. So

11:36

every morning, they allocate a specific

11:39

time block to dive into the

11:41

inbox and Help Scout. So

11:43

Help Scout is the software tool

11:45

we use for customer support in

11:48

my business at this time. We've used a few different ones,

11:50

but we've been on Help Scout for a while now, and

11:52

I love it. They block this

11:54

time on their calendar so no one schedules

11:57

meetings with them. This ensures they can get

11:59

a they keep their main goal front

12:01

and center when starting a workday. In

12:03

the morning, they are in the inbox

12:06

answering emails so that they could stick to their

12:08

goal of answering all emails within 24 hours. So

12:12

during this process, they prioritize and

12:14

sort emails, sort is an

12:16

important word there. They prioritize and sort

12:19

emails that came in over the last

12:21

24 hours. They

12:23

do this using a tagging system

12:25

that allows us to track the

12:27

type of response an email needs.

12:29

So these tags also allow us

12:31

to track the volume of emails

12:33

we get during the year. So

12:35

some examples of the tags that

12:37

they use are things like urgent

12:40

billing questions and content questions.

12:43

So once all the emails are tagged, they

12:45

have a clear view of the inbox volume

12:48

for the day. So this helps

12:50

determine how long it will take to respond to

12:52

customers. So then my

12:54

CX director jumps into Slack, which

12:57

is our internal team communication tool

13:00

and shares updates on the number of

13:02

unassigned emails they have for the day,

13:04

how many each member has personally taken

13:06

on and he notes any emails that

13:09

have been unattended for over 24 hours.

13:12

So this allows everyone on the team

13:14

to get on the same page and

13:16

provides a central place where questions, ideas,

13:18

or comments from the whole CX team

13:20

can be shared. So it's

13:23

kind of like they all just get on the same page

13:25

in the morning every morning. Now,

13:27

once my customer experience team tackles

13:29

the inbox for the day, they'll

13:32

jump into other projects and responsibilities that

13:34

are assigned to them. So

13:36

you can see how this 24 hour response goal helps

13:40

ensure they're protecting their time and not

13:42

getting sucked into the inbox every day.

13:44

Because here's one thing that you want

13:46

to know. As you grow a CX

13:48

team, if the

13:51

only job of an employee, what

13:53

they do eight hours a day is

13:56

answer emails. They're going

13:58

to get burned out. Because let's be. honest,

14:00

most of the time, the

14:02

people in your inbox are

14:06

frustrated, confused, overwhelmed, they need

14:08

help. Not all the time.

14:11

We have a Slack channel called Love Letters

14:14

and when someone writes in just to tell

14:16

us how much they love us, we copy

14:18

and paste that, put it in the Slack

14:20

channel for the whole company to see because

14:23

it's a great reminder that not all emails

14:25

and correspondence we get are people that are

14:27

having challenges. But to be honest, the

14:29

bulk of them are, I mean, when do you write

14:32

into a help desk? When you need help? So

14:34

if that employee, the only thing

14:36

they do for eight hours a day

14:38

is answer emails of people that are

14:40

not necessarily happy, that is

14:43

not a recipe for a happy

14:45

employee. So they need to have more

14:47

responsibility and different things and mix things up

14:49

so that when they do get into Help

14:51

Scout and answer those emails, they are

14:53

in a good place. They are ready to help.

14:56

They are not burned out. So

14:58

the system that I just outlined is

15:00

also a key tool that helps me

15:02

know when it's time to hire and

15:04

grow the team. So a question I

15:06

get asked a lot is how do

15:08

you know when it's time to add

15:10

someone to your team? Well, for CX,

15:12

by monitoring this data throughout the year,

15:14

we can pinpoint where our email response

15:16

times exceeded the 24 hour goal mark.

15:19

When this happens consistently for a few weeks,

15:21

it's a clear signal to us that

15:23

additional help is needed. So

15:25

understanding these patterns allows us

15:28

to strategically

15:30

staff up knowing if we need another

15:32

full time employee or maybe just a

15:34

contractor during busier times because the data

15:37

will tell us. So

15:39

regardless of whether you have a

15:41

CX team or you right now

15:43

have just a virtual assistant, or

15:45

if it's just you at the moment,

15:47

I want you to think of a

15:49

response time goal for your inbox. Again,

15:52

for us, it's 24 hours for you, it might be 48

15:55

hours, or it might be 10 hours,

15:57

whatever you want it to be. But that's

15:59

a really good place to start. Now,

16:01

as a side note, I would suggest

16:03

if it's anything over 24 hours that

16:05

you set up

16:07

an automated email response, letting people

16:09

know when to expect a reply

16:11

from you. So this will

16:13

cut down on people reaching back out to check

16:16

if you got their email or not. So this should

16:18

take just a few minutes to set up and it's

16:20

a game changer. So once

16:23

you set your response time goal, start

16:25

to track the number of email replies

16:27

that exceed this timeframe. Notice

16:29

any patterns you see and make

16:31

a plan to block more time on your

16:33

calendar so you're available to answer customer emails

16:35

during higher volume times throughout the year. Now,

16:38

if you see this as a consistent struggle

16:41

in your business, make a plan to hire

16:43

a virtual assistant or a

16:45

contractor to help. So this

16:47

is how you start to use data to structure your

16:49

days and avoid being overwhelmed as

16:51

your business grows. I believe

16:54

one of the subtle yet

16:56

significant hurdles that can

16:58

kill an entrepreneur's motivation is the lack

17:00

of direction and not knowing what to

17:02

work on during the day, during the

17:04

month, during the quarter, during the

17:06

year. So while it

17:08

may sound simple to set this goal

17:10

response time and just track it, don't

17:13

skip taking action on the strategy.

17:16

The clarity that this data will

17:18

provide your business down the road

17:20

is golden. All right, moving right

17:22

along to the second key strategy my

17:24

customer experience team shared with me is

17:27

ask one simple question after any

17:29

task you do, can

17:32

this be automated? The

17:35

goal here is to cut down on

17:37

repetitive tasks, freeing up time to focus

17:39

on areas that truly need a human

17:41

touch. And when it comes to actually

17:43

setting up these automations in my business,

17:46

my customer experience team loves

17:48

the tool Zapier. So

17:51

for those of you who might not

17:53

be familiar, and some people say this

17:56

a little different, I'm just saying Zapier.

17:58

And it's an online automation software that

18:00

connects tools such as G Suite,

18:03

so Google Suite, Slack,

18:05

ConvertKit, and

18:07

over 2,000 other apps. So

18:10

it allows you to create

18:13

automated workflows called Zaps. So

18:16

these Zaps perform tasks

18:18

across different applications based

18:20

on triggers and actions that you

18:22

define. Now, if you're rolling your

18:24

eyes, you're like, whoa, you're losing me,

18:27

just stay here for just a second. The

18:29

cherry on top is that

18:31

Zapier offers a free-for-life plan

18:33

that lets you automate up

18:35

to 100 tasks at no

18:37

cost. So

18:40

you can check out

18:43

all their details at

18:45

zapier.com/pricing, and it's z-a-p-i-e-r.

18:49

And I'm not even an affiliate for them. My

18:51

team just really loves them so much, and I

18:54

wanted to share the tool today. Today's

18:56

episode is sponsored by the

18:58

social media management platform Dash

19:00

Hudson. In today's ever-changing

19:03

digital world, staying ahead in social

19:05

media marketing is more complex than

19:07

ever. That's where Dash

19:09

Hudson's latest social media trends report

19:11

comes in handy. And if you

19:13

know me, you know I

19:16

love a good trends report. As

19:19

featured in Forbes and Business

19:21

of Fashion, Dash Hudson's free

19:23

in-depth analysis reveals how a

19:25

blend of organic, creator, and

19:27

paid strategies can supercharge your

19:30

content's reach and impact. This

19:32

comprehensive report will also showcase

19:34

how leading brands are perfecting

19:36

the content lifecycle, how TikTok

19:38

Shop is dominating the social

19:40

landscape, and what this means

19:42

for those of us who

19:44

are marketing using social media.

19:47

So download Dash Hudson's

19:49

free social media trends

19:51

report to start perfecting

19:54

your content today by

19:56

visiting dashhudson.com/podcast. We

19:58

are online marketers, which... That means we

20:00

have unique needs. And

20:03

there are so many options out there for paid media.

20:06

Sometimes it's hard to figure out where should you

20:08

go to reach your ideal audience. But

20:10

here's the thing. Have you thought

20:12

about LinkedIn ads? LinkedIn

20:15

ads empowers marketers with solutions

20:17

for you and your customers,

20:19

and it allows you to

20:21

build the right relationships and

20:23

drive results and reach your

20:25

customers with meaningful content.

20:27

You don't want to sleep on LinkedIn ads.

20:30

And here's the thing. 79%

20:33

of content marketers said LinkedIn produces

20:35

the best results for paid media.

20:37

I hear it from so many

20:39

of my peers. And I know

20:41

you're doing important work. And

20:43

with that, you want to make sure that

20:45

the work you're doing is getting in front

20:47

of the right people. And that's

20:49

what LinkedIn ads will allow you to do.

20:53

So let your marketing efforts connect with the right

20:55

audience and get a $100 credit on your

20:59

next campaign. So if you

21:01

go to linkedin.com/Amy, you can get that

21:03

$100 credit. So

21:06

that's linkedin.com/Amy. Terms

21:10

and conditions apply. So an

21:12

example of how my customer experience team uses a

21:14

ZAP to save time. So this is where I

21:16

want to just kind of make it real for

21:18

you so it doesn't feel overwhelming. So

21:21

they have all the names of the students who

21:23

enroll in my courses automatically added

21:26

to what we call a

21:28

master buyer list. So

21:31

this is housed in a spreadsheet on

21:33

Google Drive. So when a

21:35

student completes their enrollment on my sales page for

21:37

any of my courses, a tag

21:40

is added to their contact record

21:42

in my email service provider. So

21:45

my CX team has this tag set

21:47

as a trigger inside

21:50

Zapier. So based

21:52

on this trigger, Zapier completes

21:54

the action of automatically

21:56

adding the student's name to the

21:59

spreadsheet. So this spreadsheet

22:01

is helpful for my customer experience

22:03

team to reference when answering support

22:05

tickets because they're able to have

22:07

one central place to look and

22:09

see if a student has successfully

22:11

enrolled and to check off if

22:13

they've been added to my Facebook

22:15

community. So it cuts down

22:18

the need to log into multiple tools to

22:20

check a student's status. If they're on the

22:22

Google Doc, they're a student, they

22:24

are allowed to get into the Facebook

22:27

community. Now, I know that

22:29

was a little more technical than what

22:31

I usually get into on this podcast.

22:33

So if you don't follow along perfectly,

22:35

don't worry. Zapier has incredible support documentation

22:38

and you can search for whatever you need to make

22:40

something happen in your business. But

22:42

I want to stress that this strategy is

22:44

less about what tools you use to help

22:46

you automate and save time. And

22:49

while my team loves Zapier, many other

22:51

tools can help you accomplish these specific

22:53

tasks related to your automation. The

22:56

main point here is that regardless of the

22:58

workflows you set up or the automation tools

23:00

that you use, you always

23:02

want to be asking, can this

23:05

be automated when you find yourself

23:07

doing repetitive tasks in order to

23:09

save time and scale efficiently and

23:12

also important, not burn

23:14

out your customer experience team with repetitive tasks

23:16

that they get just burned out from and

23:19

don't want to do anymore. So

23:21

that part is important as well, taking care of

23:23

your CX team. Okay.

23:27

So now that you have automation on your mind,

23:29

let's move right along to strategy number three, use

23:32

guided responses to increase efficiency

23:35

and accuracy when replying to customers.

23:38

This is such a big one. So guided

23:41

responses, notice I didn't say

23:43

canned. I hate the word

23:45

or phrase canned responses. They

23:47

feel too static. They

23:49

feel too robotic and they

23:52

lack empathy. And when you're working

23:54

in a help desk, remember the

23:56

keyword is help. People need your support.

23:59

So a canned response. that everyone gets is

24:01

just really frustrating to most

24:04

people. Right? Can I get an

24:06

amen? So guided responses are pre-written

24:08

answers to the most commonly asked

24:10

questions or issues my team sees

24:12

come into the inbox. We

24:14

initially create and organize these responses

24:17

in a Google Doc. Then we

24:19

load these guided responses into

24:21

Help Scout, which is

24:23

again our customer support ticketing software.

24:26

I want to stop here and say the reason

24:28

why they're in a Google Doc first is

24:30

because there's like over 200 of

24:32

them at this point. I started all

24:35

alone with a blank Google Doc, started

24:37

to think of every question we would

24:39

get with our programs. And I wrote

24:41

all the answers to them. And then

24:43

when Josh came on, he fully took

24:46

it over from me, which is so

24:48

cool. But I started it and I

24:50

feel very Josh is going to laugh if he hears

24:52

this episode. He knows I'm always like, are

24:54

there responses in a Google Doc first? Because

24:56

if you just load them into

24:58

your software, whatever software you use,

25:00

and you don't have a master

25:02

Doc, it's very hard to review

25:04

everything and see the big picture.

25:06

Also, you never know what's going to happen

25:08

with that software. We don't own it. It can

25:11

be taken away like that. And we lose

25:13

every guided response and we spent hours,

25:15

hours and hours writing them. So

25:18

protect your information with something you

25:20

own before you put it into

25:22

any software. So it might

25:24

feel redundant, but it's critical in my opinion.

25:26

So it starts in a Google Doc, then

25:29

we copy and paste and load them into

25:31

the software. This feature to

25:33

load guided responses right into the

25:35

software means that when we respond

25:37

to a customer, instead of writing

25:39

out each answer, we simply select

25:41

like, click on the

25:43

relevant guided response. And

25:45

with a click of a button,

25:47

it automatically populates the copy into

25:50

our reply email. It's

25:52

a method that not only saves time,

25:54

but also ensures consistency and efficiency in

25:56

our customer experience. So the whole team

25:58

is answering in a very. similar

26:00

way. However,

26:02

it's a guided response,

26:04

meaning I want my team to change

26:07

it up, tweak it to make sure

26:09

that it fits what the

26:11

customer is asking. And let's say the

26:13

customer also says, PS, thanks so much

26:15

for looking at my question. I've got

26:17

three kids under the age of five,

26:20

and I'm feeling overwhelmed right now. So

26:22

anything you could do to help me

26:24

with this tech issue is greatly appreciated.

26:26

So in the guided response, when Corey

26:28

replies back, I want him to say

26:30

something like, Hey, PS, we're

26:33

sending all the good vibes your way

26:35

for your three little ones. It can't

26:37

be easy. But you got this or

26:39

something like that. A human

26:41

touch is very important to me in

26:43

my CX department. So that's why they're

26:45

not canned. Just the word

26:47

guided, make sure that Josh

26:49

and Corey and JV, my team is

26:52

thinking, let's put a personal touch to this. So

26:56

these guided responses that are pulled into

26:58

the software this is not unique to

27:00

help Scout, you can usually set up

27:02

guided responses in any customer support software.

27:04

In fact, you can even do this

27:06

in your Gmail right now. So

27:08

this means that no matter the size of your business

27:11

or the tools you use, you can implement the system.

27:14

Now if you're considering integrating guided

27:16

responses within your team, here's some

27:18

great news tools like chat GPT

27:20

make this process even more streamlined.

27:22

So about 10 years ago, when

27:24

I started this process, obviously, I

27:26

was sitting at a blank Google

27:29

Doc, and then typing in every

27:31

response. But if I had

27:33

chat GPT, dang, that would be awesome.

27:35

So in my experience, this is one

27:38

of the most effective applications of AI,

27:40

you'll use the AI tool to

27:43

generate a base response, and then

27:45

you'll step in it and just

27:47

tweak it and tailor it and

27:49

make it exactly what you want

27:51

it to be, then you put it into your

27:53

guided response. So anything that's put

27:55

into the guided response document, it's not just

27:58

directly pulled out of AI, we started with

28:00

AI, then we added our own

28:02

kind of look and feel

28:04

to that message. And

28:06

then when Corey or Josh or JV pull

28:08

it into an email, I want them to

28:11

even tweak it a little bit more based

28:13

on the person that they are engaging

28:15

with. So the human touch

28:17

is important here. But I

28:19

do want to say about AI, I want

28:22

to share three customizable prompts that

28:24

you can use with chat GPP

28:26

to craft effective guided responses. Remember,

28:29

you'll want to tailor these with your

28:31

own details, but these frameworks are a great

28:33

place to start. So here's the first

28:36

prompt you can customize and pop into the

28:38

chat GPP to create a

28:40

guided response if you see students

28:42

having issues finding your trainings often.

28:45

So I'm going to put these in the show notes so you don't

28:47

have to remember them. So you can just copy and paste. But here's

28:49

the first one. My students occasionally

28:52

encounter difficulties accessing a weekly live

28:54

video I host. When

28:56

you create a helpful and empathetic

28:58

response explaining the common steps to

29:00

troubleshoot this, please include guidance on

29:02

finding the video pinned to the

29:04

Facebook group and tell them to

29:06

make sure they've connected to Wi-Fi

29:08

rather than data on their phone

29:10

if the video is not streaming

29:12

well. Also add a note

29:14

offering further assistance if these steps don't resolve

29:16

the issue. The second prompt

29:19

helps create a reply for students

29:21

who write about feeling behind in

29:23

your course. So you

29:25

will want to customize this with your

29:27

course details and then

29:30

add it to chat GPP. So

29:32

let me read this one. Write

29:34

a compassionate and constructive response for students who

29:37

have not been able to start my course

29:39

and feel behind due to their life circumstances.

29:42

The response should acknowledge their concerns and

29:44

provide suggestions on how to make the

29:46

most of the course materials. Include

29:49

the reminders students can go at their own

29:51

pace because they have lifetime access to the

29:53

course. Add in advice

29:55

to download the step-by-step PDF and

29:57

take advantage of personalized support options

29:59

like the weekly Q&A's I host and

30:01

their response inviting them to reach out

30:04

with specific areas they're struggling with and

30:06

tell them I am happy to help

30:08

further. Again, I'm going to copy

30:10

and paste these in the show notes. And

30:13

then here's a prompt that will

30:15

help you have a standard answer to

30:17

ensure students can log into your course

30:19

easily. So try customizing

30:21

this and adding it to chat GPT.

30:25

I need a guided response for

30:27

technical support questions related to my

30:29

students not able to log into

30:31

their course that's hosted on

30:34

Kijabi. The response should

30:36

be easy to understand for non-technical

30:38

users. Include this

30:40

login link and steps to check

30:42

their spam folder for the email

30:45

containing their password details. Provide

30:47

an option for them to reply if

30:49

the problem persists. So

30:52

Kijabi, searchy, whatever you use, you can put

30:54

it in there. And if you're

30:56

building your business on your own

30:58

without a team, I highly recommend starting

31:00

a Google Doc for guided responses now.

31:04

Anytime you answer a question in your support

31:06

inbox more than once, add it

31:08

to the doc as a guided response. So

31:11

this not only helps you answer students

31:13

questions faster, but it also is a

31:15

smart way to set the stage for

31:17

when you bring on a virtual assistant,

31:19

which is going to cut down significantly

31:22

on training them. So start

31:25

now, my friends. All

31:27

right. If you're listening right now, I want to thank

31:29

you for sticking with me until the end because you've

31:31

made it to the fourth and final strategy of the

31:33

episode. And that's to

31:35

set up an effective quality control

31:37

or QC process. This one's

31:39

a biggie, so don't leave me yet. So

31:41

on my team, the customer

31:43

experience department is responsible for triple

31:46

checking every email that goes

31:48

out to my students. So

31:50

if you're a team of one, consider

31:52

swapping this task with a peer or

31:54

finding a friend or family member to

31:56

do this with you, but you've

31:58

got to have a second. set of eyes.

32:01

So having a QC process ensures

32:03

you always have at least two

32:06

sets of eyes on email copy,

32:08

send dates, links within your email

32:10

to avoid any mistakes in communication.

32:13

Because we've all sent out emails with challenges. Even

32:15

this process I'm going to share with you, mistakes

32:18

have gotten past our team. We're human,

32:20

right? But more often

32:23

than not, everything is accurate. The

32:25

more often you send out emails

32:27

with broken links, wrong dates, misinformation,

32:30

the less people are going to trust

32:32

you over time. So it's really, really

32:34

important that you avoid as many mistakes

32:36

as possible in your communication. So

32:39

my team has a system for this,

32:41

where they use a QC checklist. So

32:44

here's a quick rundown of what's on

32:46

that list. So number one, they

32:48

send a test email to

32:50

themselves and make sure everything

32:53

looks good when it's delivered. Number

32:55

two, check for grammar errors,

32:57

spelling errors and red flag

32:59

copy. So this includes any

33:01

emojis that don't load properly,

33:03

or any terms we avoid

33:05

in our business. So we have

33:08

certain terms, certain words, certain phrases

33:10

that just aren't appropriate to use. So

33:13

we have a list of those and we

33:15

check against the list. Number three, make sure

33:17

every link is working and going to the

33:19

right place. You'd be amazed how

33:21

many times a link is not working correctly. Number

33:24

four, match event dates and times with

33:26

our live events calendar. That's the worst

33:28

and it's happened to us where emails

33:31

have gone out with the wrong dates.

33:33

So we're really careful about that now.

33:36

Number five, cross-reference our email broadcast calendar

33:38

for any scheduling conflicts. This is important

33:40

to make sure we don't have other

33:43

emails going out on the same day

33:45

to the same audience. Typically, when your

33:47

business gets big and you have a

33:49

lot of team members, one

33:52

team member over here might be sending

33:54

out an email to current students, but

33:56

another person on the team is sending

33:58

out our weekly podcast email. And

34:00

in the past, when we didn't cross-check, those

34:02

emails went out like 20 minutes after each

34:04

other, which is ridiculous. It's just too many

34:07

emails in one day, too close to each

34:09

other. So cross-reference if other

34:11

emails are going out. And

34:13

number six, check to ensure the email

34:15

is not going to anyone who's unsubscribed.

34:17

That's the big one. So these

34:20

items might be a little different depending

34:22

on how you run your business, but

34:24

a good QC checklist is a must-have

34:26

document. And assigning

34:28

a person to be the

34:31

head QC person is really

34:33

important as well. You want to make

34:35

sure that person knows this is your responsibility

34:38

and they need to slow down

34:40

and take the time to actually

34:42

QC and not be pulled in

34:44

a million different directions. So

34:47

incredibly important. All

34:49

right, my friend, we are at the end of

34:51

our journey today. But before we part

34:53

ways, let's quickly huddle up and recap

34:55

these strategies from my customer experience

34:57

team. First, begin

34:59

each day with clarity, knowing your main

35:02

goal, understand the projects ahead,

35:04

and allocate your time wisely. So

35:06

the simple practice cuts through the noise,

35:09

helping you to focus on what truly

35:11

matters. Yes, you can use this strategy

35:13

anywhere and everywhere in your business, but

35:15

knowing how long you're going to spend

35:17

on getting your emails addressed and

35:19

knowing how long your response time

35:21

is going to be is so important here. Second,

35:24

make automation a top priority.

35:27

Every time you complete a task, ask

35:29

yourself, can this be automated? This

35:32

mindset shift is crucial for efficiency,

35:34

allowing you to focus on growth-oriented

35:36

activities rather than getting bogged down

35:38

in routine tasks that will likely

35:40

burn you out and your team.

35:43

Third, invest in your internal

35:46

systems, setting up comprehensive documentation

35:48

and using guided responses not

35:50

only streamlines your customer interactions

35:52

but also ensures consistency and

35:55

accuracy in your business. And

35:58

finally, implement a quality control system. process

36:00

for your email campaigns and broadcasts.

36:02

So this step is vital in

36:04

maintaining the high standard of communication

36:07

your customers expect and deserve.

36:10

So take action and make these strategies your

36:12

own so that you can build a business

36:14

free from overwhelm and one that's a powerhouse

36:16

of impact and efficiency in the world. Thanks

36:18

so much for joining me for another episode

36:20

of Online Marketing Made Easy. I'll see you

36:22

next week, same time, same place. Bye for

36:24

now. you

Rate

Join Podchaser to...

  • Rate podcasts and episodes
  • Follow podcasts and creators
  • Create podcast and episode lists
  • & much more

Episode Tags

Do you host or manage this podcast?
Claim and edit this page to your liking.
,

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features