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
Podchaser is the ultimate destination for podcast data, search, and discovery. Learn More