Simplifying My Shop: What’s Out, What’s Next, and Why It Matters

Hello, hello, and welcome back to another solo episode of Business First Creatives. Today we’re gonna get into something that has literally been tugging at me for months and I figured it out 10 minutes ago, and so I am making this podcast episode now. I just got off of an offer, hot seat with Ceels Lockley, um, and it was amazing.

But when she finished giving me my feedback as the fourth person was going, I was scribbling down notes and figuring out what I wanted to talk about inside of this podcast episode.

As someone who’s been living and breathing backend systems for years, it made total sense that automation and workflows were my entry point. I’ve taught a lot of photographers and other creatives how to clean up their CRM, streamline their booking process and stop babysitting their inbox. Lately I’ve been rethinking what truly makes a client experience unforgettable, consistent, and easy for you, and more importantly, what it takes to make it work.

So today after my offer Hot Seat, I sat down and I mapped out what I’m calling the client Experience Essentials.

These are five foundational layers that work together to help you book dream clients faster, deliver a more seamless experience, and stop dropping balls behind the scenes.

So before we dive into a deeper debate about where to start, let me give you the full picture.

Here are the five layers.

Number one is client communication. That’s your voice, your tone and clarity in every email and touchpoint.

The second is your booking and onboarding processes. The smooth handoff from I’m in to, we’re officially working together.

Number three is your customer journey design, a fully mapped out experience from inquiry to delivery.

The fourth are your workflow automations. I mean, that’s what I’ve been talking about this whole time. This is the backend system that runs the process for you.

And number five are your offer delivery systems, how your service is fulfilled, completed, and followed up with professionalism.

And while most people would assume you start with a map. I did initially, the customer journey design, if you will. I’m here to make the case for something different. Today I’m going to tell you why. The real foundation of your client experience isn’t workflows your automation or even your customer journey.

It’s your client communication. Now, Let’s start with a metaphor. Your client experience is a house. The customer journey. Design is your blueprint. It’s your plan. It’s where each room goes and what the flow should be. Those things that I used to talk about, your booking systems, your automations, your delivery processes, those are your framing, your plumbing, your electrical.

They make the house function.

But your client communication, that’s the foundation, that’s the slab, that is the thing that everything else is built on. You can’t put walls on dirt, and you sure as hell can’t decorate a house that’s not built on something solid. So this is why I think client communication is layer one in this process.

It’s your handshake, your storefront, your first impression, or a nice warm hug if that’s your thing. If it’s confusing, slow or stiff, you’ve lost them before you even introduce yourself or your offer. And here’s the kicker, most people lose trust here without even knowing it. You think your proposal is the problem.

You think your pricing is the problem, but really your communication didn’t build enough trust for the client to say yes and proceed to the next step in your process. Now that communication powers every other layer. Your booking process runs on clear communication. Your journey design can only come to life through emails, videos, and touchpoints. Your automations literally send your communication, and if they are not, you are the bottleneck in your process and your offer delivery is only polished if your emails, guides and follow up reflect your amazing experience.

No matter how good your system is, if your communication inside of it is clunky, generic, or out of sync with your brand, it breaks. Your voice is the experience.

Your voice is what makes your systems human. It’s the difference between a cold automated process and a high touch experience that your clients rave about and that builds loyalty, referrals, and rebooking. So where does your customer journey design actually fit? Don’t get me wrong, mapping your customer journey is crucial.

But by starting with communication, your tone, clarity, and cadence, you build a foundation that your journey and your systems can grow on. You don’t just send the right things. You send them in a way that feels like you and that human connection is what your leads and clients will love.

Okay, so what do you do first? If your client experience feels inconsistent or like you’re constantly rewriting the same email over and over again, start with your communication. Ask yourself, what does my inquiry email sound like? Do my onboarding messages set expectations clearly and efficiently? Would I want to receive this email as a client?

Then build from there, not the other way around. So yes, I want to remind you, I am still Colie James. I am still a system strategist, but more specifically, I’m a client experience system strategist because what I’ve learned is I’m not just here to help you build your workflows. I’m here to help you create experiences that your clients rave about. It starts with the words that you choose, the tone that you set, and the way that you communicate from that very first, hello.

So if you’re building your own client experience layers. Lay the foundation first. Make your communication rock solid, and then go build the house of your dreams. Now, if you want help figuring out what to say and when, that’s exactly what we’re doing inside my new course Email Like You Mean It because good systems run your business, but great communication, that’s what gets you booked.

If you’d like additional details, they are inside of the show notes, or you can go to Colie james.com/email. Okay. That’s it for this episode. See you next time.