How do Clients Experience Your Brand?

Have you ever stopped to think about the “viewer perspective” of your brand - how someone new will see and experience things? 

Clients and prospects experience your brand in a lot of different ways. It’s important to be cognizant of it, because a confusing brand, or an experience that doesn’t feel intentional, can ultimately turn your client off - which isn’t what you (or any business owner) wants. 

Four key ways in which people experience a brand include: 

• Observational - What do they see about your brand?

• Physical - What are the tangible things someone is receiving from your brand?

• Digital - What are they interacting with online?

• Environmental - these can intertwine with the other categories, and focus on the subconscious vibe and observations that someone can make about your brand.

Ultimately, you want everything in these four categories to look and feel the same - if you were to look at all of these touchpoints from a 10,000 foot overview, would it be clear that they’re all from the same company?

When you look at things from a distance, shapes, patterns, and similarities become more obvious. The same goes for your business.

How do you create consistency?

A good product, a nice logo, and a glowing personality are not (usually) enough to keep your business afloat. As someone who works in your business everyday, it’s really easy to get too close to your brand and to miss the gaps that need to be filled. It works for you, and makes sense to you, so why would you need to change?

A surefire way that you can combat complacency is to do a self-audit and identify what you’re doing well, what you can improve upon, and what may be missing.

Start With a Plan. 

You’ll need two things to really be successful with your brand touchpoint self-audit:

1. You need to determine what you want to be known for and,

2. You need to know who your ideal client is.

Regarding the first one... you’re going to need to do some soul searching if you don’t already have that answer. In an ideal situation, you knew what that was before starting your business. But did you take time to identify your ideal audience, or are you just working with anyone who is willing to pay you?

Who is Your Audience?

The answer is not “everyone.” Promise.

In my case, my ideal client is female, 30-50 years old, married, with pets and a college degree, running a service-based business. I make decisions through the lens of that person. (New blog coming soon that goes more in-depth into this concept and how to identify your person.)

Once you know your audience, the best way to find gaps and opportunities is to let your ideal client tell you themselves.

An Outside Perspective

If you’re already working with someone who fits the mold of your ideal client, ask them if they would be willing to work through this exercise with you. In a perfect scenario, you’re almost to the point of being able to call that person a friend, and so this should be an easy ask. But make sure that they’re the kind of person who is going to be honest and candid with you - that’s very important. 

If you don’t have someone in the ideal client space, bring in a great friend - again someone who is going to be honest and candid with you. There might be some hurt feelings during this process if your experience needs some work, but we only grow through discomfort.

Once you’ve got that person, take them through your whole process from initial contact, to the discovery and sales process, service delivery, and finally, follow up. 

Start from the beginning; have your person schedule an appointment through your online scheduler to see how easy it is. Go through the meeting process with them, complete your standard presentation and sales steps for them, present agreements and documents to them, and follow through to the end, including any post-service follow-ups. 

Here’s the Kicker:

Don’t explain what you’re doing or why.

Allow your person to truly experience your brand as a client would, so that they can tell you what’s confusing, what’s missing, or what you can do to improve your collateral or processes. 

Doing it Solo

If you don’t have someone you trust enough to a) show them the process, and/or b) to be honest and candid with you, you can do this yourself. You just basically follow the same process.

Log yourself out of systems, and open an incognito/private browsing window, and go step-by-step. Take an ultra-critical eye to how you’re doing things, and keep asking, “is there a way to make this [easier / better / faster / clearer]?” Keep your ideal client in mind, and ask that question from their perspective. Don't get complacent through the process - recite your presentation, consider what questions might be asked along the way, and review how you're ultimately presenting the final service.

An Example

If your ideal client is in retirement age, they’re likely not great with a computer. But your entire process involves booking online, signing documents online, paying online, and meeting online. You’re likely making your process very difficult, confusing, and tedious for an ideal client who isn’t great with a computer.

The End Goal

Ultimately, your brand needs to both be something you’re proud of, but also something that your ideal client perceives and interacts with well. Doing a self-audit of your brand touchpoints and client experience might be just what you need to bridge that gap.

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Need Some Extra Guidance?

If your head is spinning about where to start, I’ve got you.

Leveraging my free Brand Touchpoint Checklist, you can self-audit your brand in five key areas, and figure out what is good to go, what needs to be improved, and what needs to be developed.

This checklist was designed with usability in mind - it’s ready to print, it’s a fillable form, or you can import it to your tablet and write (digitally) all over it.

>> Grab your copy now.<<