We’re all about enhancing your client experience this month and, oftentimes, our client experience starts with consultations and meetings. As planners with schedules chock-full of client meeting after client meeting, sometimes we can get in a rut. While routines are great for streamlining things (i.e. regularly meeting at your studio or at the same local coffee shop), sometimes we need to give our meetings (and our meeting spaces) a little facelift. Refreshing your meetings and the setting you hold them in is just as important for you as it is for your client. Switching things up every now and then really helps to give us that creative jolt we need after a long meeting-packed week. So, today, we’ve gathered some tips and tricks for keeping your meetings as wide-eyed and fresh-faced as you look after a well deserved spa day. Enjoy!
Switch up the setting
If there’s no imperative reason for you to be at your studio, try meeting with clients somewhere new that will help inspire creativity for both yourself and the client. We love the idea of the tangible--for your initial discovery meetings, why not take your client to a local interior decor store and find out what colors and textures speak to them? Is your client a lover of all-things nostalgic? Take them antique shopping and take mental notes of which items they’re drawn to. Your warehouse is also a great place to meet--while this step is typically saved for later down the road, it can also be a good way to start off a client relationship: let them look around and tell you what items catch their eye. While a sit-down spot with WiFi is always nice for a meeting, simply walking around in a new setting allows you to see your clients (and what inspires them) in a new light. You can then take any notes you took and begin to flesh out your Aisle Planner Design Studio when you arrive back at the studio.
Spruce up your space
For meetings where your studio makes the most sense, we recommend sprucing up your space a bit before your client comes in. Work with your favorite floral vendors to secure a nice arrangement (or multiple mini-arrangements) for your studio. Or, save some money by picking up seasonal flowers from your favorite market or snipping a few from your garden. Feeding people is also key before long meetings. Get a tray of small treats from a local chef and have them ready with pretty cocktail napkins. Order custom notepads and pretty pens with your logo and pepper these throughout the space for your clients to use for notetaking. Simple things, like lighting some invigorating candles or opening windows on a nice day, are all easy and effective ways to ensure you feel reenergized and new in, what would otherwise be, the same old same. (Keep in mind this is a great place to delegate: Having interns or staff members help pick up items and prepare the space is a great way to engage them in something new.)
Personalize as much as possible
A great client experience happens when clients leave feeling attended to and special. Personalizing your meetings--even if just in small ways--is the perfect way to get your clients excited about meeting. Have a staff member find out their favorite coffee drink and have it waiting for them at your studio (if they’re favorite coffee drink is champagne, that works, too). Find out their favorite music and have that playing. Or, write a custom welcome message on a chalkboard at the entrance to your studio. If you know your client has their eye on a certain florist, have that florist make a small sample arrangement for them to take home after you meet. Individual attention on social media can also be effective and engaging--post a creative photo from your meeting (one that doesn’t give too much away) on Facebook or Instagram and tag them in it to thank them for stopping by.
Overall, reenergizing get-togethers with clients all comes down to giving your meetings a simple breath of fresh air and making the experience a personal one. Have any other tips or tricks that make for killer client meetings? Share them with us in the comments section below--we’d love to hear what you have up your sleeve.
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