EPISODE 75: Celebrating Your Clients’ Wins Alongside Them

Jessi:
Welcome to the Brand Your Voice Podcast, where we’re digging into how you can create personality-driven content that connects and converts. I’m Jessi…

Marie:
…and I’m Marie. We’re the co-founders of North Star Messaging + Strategy, where we support business owners in outsourcing content without sacrificing authenticity.

Jessi:
Every brand has a unique voice that sets it apart. We're digging into how to capture the way your brand communicates from the words you use to the stories you tell. So you can create more compelling content that strategically helps you meet your business goals.

Marie:
And if you choose to outsource that content, you'll be able to do so with confidence, knowing your brand voice is in good hands and you can reclaim your time. We're so glad you're here and hope you enjoy this episode.
Hey hey and welcome to another episode. This one today is gonna be kinda short and sweet, and it's just me Marie today. I wanna talk about celebrating your clients wins alongside them and what that actually means, why I think it's a great idea and some ways you can do that. So we talk a lot on this podcast about ways that you can become invaluable to your clients. And usually that's in the context of, you know, providing excellent work for them, really increasing your value by stepping into content strategy, as opposed to just content creation. You can do both. But there's another soft skill today. Another way that you can do this, you don't have to be a content strategist. You don't have to have some giant business plan. You also don't have to have a cent to do this, but when you adopt the role, or the role as one of I should say, your client's cheerleaders, you're really going to be making yourself invaluable to them.
Now how you do this depends on you. And it depends on your client and I'm gonna get some specifics later. But, I have a client who I keep in touch with personally, and we celebrate each other's wins both in business and personally, and we send each other notes when we're thinking about each other. Actually I have quite a few clients like this, but the one I'm thinking of in particular, what's been really cool about this is because we're top of mind for each other, for our wins. That also means that we're top of mind each other for things like referrals, opportunities, stuff like that. And so there's no ulterior motive with me cheering her on and there's no ulterior motive of her cheering us on, it's genuine. And also it can yield business successes of its own. And so it's really a win-win and it's what I really think of as relationship based business strategy that, you know, yes, sure, I guess it's part of our strategy. And also it comes naturally to me, and it really can have an enormous effect.
At this point, most of our clients come through referrals and yes, part of that is because they like the work that we do. And so they want to refer other people to us, but also it's cuz they like us and they feel like they're heard and trusted and that we are trustworthy that we have their back and there's good vibes there. Right? And so when there's good vibes there, they wanna share that with other people to also experience them, people that they love and know are a good fit for us.
So, yeah, let's dive in and I think, you know, something I've learned over the years is you might be amazed at how many of your clients don't actually have another cheerleader in their lives. You know, they may not have a business coach. They may have a spouse or partner. And if they do that, spouse or partner may not be supportive in the way that they like of their business. They may, you know, not really talk about their business a whole lot with other people. Sometimes people can get weirdly jealous and uncomfortable talking about business success and money. And so, you know, maybe that describes their parents or their friends. They're not gonna talk about their business successes with them. And it really happens pretty often that the people that we're serving and working with with don't really have a cheerleader.
But you're already involved in their business, right? Like you already can see at least a portion of the backend of what's going on behind the scenes. You know how important their wins are to them. And you're already able to talk about things like money and success because you know, first of all, if you're asking them about what is success for them, that's part of how you create effective content for them, right? So you already know how they define success probably. And you've already had conversations about money just because, you know, they're paying your fee. And so you're already behind the scenes. You're already within it. There's fewer hurdles for them to go through with you, for you to be able to understand what success means to them and how they define it and what it can actually mean in terms of their business and their life. So when you acknowledge their successes, it really means a lot to them because that means they've got someone in their corner who is on their side, who, when you know, they succeed, you succeed.
And this can really lead to all sorts of great things. When you strengthen that relationship through this, that can lead to continuing work for you. If you like this person and they like you and you wanna keep working together, this can really pave the way for that. Like I said before, it can pave the way to referrals for excellent qualified prospects and leads for you. Like it's so much easier to convert a referral than somebody you just start struck conversation with who doesn't know who you are and doesn't have any trust in you cause they've never met you.
By strengthening relationship. You can also open the door to very interesting collaborative opportunities. I have a client who we have this relationship of mutual celebration of each other's wins. And it occurred to me at one point, Jessi and I had been reaching out to people in our network to see, Hey, could we do some trainings on brand voice for your audience? And it occurred to me, maybe, maybe I could reach out to her. I hadn't really thought about her that way, but I think her audience might benefit from it. And so we're now having conversations about how we could do that for her audience in a way that could serve them. It could boost her, because it would be providing another offer to her people, and increase the value that they get out of working with her. And obviously it could bring some goodness to us because we could teach people about our process and maybe gain a few clients.
It can lead to friendship. There's been some really heartwarming times in my career when clients have told me, well, I don't think of you as just my writer or just my content strategist. I think of you as my friend too. And that's really cool. Because I think of them as my friends as well. It can get a little sticky, right? Cuz you wanna make sure that you also maintain proper business boundaries, but when you do have a client who respects your boundaries and thinks of you as a friend, that's really win-win, you know.
I think the other part of this is it can increase your own job satisfaction. Now this is coming from a millennial and we millennials are kind of known for really wanting to make a difference in our careers and to have careers with high job satisfaction. So this may not be as important to you as it is to me. But if it is, that's just another reason to look into it, right? Because when you feel good about the work you're doing, you know that it's helping someone you care about, do something meaningful and you know that it's gonna mean a lot to them. It's more fun to do the work, right.
I always remembered, you know, there'd be days when that were hard when I first started working after college and I'd be talking with my dad and he'd be like, well, that's why they call it work and he's not wrong. And also work can be really fun. Work can be really satisfying and fulfilling. So I've found, personally, that a way to do that is to celebrate my client's wins alongside them so that we have a really great relationship professionally and I enjoy the work more.
So hopefully you're thinking, all right, yeah, I could do this. How do I do it? And how do I do it for not spending money? Right? You can spend a lot of money on your clients, right? You could buy them bouquets of flowers, you could get them boxes of cookies. You could do all kinds of things for them, but that isn't the only way to do this. So I think the first step is to find out how they define success. And I mean, this on the large scale, but I also mean this on sort of the micro scale, right? Like for the project you're working on with them right now, maybe it's a program launch. How are they gonna define success? Is it because they got 25 people to enroll in their course? Is it because the launch felt easy for them and hands off in terms of content creation, because you had that handled? Something like a launch may have sort of success markers that your client's already thought about, but what about something like a website? What about something like blog? Why are they doing it? Probably you already know this because probably you ask them about this during the sales call and initial strategy calls with them. But you may not know. And that's fine. So now's your chance to ask because two things will happen. One is, yeah, you can define, like when you define success for your clients, then you can celebrate success with them when they hit those markers. But also you're gonna be equipped to create content that actually helps them move the needle closer to success. So once you figured out how they're defining success, figure out what are the things you can do within your scope of work that help them inch closer to that finish line for success for particular project. And also maybe help them get closer to that eventual vision that they have for their business.
Another tip I have for you is to find out their love language. I know that this maybe a little hokey for some people, some people are maybe huge believers in it. I found that it's really helpful to know this. So one of the things that you can do is just during your client intake process, when you're asking things like, Hey, what's your name? What's your website, what's your, whatever, all the things you need to know, what's your email address. You could also ask what's your love language and then link them to the quiz. It's a free quiz. If you don't know what I'm talking about, this is a book and a quiz that you can find online. And it helps it's actually really, I think meant for, or often used in the context of romantic partnerships. So for instance, maybe your primary love language is acts of service. Like when your partner says like, Hey, I took out the trash earlier. You're like be still my heart. Right. Maybe your partner though, on the other hand, maybe their love language is quality time. And so when are like, Hey, come sit down on the couch with me and watch an episode of star Trek. And you're like, I'm so tired. I don't wanna do that. Like, wait, you may not realize that you're actually saying no to them reaching out with a gesture of love, right. To show you that they love you.
So love language that is prominent for you is both how you like to receive love and appreciation in a way that like really is meaningful for you. Like maybe getting gifts is like, cool, but like take out the trash please. That's that's what does it for me, right. Like none of these are bad, right? There's also physical touch and there's also words of affirmation. Those are the different love languages. All of them are great potentially, but maybe there one or two that like when you receive affection in that way, it's extremely meaningful for you. And also the way that you like to receive love is probably how you're going to default to extending love. So maybe if you are a gifts person like, oh man, when somebody puts thought into a gift for you, like it's so meaningful to you, you will treasure it forever. Right? It's not about it being an expensive gift. It's about it being a meaningful gift. But they really thought about you. They show they know you, you know? And so therefore you're always like, oh, I'm gonna give them a gift. But like some people they're like, that's nice, but it's like the thing they need. Right. And this is true outside of our romantic relationships. This is true in relationships with anybody in our life, including our clients.
So I kind of dwelled on that for a bit, but I think it's important because when you know how your client wants to receive or of defaults, I guess, to receiving and giving appreciation, you can bear that in mind and you can extend appreciation to them in a way that is gonna be especially meaningful for them. And you will know when they are telling you like, wow, great job, Sarah. Like, I'm so proud of you. Like this content is so good that like sure that feels warm and fuzzy. But maybe because there are words of affirmation person that is like the pinnacle of the extension of love for them towards you. And so you can realize the gravity, the like good gravity right. Of the way that they're extending love to you and realize like, oh man, they really do appreciate me. Like they really value me. So I think, yeah, find out the love language and extend it to them in that way.
There's some things that are harder than others, right? If it's physical touch and you live on the other side of the world, like you probably can't give them a hug. Maybe you don't even wanna give them a hug. But you know, you can find out what their secondary is. And also there's some ways to kind of play with that, right? Like maybe give them a blanket cuz it's like a long distance hug or something like that. Right. You can get creative.
Anyway, a few other ways that you can do this is stay in contact with, or, and by this, I mean just celebrating your clients wins with them, going back to our high level topic here. Stay in contact with them when you're working with them, you know, see what you can do to have a touch, touch point with them on the regular, maybe monthly, maybe weekly. I don't know whatever makes sense for you in your business. But also when you're not working with them, stay in contact. Doesn't need to be as often, but potentially set yourself some calendar reminders or some reminders within your project management system to say, okay, I'm gonna reach out to, you know, Joe today. Joe and I haven't conversed in a month or two, but I do remember that he said he was gonna have a program launch. And so I'm curious to know how that went. And so I'm just gonna reach out and say like, Hey Joe, I was thinking of you, I was curious how your launch went. And I hope it went really great and leave it there. Right. But if you're not in contact with them, if you're not sort of up on what's going on in their life for long enough, that's when relationships can kind of become more surface level. Right? I mean, this probably happens with your friendships too. The good news is it doesn't take much. Right. Just doing that much is gonna be so above and beyond that it's really gonna make a strong impression on your client.
The last thing I would say is how can you make celebrating your clients' wins fun and easy for you? Like I said, you know, you don't need to spend a penny, especially if you find out that your client really loves like words of affirmation or quality time, things like that, you know, just telling them you're proud of them and you're excited for them could mean a ton just doing that. Maybe even in a meeting, maybe even scheduling a special 15 minute celebration party with them, right. To like that's some quality time, that's some words of affirmation, right? Again, if it's physical touch telling them like, oh, I wish I could give you a hug. You know? Like that will probably be meaningful for them. Sending a letter in the mail. Okay. That does cost some money, but it costs like less than $2, right? Assuming it's domestic mail. There's so many things you can do to reach out and to tell them that their wins matter to you and that you're proud of them. And you're excited for them that don't cost you anything, maybe a little bit of time, maybe a little bit of energy, but also you can make it easy for yourself with reminders, like automate that stuff. And if you know that now's not a good time, that's fine. You can just punt the reminder back a week, right. It doesn't, there's nothing rigid about this. It's just an idea for you. But I have found that the ROI for this is enormous, those in terms of success for our business, in things like referrals and continuing work, return clients, collaborative opportunities, joint venture partnerships, things like that, but also on the personal side with just friendships and having a high degree of satisfaction in the work that I do, because I know that it matters to people that I work with.
So homework for you today is to think about your clients past and present and just pick one that you wanna celebrate with. Maybe you don't know what there is to celebrate right now. So that's an invitation for you to just reach out and get back in touch with them, or to have that conversation with them about like, Hey, what would success look like to you? Like how would you define that at right now with what you've got going on in your business? Just starting there, having those conversations to see like, Hey, how's it going? I wanted to touch base, you've been on my mind. Or how does success like manifest itself for you right now? What is, how do you define that right now? That will give you a launching off point to get closer to this goal of celebrating your client's wins alongside them. So I hope you have fun with this assignment and I hope it sparks something really incredible for you and your business. All right. Thanks so much for listening.
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the Brand Your Voice Podcast. Make sure to visit our website, northstarmessaging.com, where you can subscribe to the show on iTunes, Spotify, and more.

Jessi:
If you found value in this episode, we'd love for you to leave us a review on iTunes and share it with your friends. Thank you, and happy content creating.