The Power of Consistency and Processes in Business

[00:00:00] Kristina Stubblefield: Thank you for tuning in to WedPro Business Solutions. I'm your host, Kristina Stubblefield. As I've mentioned in the past, consistency and sharing your message on social media and other platforms, it works. And I've had people reach out to me about systems and processes, and they've just asked me questions. " What exactly do you mean?" and I wanted to take an episode and really kind of dive into this more about processes. Because anyone, no matter what stage of business you're in, can utilize processes , you should be because you are creating the exact same experience for all of your clients, that uniform delivery, and that can be very powerful in business. And the best way to achieve that is providing each and every client the same amazing, wonderful experience is by having processes. And that does not have to be complicated.

[00:01:09] Let me just share with you this much. I know people that utilize processes that they have written out on a sheet of paper. They don't even have it in the computer, on their phone. They have it written out on a sheet of paper. My whole mission is to help people save time and money. I want you to utilize the information, tips, and strategies that I share with you , however, it's best for you. If you're not really a technology person and it's easier with a pen and piece of paper, go for it. So let's talk about these processes. It's not necessarily one process across the board for your business that can be complex, but if you look at it in the different stages of your client journey or the experience a client has with you, and what I mean by that is, you could have your sales process, onboarding process, then you could have your actual client workflow or process and then an offboarding process. And so many times, I think if you've been in the game for a long time and owned your business and you've done the same thing, you've just gotten into habits. And you know what you know, this is how you do things and that's that. But there's so many benefits to having it written down, almost like a checklist to follow.

[00:02:42] I think sometimes when I use the word systems and processes for people, they don't know exactly what that means. And some have been hesitant to ask me about it. And so I wanna break it down some for you. The reason that I share with people about processes is because it ultimately comes around to save you time and money, which is what I'm all about.

[00:03:04] So where would you start? Well, I really think you need to look at what is the journey of a client working with you from the time they sign the contract, till the time you're done with their event. And if you think that it's over once the event's done, you are potentially missing a very, very important step that will get you more referrals.

[00:03:35] That will basically tie it up with a pretty little bow. So we're gonna dive in a little bit here, because it can get complex, people can make this complex. So let's just start. Think about your client journey from the time they send the contract till the time you're done with their event. Let's just start with the onboarding part.

[00:03:58] Write down. I'm gonna go back to what I've said before, piece of paper, in the computer, it doesn't matter. Write down what are those steps when you onboard someone. For example, when someone signs a contract with us to work on a project, most of the time it's similar steps. 

[00:04:18] If we have a project coming in that we are doing a website for someone . Well, some of the key steps is we need to get assets, we need to get pictures, logo, marketing material, things like that, that they have.

[00:04:34] So when the contract gets signed, part of our onboarding process is to send a welcome message and also a Dropbox or Google Drive link for them to upload their content in. And then, We send them an items needed checklist. That is the initial three steps that we have to do.

[00:05:04] So for you and your business, when someone signs a contract with you, what are those steps? Write them down in the order that they happen.

[00:05:14] And you can get as detailed as you want, or you can be as flexible as you want. You don't have to be detailed. there's your process. It is basically a checklist for every client that signs a contract with your business. These are the steps that you are going to follow in this order. They are not gonna be skipped. They are not gonna be overlooked. Why? Because you have a process now. Some people refer to it as a checklist, whichever you choose. From this point, you can make a checklist for your sales process before there're ever even a client. It could involve email sequence, follow-ups. There's many things that it could involve.

[00:06:01] Reminders to you to follow up with people. There's many steps there. The same goes for your client journey. When a client is going through the process of working with you, when they're going through that journey along the way, you could write down the milestones. Each of them could have their own checklist or their own process.

[00:06:23] Then the offboarding, I feel like this is one of the most important ones, is you can really have a process when an event's over, what do you do? Do you send a thank you email? Do you send a handwritten thank you note? Do you ask them for a testimonial or a review? If not, you should. To answer the question for those that may be wondering this whole thing about systems and processes, yes, there are softwares out there that you can utilize to make the processes or checklist easier, easier to track across multiple clients or events.

[00:07:04] And then the processes are the items that happen from A to Z in your business. Now, some businesses are gonna be different. For most event professionals, it's leading up to the event and it's the event. And it could be broke down into different processes.

[00:07:22] What I want you to take away from this episode is this is a big step to really take and start to have. A system, your own system, even if it's on handwritten paper. You're basically taking your business and you're making every client experience the same. A uniform client experience. Every person that works with you and your business is going to have the same amazing experience. What can that do for you? That can increase referrals, but one of the biggest things, it can save you so much time that you don't realize. And you may be thinking, yeah, but Kristina, I don't wanna follow a list. I've done this for a long time, I don't wanna follow a list.

[00:08:21] I hear ya. I am there. I hear you. Hmm. I'm not a big fan of it either until I saw the other side of it as this is it. This is exactly what I. No if ands or buts about it. Now, are there times that there's exceptions to this, that you may have to make some tweaks along the way, or a special event or something that needs a unique item or process?

[00:08:51] Absolutely. You can't get away from that. But the bulk of the steps are the same on every event. And I had this conversation recently with a couple of wedding professionals, and one of them said this to me, basically, I'm making a binder. If something was to happen to me and someone needed to pick up exactly where I was, they would know how this client experience goes.

[00:09:26] They would know the steps that I do for each of my clients and that really hit home for me, um, because a lot of wedding professionals, they're solo or they have a small team, and God forbid something happens, something comes up that takes you outta your business for a week, a month, six months. You built your business probably on your reputation, probably on how you execute events.

[00:09:53] For those that need to keep going while you would be out for whatever reason, you want them to have the same experience. You want them to have that same stamp that you've put on each and every event over the years. I know you do. I do.

[00:10:16] What if you thought about that, whether something happened to you or not? You want the same for each and every event? What if you did this for yourself? If nothing happened to you. Systematizing, that's a word a lot of people use. It's the truth. It's what you're doing. Sometimes that can be complex for people when they hear that word.

[00:10:40] I want you to be able to run your business. With the least amount of time, energy, and effort, and here's what I mean by that. Most wedding professionals or business owners have something that they just really, really enjoy in their business. A lot of wedding professionals I talk to do not like the office or the paperwork or whatever they want to call it, the admin part of their business, and that's okay.

[00:11:11] What if you could cut down the amount of time you spent, what you don't like doing. If you could cut down the time in that and you could focus on the part of the events or the part of your business you absolutely love. That's what it's about. It isn't about sitting here saying, well, you need to do this and you need to do that, and you should do this because of that.

[00:11:36] Small businesses, wedding professionals, you probably do your business because you absolutely love what you do . And sometimes you probably wonder if that's enough, because it can seem like it is a struggle. But there are things you can do in your business to make it easier, smoother, less time consuming, less frustrating, less overwhelming. And this, my friends, is one of the ways to do so by having processes along the way in your business. I'm here to tell you I've witnessed it myself and I'm, I'm not easy with change. I help a lot of people with it, and maybe I'm transparent to a fault, but it has taken me a long time.

[00:12:26] I could always help everybody else but making myself a priority. That was problem one. Problem two, I didn't like change. I'll get it done. I'll get through it. And then to see the other side of it, to see a smoother process, a smoother journey for my clients. That experience, that's what it's all about, especially for wedding professionals.

[00:12:50] That is what makes doing the work to get these things in place. It's basically streamlining your business. Simplify, that's a word I like, simplifying the steps in your business. All for a more fluent client experience and a smoother business operation for you. 

[00:13:12] I cannot wait to hear your feedback on this topic.

[00:13:18] You can visit my website, kristinastubblefield.com. You can get over to the podcast page and there's a mic, you can record a message. You can send me a message. One of the best things that you can do, not only to connect with me, but also other wedding professionals, is join my free Facebook group, WedPro Business Community.

[00:13:39] I hope that you will take time to jot down the steps along the way with your business, and if you just barely, barely start to use these, you will see a difference, a positive difference in your business. Until next time, take care.