Introduction to Seed to Success
[00:00:00] Adrienne Donnelly: Welcome to Seed to Success, the podcast where we deep dive into the strategies, stories, and smart decisions that help VAs and OBMs grow and thrive. I'm your host Adrienne Donnelly, and whether you're just starting out [00:00:15] or looking for ways to take your business to the next level, you are in the right place.
[00:00:19] Adrienne Donnelly: Now let's get into today's conversation..
[00:00:23] Adrienne Donnelly: Hello and welcome.
Meet Our Special Guest: Mariana from Pink Ocean Virtual Solutions
[00:00:27] Adrienne Donnelly: Today we are joined by a very special guest from the Inner Circle, Mariana from Pink [00:00:30] Ocean Virtual Solutions. Welcome to the pod.
[00:00:33] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Very excited to get into it.
[00:00:36] Adrienne Donnelly: Yes, I'm very excited.
Understanding the Client Journey
[00:00:38] Adrienne Donnelly: Today we're gonna be really focusing on something that I know you are extremely passionate about and I think is an area that [00:00:45] even for really established VAs, we can always be learning more about, and that is a topic of the client journey.
[00:00:52] Adrienne Donnelly: So to kick us off, what would you define as the client journey in the context of VA and OBM [00:01:00] businesses?
[00:01:01] Mariana Gaona Lopez: So I would classify the client journey as basically the moment from where businesses, people, anyone hears from you to the moment that you ask them for their feedback from the services [00:01:15] that you provided.
[00:01:16] Adrienne Donnelly: Okay, great. So from that very first inquiry, whether it's they meet you in person, they're referred to you, they find you on social media all the way through to all the way through the lifespan of that client being part of your
[00:01:29] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah. Beyond, [00:01:30] yeah. Be a part of your ecosystem, I suppose. So yeah. From the moment they hear a whisper about your services to the moment you reach out to them in 3 years time, how about if they wanna, you know, redo services with you.
[00:01:43] Adrienne Donnelly: Okay, great.
Key Stages of the Client Journey
[00:01:45] Adrienne Donnelly: And what do you see as those key, important stages throughout the client journey? I think, a few years ago when we ran our last VA conference here in Newcastle, where I'm based. Jane and I brought in a speaker to focus on the client journey 'cause I think something that VAs [00:02:00] and OBMs do really well is client onboarding.
[00:02:03] Adrienne Donnelly: And sometimes we confuse the term client onboarding and client journey or client experience. And it obviously goes so far beyond the client onboarding. And we had someone come [00:02:15] in and speak about, that whole journey of a client and not just doing the onboarding really well. So talk us through, in your opinion, what are those different kind of key stages of, a typical client journey in the VA and OBM [00:02:30] industry?
[00:02:31] Mariana Gaona Lopez: For VAs and OBMs, it would be, when they first hear from you or an inquiry. So inquiry stage, again, client onboarding, which is like one of the most important ones. The service delivery, which is, what people are paying you for. And then [00:02:45] client offboarding because you're not just saying, here's all my service, see you later, good luck with everything.
[00:02:51] Mariana Gaona Lopez: You actually have to give them, handover documents, how to use whatever programs you, set up for them, or if [00:03:00] they want to, let's say you're a VA and you're finishing our services with someone because they're moving on. Well, they need to know everything you've done so that you need to give them a handover document, um, with all your SOPs if you got it.
[00:03:12] Mariana Gaona Lopez: And basically everything you did, keep them updated [00:03:15] with all the, the things that you did. And then after that w
Importance of SOPs and Documentation
[00:03:20] Adrienne Donnelly: You mentioned SOPs. Then for someone who's listening who's maybe not familiar with that term, could you break that down a little for [00:03:30] us?
[00:03:30] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, absolutely. So another one of my passions, operating procedures, so if you're a process nerd like I am, it's, instructions have to do anything and everything.
[00:03:39] Mariana Gaona Lopez: So they can be super basic, like how to send an email through Gmail, but if you come, [00:03:45] you bring someone in that's always use Outlook. Obviously they'll need to, see how it's done in a different program to something super complex like how to, fix an automation through Zapier using APIs or things like that. So yes, that's an SOP. [00:04:00]
[00:04:00] Adrienne Donnelly: Okay. So standard operating procedures, basically our processes and documentation on how the client likes things done and how we execute those parts of it.
Client Offboarding: Common Pitfalls and Best Practices
[00:04:10] Adrienne Donnelly: In our previous question there, around those stages, we talked about client offboarding. [00:04:15] Now obviously there's two different.
[00:04:16] Adrienne Donnelly: Well, a few different scenarios, I guess in client offboarding where we, as the business owner, the VA or the OBM have decided for whatever reason we're no longer able to service that client. And that could be because we're taking our business in a different direction. [00:04:30] And this is something that we talk about often in the inner circle where, members will flag this, is the behaviors of the client are really no longer aligned and they're not feeling aligned with that client anymore.
[00:04:40] Adrienne Donnelly: The client may make that decision, to offboard the VA [00:04:45] because they're going in a different business, direction. They're cutting back costs. They're feeling as though the VA or OBM is not the right fit, or if it's a piece of work, a project based, and there is a agreed finish date at the start.
[00:04:59] Adrienne Donnelly: In your [00:05:00] experience, where are some of those sort of pitfalls or mistakes, common mistakes that VAs and OBMs may make? In that offboarding, regardless of why the offboarding is occurring,
[00:05:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: One of them would be not [00:05:15] actually having a handover document. You know, it's very important to have, have everything documented, everything in your processes, whether it be notion, Google Docs, word, somewhere to have everything documented.
[00:05:27] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Another one would be, [00:05:30] assuming that people know everything that you know, so it's all well and good for you to, again, that's why the SOPs, are so important. I could be talking about Zapier, like just now. I said SOP, but if you're not familiar with what I'm talking about or what, you know, [00:05:45] whoever you hand it over to may have to call you back and say, Hey, I don't understand any of this.
[00:05:50] Mariana Gaona Lopez: This SOP makes no sense to me. What does API mean, or what does a web hook mean, or something that, so you have to be really explicit with the way that you [00:06:00] hand things back to your client. Make sure that they're understand and always ask them as well. Like, do you understand this process? Will you like me to go in depth with this process?
[00:06:10] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Who's gonna take over my task, if any? And how are they [00:06:15] gonna work with you if someone else coming on board?
[00:06:18] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, and if they are engaging another VA or OBM, past your time with them, that's a really great foundation that you're setting that other VA up, that incoming VA and OBM up for incredible [00:06:30] success because you're giving them so many tools.
[00:06:32] Adrienne Donnelly: But like you said, also sometimes our clients know that we do all this stuff, but in their head it's just like, oh, it's just magically done and Mariana just gets it sorted and she's, waves her magic wand and that's done. But [00:06:45] often, you know, there's quite a lot of intricate steps, especially those of us that work in, like with clients with more technical service areas, like setting up automations, like updating their website and things like that.
[00:06:56] Adrienne Donnelly: It's just a, a great foundation. I also think. Whether they're [00:07:00] offboarding or not, having a lot of that documentation in processes is a really great, I guess, risk mitigation strategy for you as the VA and OBM who is gonna get sick is gonna take time off, is going to need to take a break from your business.
[00:07:13] Adrienne Donnelly: But also the [00:07:15] client in terms of, they can always jump in and execute any of the tasks should you not be available in the timeframe that they're requiring.
[00:07:23] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, absolutely. It also, I think, keeps it transparent into what you're actually doing. So I know sometimes [00:07:30] some, clients may want to know every single thing you do, and having it documented just helps, give it to them and they can have a look at either, so some processes can be cut down or if the process doesn't need to be long or things like that as [00:07:45] well. It's always great to be different.
[00:07:46] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah. And it also gives you a great review point to make sure that those documents and processes are still working. I guess instead of it just happening, you can review them as part of your, monthly or quarterly reviews with the client to say, this is it.
[00:07:59] Adrienne Donnelly: [00:08:00] Is everything in our tech stack working for us? Is there a new tech that we could be. Incorporating that does some of these steps. That could eliminate some of that.
[00:08:09] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Absolutely. That's one of my favorite things. Again, being a post nerd by, uh, quarterly reviews is just [00:08:15] looking at all your tech stacks.
[00:08:16] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Looking at all your tech stack means, like all the apps that you use, all the software that you use. Mm-hmm. What's overlapping? What are you paying for that you're not using? Mm-hmm. For example, I used to, use later as a scheduling platform. I don't do any scheduling for anyone apart for [00:08:30] myself. So I'm like, I don't need to pay $200 a year, so I'm just gonna use Meta business.
[00:08:34] Mariana Gaona Lopez: As painful as it's mm, I'm just gonna use it and, save myself that $200 a year that I could perhaps use for either, someone else to help me out doing the scheduling or, [00:08:45] something else like professional development.
[00:08:46] Adrienne Donnelly: Yes, that's a great point. Our quarterly, audits, subscription audits especially, are so beneficial for their business and for our client's businesses.
[00:08:53] Adrienne Donnelly: Always savings.
Client Onboarding: Best Practices and Simplified Processes
[00:09:03] Adrienne Donnelly: We talk a lot about, you know, first impressions. Can you talk me through, I guess, uh, and maybe from your own business, what your client onboarding, process looks like? Or some great, client onboarding process that maybe you have been the client and you've gone through them and what makes them stand out as really great experiences.
[00:09:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Absolutely, so [00:09:15] my client onboarding is really basic. I don't like to go all out, mainly because a lot of the people that I service are people that are already quite overwhelmed. Mm-hmm. So if I overwhelm them with more information, they then start feeling. Again, overwhelmed [00:09:30] frustrated. Perhaps they're like, oh, maybe she's a bit much things like that.
[00:09:32] Mariana Gaona Lopez: So,
[00:09:33] Adrienne Donnelly: great point. Yeah.
[00:09:34] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah. I keep my onboarding pretty simple. somebody inquires with me and they wanna sign up. We have a discovery call if they want to, if they don't want to, I just send them a quote from, messages [00:09:45] or emails they sent me. Mm-hmm. And from there, once they sign on, all they get is an email saying, this is your client portal where everything's gonna be your invoices, your proposal, the project, and in 24 hours, I'll send you an invoice [00:10:00] and I'll send you basically how we're gonna tackle this. If you have any questions, let me know. And if you don't, I'll, see you on the email and then, yeah, 24 hours, I'll send them another email saying this is your invoice, this is how we're gonna tackle the project, or this is how we're gonna tackle things.
[00:10:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: If you wanna have a [00:10:15] kickoff call with me, you're more than welcome to, if not, I'm happy to just that usually they do, book the kickoff call because that's when we can do a lot of the, two factor authenticator process. If, I'm going into their Gmail or if I'm going [00:10:30] into the personal accounts, so yeah, I find my one has been really simple and 'cause a lot of the people that come to me are already quite busy. Mm-hmm. I think they appreciate that I'm super straightforward. I'm not like, oh, maybe if you have [00:10:45] time this time, or if you have time this time, it's like, no. A lot of the time people want direction, especially if you're on OBM.
[00:10:51] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Mm-hmm. people want you to hold their hands and tell them exactly what you need from them, rather than vague maybe we'll do this, maybe we'll do [00:11:00] that. It's like, no, I need action right now.
[00:11:02] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, I think it's a really brilliant point you make about meeting clients where they're at, and often that is overwhelm, they're flooded, they're already drowning.
[00:11:11] Adrienne Donnelly: They're like, I need help. And sometimes that [00:11:15] sets us up a little bit for a difficult start. And by that I mean. They're coming in looking for like instant gratification with their VA and OBM. So I think you made a really great point around a simplified client onboarding experience.
[00:11:28] Adrienne Donnelly: So you can just hit the ground [00:11:30] running and start getting some wins on the board, but also making sure that you have all the processes and agreements in place to make sure that you are covered, the client's covered, you're getting paid upfront. I think you've found a really, nice balance because often they are [00:11:45] really overwhelmed and they just want.
[00:11:47] Adrienne Donnelly: Someone to help them feel better straight away. But it, you know, the reality is it does take time. And, you mentioned things like login details and access and two factor authentication. Like they do take time and they can be frustrating for the [00:12:00] clients. We've all been there where, SMS codes are going to some phone number of someone that helped them once set up their website and all of that stuff.
[00:12:07] Adrienne Donnelly: It's so common and I think it, it is really about striking that right balance between. Covering yourself, covering the client, making sure [00:12:15] everyone's on the same page all the invoices are done. You set those expectations from the start about how that working relationship's going to do it, but without bombarding them and making them sort of be the driver in that when they're really [00:12:30] asking for help.
[00:12:30] Adrienne Donnelly: I was chatting with a client the other day and he had just taken on a new part of the business and he realized that their membership onboarding form was seven pages long, and he's just like, it's not a great onboarding experience, right? For their members. It's like, let's just get all [00:12:45] the key information, get them signed up as a member, and then let's work out a staged onboarding approach, where we then set some goals and work out what they want and get their information for the directory on our website and all of those sorts of things. And it was like this real aha moment [00:13:00] around this is actually a bottleneck and it's actually preventing people from engaging with our business.
[00:13:05] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, seven pages, that's a long form, but whatever business is, it is a long form.
[00:13:09] Adrienne Donnelly: That is a long form. But you're thinking like if someone sends you that and you're like, I've gotta read all of this, I've gotta sign all of this, I've [00:13:15] gotta fill in all this information before I can even get started. I think there's like a fine line, a fine balance, I should say.
[00:13:23] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah. I like to always include a, what's next? Mm-hmm. In my proposals or in my emails, like, what's happening [00:13:30] next? Because a lot of the time perhaps I feel like I'm communicating properly, but perhaps I'm not. So then if I have a what's next, then the client actually knows what's coming next. So my proposals they say what happens next? Well, you get this email and this is now happen, and then once the first email goes out, what [00:13:45] happens next? You'll get something else. Once a kick off call has been booked, what happens there? Well, we'll see you at the kickoff call and make sure you have all these documents ready. or at least open them five minutes before the call so at least we, we've got 'em there.
[00:13:58] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, and I think it's that really great [00:14:00] communication from the start, letting the client know like you are driving, you're gonna hold their hand through this. Especially if they've never had a VA or an OBM in their business before. And just setting those expectations, like over communicating what's happening next 'cause that's obviously gonna prevent [00:14:15] a lot of questions then for you from the client that's gonna take up your time around, like now what happens? Like, when's this going to be done? In your tech stack for client onboarding, what does that look like? How much of those steps that you mentioned are you doing, are systems doing [00:14:30] for you?
Automating Client Management with Moxie
[00:14:31] Mariana Gaona Lopez: I have a lot of it automated, but it's not, a robot just, sending things to people. I do use AI in my business, but I have made it so that it doesn't do a lot of my talking, it just does the processes. So [00:14:45] I use a program called Moxie, which is a client relationship manager program.
[00:14:48] Mariana Gaona Lopez: And it handles so much everything for me. I actually, other than Gmail, I don't use anything else. I used to use Clickup as project management, but Moxie have really gone, leaps and bounds in the [00:15:00] project management, so there's a form on my website, which is tied to Moxie, and that form gets filled in and it sends me a ping and says Somebody has, sent an inquiry, you need to get back to them, which I do [00:15:15] through Moxie again, send them an agreement or a book a call through them as well. Once agreement is signed, my invoicing gets done through Moxie as well, and project management, client portal. So, yeah, Moxie has come a long way for me because I used to do [00:15:30] everything for Clickup or I used to, I think I use Notion for like a good two months.
[00:15:33] Mariana Gaona Lopez: But, it has basically done everything for me, offboarding as well. So yeah, all my client journey, everything I do is through them. I still use Gmail and Google Drive and Google [00:15:45] Documents mm-hmm for my files. And once I have automated that part, but that's more of like backend premises rather than client facing thing.
[00:15:53] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Once somebody signs in with me, all my backend gets automated and things happen in the backend, like, new [00:16:00] folders get created, new documents get created, new templates for whatever project we are working in get created. So, I managed to have automated some of the things for my client journey that make it easy for me and for my clients.
[00:16:12] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Mm-hmm. So if they wanted to ask me a question, I'm not scrambling [00:16:15] trying to find a document, trying to find this email. Everything's been consolidated really well, which I'm pretty happy with.
Client Nurturing and Feedback
[00:16:22] Adrienne Donnelly: Mm. So if we move through to that next stage, the client's onboarding, they're feeling looked after.
[00:16:27] Adrienne Donnelly: You're starting on the service delivery, they're paying their [00:16:30] invoices, everything's great. Then we start getting into, I guess, the review and the feedback and the client nurturing stage of that, which is basically after onboarding and before offboarding and that you know, can go for years, right?
[00:16:44] Adrienne Donnelly: Like some of the clients I've [00:16:45] worked with at six, seven years. What does that client nurturing stage look like? You mentioned before reviews and one of the things you do in those reviews is like, let's look at the tech stack. Is it working? Are we making the most of what we're paying for? Can you talk us through a little bit about that [00:17:00] kind of client nurturing phase and what that looks like for you?
[00:17:05] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, absolutely. It all depends on whether it's a project or if it's, uh, retainer or ongoing work. Mm-hmm. And also depends what tasks you're doing, I suppose. So for the [00:17:15] Moxie builds that I do, Sorry, it's gonna sound like a Moxie ad. This podcast.
[00:17:19] Adrienne Donnelly: This podcast is sponsored by Moxie. Hey, they might wanna sponsor our podcast. That's a great idea.
[00:17:25] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Moxie, we're gonna call you. Yeah, they probably will love it actually. Anyway, for [00:17:30] the Moxie builds, it depends, either doing a full build or a hard build. And, again, I have everything laid out every milestone that I hit, I just tell them where I'm up to.
[00:17:39] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Especially because it's such a big investment for people that I wanna know everything that I'm doing and how I'm doing in the background. [00:17:45] Also, if they're still using Moxie while I'm in there meddling and with it, they like to know everything that I'm doing. So having templated emails is very helpful for me and for my projects of where I'm at every stage.
[00:17:58] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Mm-hmm. Same if I'm doing an automation [00:18:00] project or if I'm doing an SOP project, I have everything templated and, I do put in the specific custom project details, but everything else is templated. So that makes it really helpful in the sense that then I don't [00:18:15] have to, use a lot of my time, updating my clients and I can use that time rather than doing it, admin actually doing the work. Mm. So that helps a lot.
[00:18:24] Mariana Gaona Lopez: if it's for retainer work, I like to always ask people how they like doing things because [00:18:30] I'm a person that sends a lot of emails and I person mm-hmm. I'm always asking them, how many emails do you like to receive?
[00:18:36] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Or like, do you like me to update you for every little thing or do you want me to send you long email at the end of the day? Do you do voice notes as well? when do you check your [00:18:45] emails? Because I know a lot of people have very strict boundaries when it comes to checking emails, so I'm not gonna send them an email at 5:00 PM on a Friday when they don't check it for till Tuesday, or something like that.
[00:18:55] Mariana Gaona Lopez: So, I've seen all these questions at the start will also help with that [00:19:00] client nurturing, because then you're paying attention to the details. You're paying attention to how people work. You are actually making them feel like they're being looked after properly rather than just getting thrown information and processes at them.
[00:19:12] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, and again, that comes back to like meeting our [00:19:15] clients where they're at in a way that still obviously works for us. If a client says, oh, you know, I love reading emails at 10 o'clock at night. That doesn't mean you need to be there, but we can use schedule send and those sorts of things.
[00:19:26] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Absolutely, yes.
[00:19:26] Adrienne Donnelly: But yeah, it's meeting the clients where they're at and getting, I [00:19:30] guess, working out how our client's brains work so that we can get the best out of them, which then sets us up for success as a service provider to them.
[00:19:39] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, absolutely. But I just wanna say. It's all great and good to ask all these questions, but also keep in mind your own [00:19:45] boundaries.
[00:19:45] Adrienne Donnelly: Yes. It has to work for us as well. Yeah.
[00:19:48] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Don't go sending the email at 10:00 PM because that person wants to be at 10:00 PM yeah. If both your requirements and your boundaries don't align with that client, and you'll find out pretty much even within the [00:20:00] first meeting if things are gonna, how things are gonna go, because that kind of sets the tone.
[00:20:05] Mariana Gaona Lopez: I thinkOBMs and VAs, we do tend to people please. Mm-hmm. So again,
[00:20:11] Adrienne Donnelly: occupational hazard,
[00:20:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: It's all good to [00:20:15] have the best client journey, but also keep in mind that at the end of the day, this is your business and you need to look after yourself too.
[00:20:22] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah. And I'm sure that the established VAs amongst us that are listening have all had that moment where your business gets to this certain point and [00:20:30] you're almost like.
[00:20:31] Adrienne Donnelly: How did I get here? This is not, you know, it feels like, yeah. I definitely had those moments where I feel like everyone has access to my time and I just get what's leftover, you know, the 15 minutes here, the 30 minutes here, and between where people have scheduled things and [00:20:45] it's like, hang on, this isn't why I wanted to build this business.
[00:20:48] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah. Especially, people like you that have young families at home and are, managing all those different hats that you wear, it's important to understand how our clients work and how to get the best out of them. But to [00:21:00] then put that through the filter of our own boundaries and how we want to run our businesses. I think it's a really great point.
[00:21:07] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think we've all been there saying yes to everything and then you're like, hang on a second, I actually don't know how to do this. What do I do?
[00:21:13] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah or like, these are not the kind of [00:21:15] people I wanna be working for. And we have to acknowledge at the start, a lot of us, I am totally guilty of this I was like, yes to every client because I was like, I have to make this business work. I have to be able to pay for my mortgage and my life and, make this a successful business. But I think [00:21:30] sometimes it is just tuning into that gut feel.
Identifying Red Flags During Client Onboarding
[00:21:38] Adrienne Donnelly: And you've perfectly segued into my next question about identifying red flags during, the client especially, they're probably the most red, they're the most bright and flying highest during the [00:21:45] client onboarding and paying attention to those.
[00:21:48] Adrienne Donnelly: Now your red flags are probably gonna be different from the next person and mine, and the person after that. What are the types of things that you see during that onboarding process, whether it's an email inquiry, a website [00:22:00] form submission, a discovery call that are flags for you to think that this may not actually be the ideal client for me.
[00:22:10] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Some of the ones that I, not necessarily, I guess. It's not something [00:22:15] they say, it's the way they make me feel. Mm-hmm. And at the start again, you've got people please are, you're like, yes to everything. But in the back of your mind, you're like, hang on, this is giving out. And, you know, the bat signal is like, that's not right.
[00:22:29] Adrienne Donnelly: The spidey [00:22:30] senses.
[00:22:30] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah. It's like, hmm. Maybe definitely pay attention to those if your gut's telling you don't follow through. Mm. I would say definitely follow your guts. Mm-hmm. Nine times out 10 it's a bit right, actually, well, 10 times out, 10, [00:22:45] sometimes when they come asking, but they don't even know what they're asking sometimes.
[00:22:50] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Mm-hmm. So, in the discovery call or in the info form, they're like somebody gave me your, it's not so red flag. More like a a, [00:23:00] a redirection. Somebody gave me your business name. Actually, don't know what a VA does, what does some VA do? I need someone to do marketing. I need someone to do this. I need someone to do that. And it's like, okay, well you kind of need five people for the jobs right now.
[00:23:13] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah,
[00:23:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: there are some VAs [00:23:15] out there that are generalists and they can do all these things. That's fab but you probably will be paying premium because that's a lot of technical work or that's marketing so when they give you like five different job descriptions, they're all completely different and I just need to be able to do all [00:23:30] this like, okay well. And that comes to education as well 'cause a lot of people, again, like that person would've said the imaginery person I don't know sorry, I need a VA, but I don't know if you do this or somebody gave me your number.
[00:23:42] Mariana Gaona Lopez: I just need someone to do all this for me actually. [00:23:45] That someone actually dunno what they need. Mm-hmm. So that, yeah, again, that comes to education and for us to tell them, well, yes, you, you do need a VA for perhaps this task, but for this other task, perhaps a digital marketing agency or perhaps need a [00:24:00] marketing special VA.
[00:24:02] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Or half the time. It's like you actually need an OBM and a VA so the OBM can tell the VA to do all the work.
[00:24:07] Adrienne Donnelly: Mm-hmm. Yeah. I think it's a really good point. And I think, reframing that as an opportunity for education. I think [00:24:15] one of the great things, and I talk a lot about this with clients that we are doing a matchmaking service for when we're finding them a client, often they just come and they're in overwhelm.
[00:24:22] Adrienne Donnelly: They've heard, someone speak about a VA and they think that could work in my business. The term VA is so broad, which is [00:24:30] amazing, but it also can then be confusing to our audience because it doesn't really say what it is and what it can be, I guess. Yeah, and what the opportunity for the support that we can provide to our clients, and I'm [00:24:45] sure you are the same.
[00:24:45] Adrienne Donnelly: I've never met two VAs that have the exact same business model, that offer the same services. We're all slightly different, and that's one of the most incredible things about our industry in the VA and OBM space. But it can be a little bit confusing for clients. I think it's [00:25:00] really great that, you have, identified that as an area to then provide education and information to a business owner who's struggling, to help them find their way through getting support in their business.
[00:25:13] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, absolutely. And again, I [00:25:15] think the industry is just evolving so quickly that we're still trying to catch up. So I know as a social media va. I wouldn't even call myself a virtual assistant because I don't particularly do that kind of work. I'm more [00:25:30] like a, I guess a systems consultant or a, operations manager.
[00:25:35] Mariana Gaona Lopez: But again, we all say it as va, so we just, it's just a matter of finding out what you like doing and telling people that that's what you do.
[00:25:43] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, and defining that really well through [00:25:45] our marketing, through our messaging on our social media, our website, when we're meeting people in person, really nailing what that is I guess so that people know that is what I need or that isn't what I need.
[00:25:57] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, exactly.
[00:25:58] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, definitely. [00:26:00]
Personalizing the Client Journey
[00:26:06] Adrienne Donnelly: If there's people listening that are thinking, oh my gosh, my client onboarding, my client nurturing, my client offboarding, could do with some work or they don't exist, or they do exist, but they're a bit clunky and they're not working for me.
[00:26:13] Adrienne Donnelly: Do you have any kind of tips or [00:26:15] advice on where they could start with any of those points in the client journey, I guess.
[00:26:20] Mariana Gaona Lopez: what I like doing, we can go super old school and just get out the butcher paper or get out a piece of paper you can use Canva as well. Mm-hmm. Coming virtual, um, there's a couple of [00:26:30] tools online like Miro or lucidcharts.
[00:26:32] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Just mapping it out, putting it out on paper. You can even voice note it to chat gpt if you wanted to just put it out there. How are people finding you? What happens after the people find you and they send you a, inquiry? Mm-hmm. [00:26:45] What happens after? You send them a quote, what happens after they get onboarded?
[00:26:50] Mariana Gaona Lopez: how they get onboarded. What programs are you using? how many emails are you sending, what goes in the email? And even having someone to, go through [00:27:00] the onboarding with you as a test or you yourself going through it as a test as well. so then you know what people are getting on the other side.
[00:27:06] Mariana Gaona Lopez: So one of my tests um, when I first got moxie, when people signed the proposal, they got the invoice straight [00:27:15] away and I was like, hang on a second. That's a bit, that's a bit intense. I mean, in my side of things I'm like, that's a bit intense to get the invoice straight away. Especially like I said, some of my clients, will look at the proposal like 10:00 PM and then they get an invoice straight away.
[00:27:28] Mariana Gaona Lopez: That's a bit jarring. So then I [00:27:30] change that. So then I actually manually send the invoice which I'm happy to do because then I can check that everything's correct and then I can check at the time that I'm sending it, or I can schedule it for a time that I think would be appropriate for my clients.
[00:27:41] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Mm-hmm. so yeah, just mapping it out on a piece [00:27:45] of paper and writing down everything that happens.
[00:27:48] Adrienne Donnelly: I think, again, I feel like a broken record, but a very good point around the invoicing and you going, actually no, that feels like it's a bit jarring. And I guess it's like another way of saying that's not on [00:28:00] brand.
[00:28:00] Adrienne Donnelly: For you, right?
[00:28:01] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
[00:28:01] Adrienne Donnelly: Like for you to do that is not feeling like it's on brand for your business. So always, again, putting our processes through that lens of like, is that how I want my customers to feel and to experience my [00:28:15] business either at the start, the middle or the end? Is, is that on brand for my business?
[00:28:20] Adrienne Donnelly: how would I like to be treated if I was the ideal client and is an invoice the second they open something. Is that right? Maybe it is, and that's awesome if that's [00:28:30] your brand and that's genuine for you. But it's also, I think putting it through the lens of yeah, what feels right and what feels genuine and what matches their, uh, in-person or online interactions with you as well.
[00:28:44] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Yeah, [00:28:45] absolutely. Like, yeah, your client journey, again, you have to, like you said, it has to be on brand to your specific business. So like, my client journeys are very like, follow the same steps, you know, inquiry, onboarding, project, [00:29:00] offboarding, review. Mm-hmm. But there's all the little personal brand touches, um, that you can really personalize things.
[00:29:08] Mariana Gaona Lopez: And I know some people like send some gifts at the end or some gifts at the start, to make you the client journey [00:29:15] more premium.
[00:29:16] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah, no, that's a really great point. That speaker that I mentioned earlier in the episode that spoke about that client journey, she had just experienced something similar where she was onboarded with a new accountant.
[00:29:26] Adrienne Donnelly: She'd just, hired a new accountant and they asked her a bunch of odd, [00:29:30] what she thought were odd questions in the onboarding, but they actually were trying to ascertain, the kind of things that she likes and then. Lo and behold this gift arrived and she was like, oh, that makes sense. These are all these beautiful questions that they asked me, and they had purchased her a gift, and [00:29:45] every year, when it's a one year since they've been working, apparently they send out these nice emails and things like that, so it's like all those little touches.
[00:29:52] Adrienne Donnelly: Again, if they're on brand for you, that really can differentiate you between other service providers as well, and [00:30:00] continue to give that really beautiful, amazing experience to your clients.
[00:30:05] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Absolutely. Like I know I send Christmas cookies on Christmas. Mm-hmm. So yeah, that's just the extra personal touch that I like.
[00:30:12] Adrienne Donnelly: Yeah. I love it.
Conclusion and Where to Find Mariana
[00:30:16] Adrienne Donnelly: You're obviously very passionate about the client journey and are doing very well. If people are wanting to find out more about you and what you do and chat with you about your work, where is the best place for them to find you?
[00:30:28] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Uh, [00:30:30] Instagram absolutely i'm there, pinkoceanvs, i'm also on threads I do a lot of um, yapping about on at threads, pinkoceanvs again and on LinkedIn as well. That's got my proper name, Mariana Gaona Lopez. So, you can find me there and [00:30:45] yeah, in the Seed Inner Circle as well. I'm there, I'm chronically online, so you'll definitely get a reply from me pretty soon. Yeah, so if you wanna, if anyone wants to chat out about the client journey, have any questions if they use Moxie, and then one, we do have a look at it as well. I'm an [00:31:00] official Moxie implementer. So, yep. I'm happy to help.
[00:31:03] Adrienne Donnelly: Amazing. And we're so very, very lucky to have you back in the inner circle. You came back into our world recently and yeah, we definitely love having you part of the community. I'll make sure we've got all of [00:31:15] those links in the episode description so people can connect with you, especially around Moxie.
[00:31:20] Adrienne Donnelly: I think that's such an amazing niche that you have and, have really built a very strong reputation for yourself around being the absolute go-to for all [00:31:30] things Moxie.
[00:31:31] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Oh, why thank you. Yes, it's a great app and yeah, I'm so happy that I found it because I could not do dubsado, so, yeah, if, you know, you know,
[00:31:38] Adrienne Donnelly: if you know, you know. Perfect way to end. Well, thank you so much for being on the episode. Always appreciate chatting with [00:31:45] you and your time and we will chat again soon.
[00:31:47]
[00:31:48] Mariana Gaona Lopez: Thank you for listening to another episode of Seed to Success. Make sure you are subscribing so you never miss an episode. If you know a VA or OBM who might benefit from this [00:32:00] conversation, be sure to share it with them.
[00:32:02] Adrienne Donnelly: Let's chat again soon.
