Part 2: Map your Client Flow journey
Four "make or break" client journey milestones that can make or break your client experience.
I was lucky to specialize in launches early on in my career and helped clients generate millions over the past decade using every launch framework you can think of (my favorites were challenge launches and PLFs).
While big launches are fun, intense, and a rollercoaster in every sense of the word, my true passion has always been making sure that clients who convert actually achieve results as they progress through the programs.
When you have thousands of people going through these launches, you also see firsthand what happens when hundreds (or even thousands) buy and start working through the program.
Interestingly, no matter the size of the launch or volume of new clients, there are four “make or break” milestones in every program journey.
These are the key points in your programs where you can either lose clients’ excitement and attention or give them the support they need to reach the next milestone successfully.
It’s the “Client Flow Journey” framework:
Activate - immediately after they buy and for the first couple of weeks
Educate - when they consume educational materials
Implement - when they apply what they’ve learned
Celebrate - when they achieve different levels of success
Let’s dive into each and see how you can apply these to uplevel your group program experience, help clients achieve better results and have them stay with you longer.
1. ACTIVATE
Have you ever heard about the “Expectation-Experience Gap”?
For example, overpromising with quick, exaggerated results or too many features when launching an offer can backfire.
Clients start with high expectations, but when reality sets in and progress is slower or harder than anticipated, their initial excitement drops.
This creates a gap between what was promised and what they experience, leading to disappointment and doubts about whether they made the right choice.
It’s essential to set realistic expectations and then overdeliver on the experience from day one.
The most important lesson here: never assume your clients know what to when they join just because it’s obvious to you. (Remember, while you’re the expert, it’s probably new and overwhelming to them.)
That’s why “setting the stage” and having a strong onboarding sequence in place is a must.
Paint the picture and give your clients a “treasure map” so they know exactly what needs to happen from day one to achieve results.
Even better, offer a quick onboarding/welcome call with new clients (or have your CSM do it). While this isn’t scalable, it creates a ton of goodwill, especially if they’ve just paid for a mid to higher-priced offer.
Pro tip: If 1:1 calls aren’t an option, use an app like Bonjoro to record personalized welcome messages. You can automate the process to get a direct notification on your phone, and in less than a minute, you can record and send a welcome video message to new clients.
I’m getting a 90% response rate on these (and they can be a perfect upselling opportunity, but more on that in part two of this series).
The main goal during this milestone is to transfer some of their emotional post-purchase excitement into immediate action. (The bigger the gap between purchase and their start, the harder it is for them to build positive momentum.)
2. EDUCATE
This milestone is all about clients consuming educational materials.
How do you keep them from getting stuck in the “just one more video, and then I’ll start implementing” loop?
Trim the fat! Keep only the essential materials. No one wants to go through 53 hours of videos or sift through your old webinar recordings.
One of the funniest comments I got on my latest course was:
“I joined your program, and my first thought was, ‘This is all we get?’ But an hour into your content, I realized the short, to-the-point lessons will save me a ton of time. Thanks a million.”
Your clients will respect you way more for saving them time by giving them less content than trying to impress them with hours of video.
Pro tip: Course completion metrics in LMS are not client success indicators.
People consume content and learn differently: some will progress linearly, module by module, while others will go through all the material first and then implement from scratch.
Often, slower consumption progress actually means better implementation progress.
3. IMPLEMENT
Now we’re at the crucial point where they need to start implementing to start stacking wins.
What works best for us is creating “playbooks” with simple step-by-step guides. I got this from my OG mentor James Schramko, so it’s easy to direct clients to a solution when they get stuck.
You will still have educational videos, while playbook distills everything into a couple of segments:
Check list (everything you need to implement)
Process (steps on what needs to be done)
Q&A (most common questions you already know will pop up in people’s minds. That way you avoid repeating yourself over and over again in your support area)
Another key thing: your clients need to know they’re supported when they get stuck. It’s not if but when, because we all hit a wall at some point.
They need clear instructions on what to do if they need support (include these in your activate onboarding sequence), depending on their level of access to you (and your team).
In my programs, I encourage clients to ask for feedback by following a specific structure to get all the information I need (whether I’m providing feedback on weekly Zoom calls or through our support community).
4. CELEBRATE
The final and most fun milestone is all about celebrating client success and determining what happens next.
Most people mistakenly think there’s only one success milestone: the final outcome they promised when selling.
But, after years of tracking client progress, I’ve found that clients hit many other success goals along the way.
For example, in one of my programs about creating “irresistible offer that sells”, we initially only celebrated clients who (re)created their offers and started making sales. But, after talking to most of my members, I realized there were other huge wins that I’d taken for granted—wins that were a big deal to them.
So, we added multiple success levels to celebrate more often:
Level #1: Course completion (easy win)
Level #2: Clearly defined client avatar
Level #3: Offer page done and sent to the audience
Level #4: First mini-launch completed
Level #5: Offer gains traction (final outcome)
Celebrating these micro-wins builds momentum faster and keeps the community motivated.
Plus, it’s easier to track their progress towards the big outcome win (which can become your next case study or testimonial).
So, redefine your success milestones, but keep it simple (3 to 5 is ideal).
So let’s recap:
Activate - keep the post-purchase momentum going and have a strong onboarding sequence in place (personalize the process as much as possible, it’ll create a ton of good will)
Educate - less is more, so trim the fat and provide only essential educational materials. Your clients will thank you for it.
Implement - Use playbooks to split the implementation process into manageable chunks. It helps with building momentum. Make sure your clients know exactly how they are supported and what to do when they need help (from weekly group calls, AMA sessions or simple forum posts).
Celebrate - define different levels of success to get more “big wins” in the end. Make sure to have an offboarding sequence in place (it’s as equally important as an onboarding sequence).
Time for part #3 and (re)defining your upsell offers…