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How to attract high-end clients and use a client contract template

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Date:
May 22, 2019

Author:
Ashlyn Carter

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Hey! Ashlyn here, OG copywriter for creatives—reporting for duty. 

Let's get you a message so tight you can bounce a quarter off of it. Around here, we serve up science-based storytelling strategies the creative set.  Even while raking in more than 1.26M in agency work since I've been at it, I firmly believe working from a place of rest (not hustle) IS possible—and I want the same for you. Words matter. Best be sure they work (and oui, with math) ... and know how to party while they're at it. 

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Reading time: 6 min.

Time for a mailbag question! Let’s talk how to attract high-end clients and wow them through your client onboarding experience—and client contract template.

Mailbag inquries are my favorite. 🙂

Today’s question is from Elizabeth of Elizabeth Duncan Events (oy there, Elizabeth!), who asked ze great question below:

“The question I’m tossing around in my head is about making very nuanced shifts in my messaging and client interactions to ensure I’m attracting the ideal client.  My branding and reputation have worked really well for me for nearly 7 years, but now things are ready to evolve again.  I’m in a position to be more selective about the work I take on. I want to manage my grow to maintain authenticity and high touch. I want to be sensitive to not sounding snobby or pretentious, because I’m not, while at the same time subtly creating a sense of exclusivity.  I also want to figure out the questions that will really highlight the best fit clients and weed out the potential clients who are not a good fit at all.”

Oh GIRL, don’t even. I get it. I’ve been there.

Game on.

How to attract high-end clients with your brand messaging | Ashlyn Writes

In this mini-workshop I gave over on the AW Facebook page (video below), you’ll learn how to attract high-end clients by:

  • The backwards approach to your messaging here—hint: I won’t tell you to start with your copy
  • 3 nuanced shifts to focus on
  • The #1 thing you can do today to get feedback on your brand’s tone from your dreamboat clients

 

Watch it below—and don’t forget to button this all up with a SOLID contract agreement. I promise it generates trust with your high-roller clients, because c’mon now, if you’re gonna charge big prices you best be lookin’ legit.

You also need to be able to UNDERSTAND your contract, because part of your client onboarding experience is making sure your client understands it, too. My #1 resource (besides just using up all the hours I can pay for to get her brain) is using my lawyer Christina Scalera’s client templates from The Contract Shop. It’s my go-to.

The language is so easy to understand in her templates, her team is standing by to make sure you install it properly into your business, and your high-end clients will be très impressed.

Client contract template PDF from The Contract Shop



First, make sure your product is *that* good.

If we want to charge BMW rates, we need to give BMW experiences.

If we want to charge BMW rates, we need to give BMW experiences. Click To Tweet

I don’t know if someone told me that or if my head made it up, but I think about it a lot—you simply can’t try to market your creative small business and figure out how to attract high-end client if your product or service isn’t up to snuff.

When you’re ready to be a BIT more selective in your work and go after those high-end, laid-back dream clients everyone wants, and start attracting them with your messaging or copywriting—all the words that cozy up to those beautiful images you use—start with your service or product …

… and make sure it’s really that good.

Here are my 5 client or customer experience touchpoints—how do you stack up?

Touchpoint 1: Know Your Deliverable List

Take a look at your client experience and vet it: can you tell me each deliverable or item you give? The hours you spend in face-to-face time with them? Pretend for a moment your client service or product is like, a line-itemed receipt. What all would I find on there? What’s everything you do for your clients?

(Go ahead—gather that, and I’ll come back to it in a sec.)

Touchpoint 2: Lead Onboarding & Offboarding Well (and Use a Client Contract Template)

Next, how are you servicing them—do you have a welcome packet? Click here to read the post I wrote on how to write your welcome packet, and grab my template. What about an inquiry magazine—or for bonus points, a goodbye kit?

Your clients are looking to you to lead them, and it’s amazing how a little goes a long way in giving a solid client experience.

Also important? Communicating legal stuff in a way that makes them feel that Ritz Carlton white glove level of care. Like I said above, you HAVE TO HAVE a contract that you can understand.

Gots to, sistah.

I lean on contract templates that my lawyer, attorney for creatives Christina Scalera, reviews. The good news is, Christina’s made those available for all the peoples in The Contract Shop.

I would *highly* recommend purchasing a client contract PDF template from her and installing in your CRM, which is the next step below!
Client contract template PDF from The Contract Shop

Touchpoint 3: Have an Easy-to-Use CRM

My tool of choice to give an elevated experience to my calligraphy and copywriting clients has been HoneyBook. I tried a few things, and just found nothing better.

Plus, you can easily install your contract template inside. #winning

Click here to read how we use HoneyBook in my business to manage and organize our clients.

Touchpoint 4: Surprise & Delight Them

Gifts, of course! I feel like that’s the low-hanging fruit about a client experience we all think of.  You can’t get better than my clients Justin & Mary Marantz—check out this post they wrote about their client experience. You won’t believe how they surprise their clients when they deliver the photos from their weddings!

One of my favorite things we used to do when I worked in agency PR for Delta Air Lines was send sporting event and arts event tickets to our high-value SkyMiles members … the response was always a hit, and it cost the airline so little.

What to do before a creative conference - tips I do before every event by Ashlyn Carter of Ashlyn Writes


Focus on Specificity, Reciprocity, and Scarcity

I break this down a bit more in the video. I want you to weave in these three things in your brand messaging and copy when it comes to how to attract high-end clients.

Specificity

Talk to one person—your high-end bride or client wants to feel seen and heard (just like everyone else on planet earth), so make her feel like she’s in the right spot. There are many reasons you need to write to just one person in your copy—I blogged about two of them here.

Reciprocity

Robert Cialdini breaks down the six levers we get to pull to influence others as we market our businesses, and chapter 1? Reciprocity.

The idea of give a little something to get a little something.

Fascinatingly enough, this basic human psychological fact bleeds into people groups and cultures spanning time and ethnicity: we all do this. We all give something and expect at SOME point to be returned the favor in some way. And we all hate the feeling of owing someone a debt.

How can you use that in your messaging and marketing?

I tell my students and clients to give a little somethin’ extra as a free gift in your inquiry email: maybe it’s a free download to help her plan her engagement photos, a coupon to your shop, a workbook that will help her map out her social media goals. Just something that says thank you, and surprises and delights a bit before they’re ever a client.

Scarcity

I think we hear scarcity and immediately picture that “closes at midnight!!” email we’ve all gotten. But, you can fold it into your messaging as a service-based business, too.

Simply put, when we believe something is in short supply, we want it more.

So, can you tell me your sales goals? How many spots you have? Your time isn’t finite, and you need to have a certain number of spots you can fill—so you can fill them and rest.

I lean on The Blueprint Model to plan my business financial map. I highly recommend it to tell you what your numbers are.

Click here to learn more about The Blueprint Model.

(Psst—knowing my numbers also gives me confidence in pitching my clients to my more expensive packages. I know the value, and I’m super confident going into client onboarding as a result.)


Lastly, Attract High-End Clients with a Strong Brand Voice

I *think* you probably thought we were going to kick this how to attract high-end clients training off with voice, but it’s third on the list. Why? Because without those other two facets, voice doesn’t matter as much.

But matter it does.

In the video, I give a quick DIY way you can get your clients to tell you your brand voice—along with 20 adjectives you may use to describe your brand voice [fast forward to 14:18 to catch those].


Bottom line, I want you to be selective about work you take on, maintaining authenticity and high touch.

Again, if you don’t have a ROCK-SOLID contract template in place to take care of your people, I can’t recommend the templates from The Contract Shop enough. They’ve covered my bootie constantly, and also covered my clients … which makes me feel fabulous since they’re paying a freaking heck of a lot of money to work with us.

Make your clients feel secure with a beauty-ful, high-end services template you can scoop up here!Client contract template PDF from The Contract Shop

LOVE THIS SLASH NEED IT BACK-POCKETED FOR LATER?

CLICK BELOW TO PIN IT!

 

How to attract high-end clients with your brand messaging | Ashlyn Writes

Reading Time: 7 Minutes Reading time: 6 min. Time for a mailbag question! Let’s talk how to attract high-end clients and wow them through your client onboarding experience—and client contract template. Mailbag inquries are my favorite. 🙂 Today’s question is from Elizabeth of Elizabeth Duncan Events (oy there, Elizabeth!), who asked ze great question below: “The question I’m tossing […]

5/22/19

comments +

  1. Katie Benson says:

    Amazing, thank you so much for this! I adore your style and you’ve been such a help to me in my business with all your tidbits of info + the prewritten letters that I purchased a few months back. Thank you thank you <3

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