In working with our clients, we’ve long emphasized that client experiences and relationships are the lifeblood of organizational success. These teachings remain timeless. Experience and relationship still matter — deeply.
Yet with technology and automation now defining many of the ways clients interact with your company, designers of the client experience need to broaden their attention to include something that has often been overlooked: client effort.
Think about it. If interacting with your organization is confusing, repetitive, takes too long, or requires the client to work too hard to get what they need when they need it, it impacts their experience with you — and the kicker is, you may never know it.
Clients now expect clarity, speed, and simplicity. They compare your service not just to others in your industry, but to every easy, intuitive experience they have elsewhere — from the apps they use to their favorite service providers.
Clients remember how you made them feel during the ordinary, repeatable interactions — scheduling, follow-ups, resolving questions, solving concerns. Those touchpoints shape the bulk of their experience.
Organizations that make working with them feel easy — by anticipating questions, communicating clearly, making handoffs seamless, and reducing effort to its minimum — create great client experiences and enjoy long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships with their clients.
Do you know how much effort clients expend to work with your company? Where is it easy? Where is it cumbersome, repetitive, or takes too long? If you aren’t sure, below are a few steps you can take to get started:
- Do a Client Effort Audit. Identify where clients are working harder than they should — repeating information, waiting too long, navigating confusing processes — and address those friction points.
- Anticipate “next issues.” Clients often have follow-up questions they haven’t voiced yet. By answering them proactively, you reduce back-and-forth and build confidence.
- Simplify internal handoffs. Each time a client gets bounced between people or departments, trust takes a hit. Make internal coordination invisible to the client.
- Use clear, guiding language. Even when situations are complex, the way you explain them can make the experience feel simple and supported.
- Empower your people. Give client-facing team members the tools and authority to solve problems efficiently, without unnecessary escalation.
All of this comes down to making the client experience feel easy. That’s what clients want — ease, convenience, and clarity at every step. If you’re looking for guidance on where to simplify, reach out — we’d love to work with you.
