Crafting an Experience vs. Creating an Offer – Episode 020

On last week’s episode, I talked about packaging your expertise to create a one-to-many offer. But there’s a difference between just creating an offer, and creating an experience. It’s about intention. It’s about foresight and it’s about guiding a journey. That’s what we are going to chat about in today’s episode, how to craft an experience vs. creating an offer.

Show Links:

Show Takeaways:

Determine what offers to design your experience around.
Learn how to create an experience that helps you set and maintain expectations.
Uncover how to encourage your clients to co-create the experience with you.

Rather skim before you listen? ⬇️

It’s January, the first month of 2022 and chances are you set New year’s Resolutions or goals for the year. Brilliant!!!

I’m a huge Jonas Brothers fan. I’ll listen to albums over and over on repeat and go see them play the same songs in concert as well. I saw them twice in 2019 and plan on seeing them three times on their upcoming tour.

But these two things are not the same. One is a recording that sounds the same aka ah-ma-zing every single time. and the other is a whole other experience. It cannot be capture or replicated in exactly the same way because it is a collective effort to create it, based on who is in the audience. The energy is contagious. The same is true for business.

I’ve been to conferences and in-person events that have left me feeling the same way. I recently attended Inspired Retreat put on by Amber Housley. Even though the retreat had evolved since I’d signed up for it in Fall of 2019 (thanks to covid and lockdown), the entire 3 days were an experience. The 16 other women I was in that retreat with co-created that experience. In fact, in the final goodbye session, I got super choked up, aka I cried like a baby, because as much as all of us wanted to take the feeling home with us or recreate it in an online forum, it wasn’t possible to do it. That live experience was directed and influenced by Amber and her team but ultimately it required buy-in from the other women in that retreat to be what it was.

There is an element of unknown with these type of experiences but the reason that I talk about it, is that as entrepreneurs, as business owners showing up to serve clients and customers, we have an obligation. Sure, we can provide a service or build a course, but there are intentional aspects of your offers that take an offer and make it an experience to deliver on. Last week, I talked about packaging your expertise to create a 1:many offer. But there is a difference between just creating an offer and creating an experience. It’s about intention, foresight, and guiding a journey.

Why would you want to create an experience versus just an offer? Well, my telling you about the Jonas brothers concert and Amber’s Inspired Retreat is a very good reason. As Maya Angelou reminded us “People remember how you made them feel” and I would go as far to say that they will tell other people how you made them feel as well.

Word-of-mouth marketing is hugely effective (5 times more effective than other digital marketing efforts), and who doesn’t want to make their life easier by having your clients doing your marketing for you.

Also, there is a higher level of retention and opportunity for transformation if something feels like an experience rather than it just being an offer. There is a human connection aspect to experiences that is difficult to transcend or replicate. Being seen, noticed, held accountable is a big factor for a lot of people searching for a transformation that they haven’t been able to previously create on their own. Helping others be as successful as possible with your offers is beneficial to everyone — them because they are actually achieving what they want to accomplish, you because you are getting reinforcements that you can provide that transformation, and potential customers because they can see that you can actually get others results.

Now, you may be wondering what kinds of offers lend themselves to having experiential potential. When I think of offers that you can craft an experience around, I think of retreats (like Inspired Retreat), in-person events like conferences or seminars, webinars, group coaching calls, Facebook groups, videos, audio recordings, or anything with any sort of inspirational material. These can the offers themselves or can be intentional features or aspects of an offer.

It can be as simple as sending an introductory email to someone that is specific to them, their project, their unique situation. Or you can send a welcome gift with a handwritten note. I do this with all new 1:1 clients because it is a delightful little surprise that they aren’t expecting and that I love doing. Making people feel welcome in any new situation goes a long way because we are often afraid of change and uncertainty. If someone signed up for your offer, they went out of their comfort zone. Giving them a warm welcome helps to reinforce that they made the right choice. It encourages them continuing to put themselves out there.

It can be a simple check in, whether that is a prescheduled kinda thing or a reactionary thing where they didn’t show up for something or didn’t follow up. When we go “missing” and someone notices, it reinforces that we aren’t just a name with a credit card to someone. And in this online world, it is easy to feel that way, like a number or a bunch of dollar signs to someone. When we feel like we are seen and matter, it goes a long way.

One that I am painfully aware of when I am a client or consumer is remembering details. I have had several experiences with coaches both in a 1:1 setting and a group setting where they couldn’t or didn’t remember what I was working on from call to call. And it was super frustrating. I had paid someone multiple four figures for me to have to keep reminding them of the course I was building on every weekly call. You needn’t have an amazing memory. Just write some stuff down. Know your clients problems, their projects, their kids’ or partner’s names. It may seem like a given but you’d be surprised at how much this is not the norm.

Something that may seem trivial but does make a huge difference in creating an experience is loving what you do. Energy is contagious. Vibes are a real thing that others can pick up on. So if you are “serving” from a place of desperation, resentment, or boredom, even if you have a smile on your face, your clients will pick up on it. And it won’t lead to them feel like it is a good experience. So it is up to you to be in alignment with the experience you are providing, the problem you are solving, the people you are serving, and how you are genuinely showing up. They can sniff out inauthenticity a mile away.

Something else that I am seeing more and more in this online space but is still a bit of an anomaly is encouraging boundaries. This may seem counter-intuitive at first glance but I am going to ask you to take a deeper look. Boundaries can be an excellent way to set and maintain expectations and I’ve seen that when all players know the expectations, it allows for a much more delightful interaction or journey. You may have thought that unlimited access to you and all their is to possible have would be what provides the “best” experience but that is where this breaks down. More isn’t always better. As the expert, your clients and customers are looking to you to provide them with the guidance and way forward. That includes guiding them on what they need and what they don’t to be successful. If they are focused on getting the most “bang for their buck” they won’t be able to focus on using that energy to get the transformation. And by you encouraging your own boundaries, you are creating the example of setting and maintaining boundaries, something that is wildly lacking in a lot of online business transactions with service-based professionals.

Another easy way to create an experience is encourage clients and customers to play their part in the experience and invite them to co-create. We often have a better time when we have some buy in and are actively participating versus being a passive observer. Give them tangible ways for how they can co-create an experience that they truly want to have. Give them autonomy and freedom to decide.

Finally, put your personality into your offer. Let others in on who you truly are, get a bit vulnerable. It sets an example and gives others an opportunity to connect with you. And yes, I am going to say it because I know that there are a few out there that will hit me with the “professionalism” excuse. Forget the whole stuffy “professionalism that’s-the-way-it’s-always-been-done excuse”. It is 2021, this is your business, and people buy from people not robots, not platforms. Be intentional yes, and don’t air all your stuff, but be human. As a small business, you are your biggest asset in creating an experience.

We all want to feel special, taken care of, see and valued especially when it comes to that people to people connection. It is that VIP treatment. And it goes so much deeper than just utilizing this idea for marketing and making money. It lends itself to you being able to serve more people and serve them well.

I always like to end each episode with an action step that you can take right now to help you move forward and begin to implement immediately. Here is your action step for this episode: Choose one of your offers and brainstorm ways to make it more of an experience. Then choose 1 way that will have an impact and is easy to implement and test it out.

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