An Easy Way to Exceed Clients’ Expectations

There’s something special I do for my private clients that they love. They get a ton of value from it and it helps us stay on track and connected.

Before I share what it is, I want to give a shout-out to Moniqua Plante at The Plante Life. Not only is she an extraordinary human, but she’s a gifted health coach. She helped me drop the last 15 stubborn post-baby pounds that I just couldn’t shake.

Almost as importantly, her coaching style is what inspired me to take my own practice to the next level.

Within 48 hours after our sessions together, I would get an email from Moniqua outlining my successes from the previous week, describing everything we had discussed, referencing links to resources to help me, and listing commitments I had made for the following session.

Her emails made me feel taken care of. Even on the days that I just couldn’t find the time to read through them, I had tangible evidence of her investment in me, and that offered amazing accountability. My motivation went from fitting into my jeans to not wanting to let her down! It was incredible.

(FYI: I DID get back into my bright red skinny jeans and my butt looks…. Ah-mazing. Thanks, Moniqua!)

So, after working with Moniqua, I began providing my own clients with “Session Recaps.” I hope my clients feel the same way I did…#KnockOnWood.

Here’s why I think session recaps are valuable:

1. They allow your client to be centered and focused during the session. Your clients don’t have to worry about writing everything down; you’re capturing that information for them.

2. They provide proof of your client’s progress. I write my session recaps in a shared Google doc that I add to at the end of every session. As a result, we have this beautiful timeline from our very first session to the most recent one. It outlines what we’ve focused on every week, the strategies we’re going to use to overcome obstacles, any resources and links to training that I’ve shared, as well as next steps. It’s a diary of the incredible work we’ve done together which serves as a confidence boost for me and an anchor for my client.

3. Again, they deepen trust. Session recaps exceed expectations and create a client experience where your client knows you have their back.

4. They serve as a roadmap or a reference point. For example, one of my clients is about to officially launch his website and he’s very excited. Before he could push that publish button, he needed a quick reminder about what he was supposed to do once his website went live. Instead of pulling these next steps out of my head, or combing through various notes to find what we had discussed, I was able to quickly go to our session recap, pull that 7-step outline that we had created and that I had outlined in our google doc, and send it his way.

5. Session recaps also allow you to stay on track and fresh with what your client is working on. I always go back and re-read the most recent session recap before going into an appointment. That way I’m reminded of where we’re at and what we’re working on.

Now that we’re on the same page about how awesome session recaps are, here’s exactly how I do them…

First, record your session. Whether you’re meeting in person, on Skype, Zoom, or on the phone — make sure every conversation is recorded. That way you can deliver an audio mp3 as part of your recap. This will easily document what you’ve talked about, your clients’ progress, the work you’ve done together, and in case one of you says something extraordinary!

Next, take the extra time to craft a session re-cap. As you know, I do this in a shared Google doc that I add to every session.

I’m not going to lie to you, sometimes writing those session recaps can take an extra 30 minutes (or more…), but I have found time and time again that the extra investment of time has rewarded both me and my clients tenfold. It’s worth every minute.

I love it, my clients love it, and I encourage you to start doing them.