Without the right solution, small service-based businesses often struggle to manage the entire customer lifecycle holistically. It’s a time-exhaustive and tricky process. So, in this review of vcita, we’re taking a close look at the following customer life cycle steps and exploring how vcita can help with each:
- Lead capturing
- Nurturing
- Sales
- Service fulfillment
- Billing
- Retention
There’s lots to cover, so let’s get straight down to business.
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vcita and Lead Capturing
What inspires passive website visitors to become potential leads? With vcita, you can set up targeted offers for your audience, optimized for the content they’re viewing on your site. Depending on the type of page they’re on, you can offer a free consulting. Alternatively, you can offer to attend a group presentation, automatically feeding your CRM with lead details when participants register.
In addition, vcita’s simple self-service appointment scheduling system ensures you never miss a lead again. Meetings can be booked 24/7 through your website. Plus, you’ll be notified when a lead comes through. Then you can then get in touch with these prospects to kickstart the nurturing process. (But more on that in a sec.)
You’ll also benefit from automated SMS and email meeting reminders, which should result in fewer no-shows and pesky last-minute cancellations.
Nurturing with vcita
Now it’s time to cultivate a lasting relationship with your prospects. With vcita, once a lead is captured on your site, they’re automatically injected into your CRM. From here, you can seamlessly manage contacts from the convenience of a single app.
The mobile app (available on both Android and iOS devices) allows you to take your client base with you whenever you go. So, from sending appointment invitations to accepting payments and sharing files, you never have to disconnect from your customers.
vcita also enables you to build customer profiles called “client cards.” This feature keeps your team fully abreast of who your leads and customers are and how they’ve previously interacted with your brand. On top of that, vcita also comes with in-built email marketing. Here, you can segment contacts using custom tags so you can organize and target your contacts however you wish.
This kind of segmentation permits you to send automated custom messages that better resonate and engage your leads. For instance, you could send an automated welcome message once a contact has engaged with your business for the first time. By sending contacts the content they actually want to receive, you’re far more likely to establish a deeper connection over time. Hopefully, this, in turn, will lead to them becoming fully paying clients.
Nurturing your clients is about adding as much extra value as possible. When you know who your client is and what they want, you can provide solutions that work for them. For example, if someone comes to your event, don’t just leave them standing in the cold afterward. Instead, you could invite them to a free one-on-one consultation or invite them to your next event.
Sales
Once your prospect is engaged with your brand, how do you make the sale? First, you want to entice your audience with a good deal. Fortunately, vcita allows you to create custom coupons to attract prospects and increase sales. No one can resist a bargain.
What’s more, you don’t even need a website to start selling online. Instead, you can enable clients to view your service list and schedule appointments directly from a vcita-generated landing page or client portal.
You can also leverage vcita’s beautiful email and SMS marketing template kits. As previously mentioned, you can segment your client list. Once you’ve done that, you can send leads personalized offers straight to their inbox and address them by name to boost engagement.
Alternatively, you can use the same platforms to follow up with clients post-event or after they’ve purchased something from your website.
Even if you’re not sure what to say, vcita’s got you covered. Simply click on the “Announcements” section in your marketing settings to access a library of ready-to-send email templates covering various business messages and occasions. From witty one-liners to compelling visuals, it won’t be long before your clients are hooked.
Of course, on top of that, you also have the option of sending proforma invoices. For the uninitiated, this is just a preliminary bill of sale sent in advance of the delivery. It tells customers exactly what they’re going to get from you if they buy. Then, using vcita, you can turn this estimate into a payable invoice with a single click.
Lastly, vcita’s self-service scheduling function works wonders for securing sales—especially if you choose to use the integrated invoice and/or prepayment features.
Service Fulfillment
Often service fulfillment spans several components, making it tricky to manage. This is where vcita’s client portal comes in handy. We touched on this above, but what exactly does it do for your customers?
In short, the client portal provides everything customers need to interact with your business via an easy-to-use dashboard. This helps clients feel like they’re being taken care of, and, as such, builds trust, which, in turn, boosts loyalty.
From this same portal, clients can make appointments, register for upcoming events, and reschedule or cancel said meetings. You can also set up payments, send over files, and/or receive them. All of which goes a long way to successfully executing service fulfillment.
In addition, vcita’s built-in messaging service opens a direct line of communication between you and your client. Minimize no-shows by automating pre-appointment reminders. Depending on the services you’re offering, you can also enable clients to pick whether their appointment is in-person, over the phone, or online via vcita’s handy Zoom integration.
On your end, vcita also provides an overview of your and your employees’ calendars. This helps you assign staff tasks without overburdening them.
Billing with vcita
You can handle every stage of the billing lifecycle using vcita’s app. From providing estimates, to sending invoices and pinging over purchase receipts, the intuitive dashboard also gives you an insight into all of your pending, paid, and overdue invoices.
You can even customize invoices with your company’s name and logo and choose the bill’s currency and tax rates. Make it easy for clients to pay for services anytime, anywhere. You can enable consumers to pay directly from the estimate or invoice you send them.
The self-service booking functionality can also handle payment requests. For example, if you turn on prepayment settings, clients can pay upfront when scheduling a meeting, which goes a long way to reducing payment hold-ups.
Or, if you prefer clients to receive their services first, you can send invoices and mobile wallet-style payment experiences via SMS the minute the appointment is over. You can also set the system to automatically invoice clients for all services rendered since the last monthly invoice. Either way, you can ensure both you and the client leave the billing cycle happy.
Retention
To better retain clients, vcita enables you to track your business activity with reports. Once you invest in the premium reports module, you’ll get a better idea of what’s working well with your lead generation strategies. More importantly, you can also gain an understanding of where there’s room for improvement.
You can use vcita’s reporting functionalities alongside its built-in analytics to give you an insight into your bookings, payments, clients, marketing, and even staff performance. You can also find out where your clients are coming from, what they’ve purchased from you, and the average turnover rate from your appointments.
Additionally, you may better retain clients by offering them a package deal. vcita enables you to bundle your services so that clients can purchase sessions in advance. For instance, a client could purchase a block of five consulting sessions and then book these meetings at their leisure. Packages are great incentives for encouraging repeat business. You could even offer a discounted rate to further boost your retention rates!
That said, if you’ve seen that you’re losing clients somewhere along your sales funnel, you can generate an automated messaging campaign to encourage client reactivation. For instance, you can send personalized messages to inactive customers to encourage them to get back in touch.
Our Final Thoughts on vcita
Whether you’re a small service-based business or a freelancer, your customer interactions lay the foundations for the kinds of client relationships you have.
Fortunately, vcita presents a solution for streamlining and navigating every stage of the customer lifecycle. These days, it’s not enough to simply launch a shiny new product. Instead, customers want value added from start to finish, and vcita provides you with all the tools you need to do precisely that.
Say goodbye to time-consuming practices like hand-crafted emails and awkward phone calls to chase up payments. Instead, say hello to a more organized approach to each customer life cycle stage, excellent customer service, and happy clients.
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