Communication Process Automation
How We Optimized Customer Experience for Speak by Design Without Increasing Operations Cost
Client Overview
Speak by Design is a team of coaches and trainers who help people leverage their speaking skills for greater impact. Their approach is tailored to help trainees maximize their effectiveness through communication. In other words, Speak by Design creates coaching and training programs that help people polish their speaking skills.
Challenges
Speak by Design (SBD) reached out to us to develop several projects that its team couldn’t implement within the desired time frame due to team strength and size.
The primary focus was to build a new certification site and student portal, where SBD could offer its clients a series of courses that included text and videos with some intelligence and enhanced user experience. (automated course completion process, streamlined exams submission process, and automated progression to advance courses after exam approval and more).
The team’s challenge was time and personnel constraints as they didn’t have a team that could design the different web pages, create the CRM structure on their main automation tool (Ontraport), and automate and integrate the different pieces to work together as needed.
In addition, since SBD provides private coaching sessions, the team needed a system to monitor and regulate their processes based on a tiered plan that allows clients to purchase session packages for additional sessions. To achieve this, it was important to build a streamlined process for all coaches to track sessions uniformly, improve payment options, and prevent internal miscommunication among the team members.
Our Approach
After an initial strategy period where we scoped the project and defined the due dates and priorities, we began to work on the different pieces. While a part of our project team worked on user interface and experience design and HTML templates for emails, others created the CRM structure and automated workflows needed.
To support this structure and stay aligned with SBD’s main goals and focus, we met with the team weekly to discuss the project’s status and align both teams’ priorities for the following week.
Every month, we facilitated a special strategy meeting to design new parts of the projects and review new ideas to enhance the original vision before launch.
Solution Implemented
- We designed the membership site and created templates for different pages. Those would help the team populate program pages quickly whenever new content is available.
- We created automated workflows that allowed the different pages to show information in dynamic ways. For example, if a user has completed a specific course in the past, it shows visual feedback as a reminder. Also, if a student has their exam available, they’ll have a button that allows them to attempt and submit it.
- We made these automations flexible so that the SBD Team can modify them if necessary. We equally reviewed each automation with the team to ensure they would have the information they needed to change them in the future.
- We modified the settings of their CRM and added different custom objects (specific structures for SBD’s business).
- We added new fields and functionality to their “Contact” structure. For instance, we created a field that allows the SBD team and learning management system to know which course has been completed. And if there’s a need for additional fields or functions in the future, they’ll be able to replicate the process.
- We linked Ontraport with Acuity for the private coaching sessions to automatically update the monthly tracking details for each contact. We set up workflows to reset monthly sessions at the start of each month, developed a payment page for members to purchase additional sessions easily, and automated session counts on their profiles.
Results
- We delivered the complete project at the agreed due date, which allowed the SBD Team to create their website and launch the service on time.
- One of the goals here was to simplify access to their clients and we made that possible by using the Ontraport Membership Site feature, streamlining access to the old and new platforms.
- We achieved these without getting any new SaaS implementations or new software, avoiding unnecessary tools or complicating their tech stack.
- By implementing automated tracking for private coaching sessions, we decreased the occurrence of session misassignment to under 5% per month. Additionally, we nearly eliminated the time spent by the support team on rectifying appointments and manual invoicing for additional sessions.
From the Horse’s Mouth
John Bingham
Chief Operating Officer at Speak by Design
In a Nutshell…
By designing the entire solution inside SBD’s CRM software, they can now modify or add new functionalities without having to use costly or additional custom software. Our solution also empowered the team with the systems to add or change core functionalities in their new portal while keeping it simple and self-sufficient.
Helping clients use their systems to their full potential is one of our core values at Automated Dreams. As a team of experts, we always find the best solutions for clients’ challenges while simplifying and integrating their tech stack.
