Ever wonder if client experience actually matters and how it impacts your business? I’ve been educating about client experience for years now, but I was inspired by Jess and her State of the Online Business Space research survey results to conduct some research of my own.

I asked 120 business owners questions about their preferences and expectations regarding the client experience when working with a service-based business, and boy did they share some juicy info. The participants ranged from new business owners who have been in business for less than a year, all the way up to seasoned pros who have been in business for 5+ years. They shared insight on things like: what type of done-for-you services they’ve invested in, an ideal inquiry response timeframe, whether or not a CRM improves the client experience, and so much more!

In this post, I’ll be sharing the results for each question I asked on the survey, along with my insight and overall takeaways from this research. Whether you’re new in business or have been around the block for a while, I can almost guarantee you’ll find something unexpected in these results! (And if you do, DM me on Instagram and let me know which part was the biggest surprise!)

Who responded to this survey?

Type of Business

• Mainly service-based business: 82%
• Mainly product-based business: 3%
• Coaching business: 13%
• Other 2%

Time in Business

• Less than 1 year: 9%
• 1-3 years: 29%
• 3-5 years: 38%
• 5+ years: 24%

Done-for-You Investments Made

• Copywriting: 32%
• Branding: 49%
• Web Design: 41%
• SMM (Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, etc.): 26%
• Marketing Strategy: 19%
• Systems/Client Experience: 31%
• Photography/Videography: 60%
• None of the above: 8%
• Other: 7%

The survey respondents were mostly service-based business owners who are 3-5 years into their business journey. The most common done-for-you investment is Photography/Videography, with Branding & Web Design closely behind.

What parts of the client experience are most important?

What is most important when it comes to client satisfaction?

In this question, participants were asked to rank the following options in order from 1 (most important) to 4 (least important) in relation to how each element would impact their satisfaction with the project outcome and whether or not they would refer the service provider to others and/or work with them again. The data below shows the average ranking of each option across all submissions.

1. Quality of deliverables - Average Ranking: 1.6
2. Communication - Average Ranking: 2.1
3. Ease of experience - Average Ranking: 2.5
4. Well-branded experience/materials - Average Ranking: 3.8

When it comes to client satisfaction and whether or not they refer others and/or work with a service provider again, quality of deliverables was most important and well-branded experience/materials was least important.

What impact does a poor experience have?

In this question participants were asked to select a response that best aligns with what they would do if they had a poor experience with a service provider (i.e. clunky process, poor communication, unclear timelines, etc.) but the deliverables were still high quality.

• Work with them again & refer others to them: 4%
• Work with them again but not refer others to them: 41%
• Not work with them again, but refer others to them: 11%
• Not work with them again & not refer others to them: 41%
• Not work with them again & actively discourage others from working with them: 3%

The impact of a poor experience on a service-provider’s ability to gain referrals an repeat clients is unquestionable, as a whopping 82% of participants shared that they would not refer others to a service provider who delivered a poor client experience, even if the deliverables were high quality. Of that 82%, half of them also would not work with the service provider again.

How important is your inquiry process?

Inquiry Forms

For the following questions, participants were asked to choose whether they would be more likely to inquire with someone who has an inquiry form on their website, one of the other options listed below, or no preference.

Website inquiry form vs a link to email them

• Website inquiry form: 85%
• Email: 1%
• No preference: 14%

Website inquiry form vs Google form application/contact form

• Website inquiry form: 62%
• Google form: 5%
• No preference: 33%

Website inquiry form vs link to book a call

• Website inquiry form: 78%
• Link to schedule a call: 8%
• No preference: 14%

Across the board, participants are more likely to inquire with the service provider who has an inquiry form on their website.

Inquiry Response Times

In this question, participants were asked to select the timeframe in which they would expect a personalized response after inquiring with a service provider (excluding automated inquiry responses).

• Within 1 business day: 17%
• Within 2 business days: 58%
• Within 3 business days: 21%
• Within 4 business days: 2%
• Other: 2%

In this question, participants were asked to select the time at which, having not received a personalized response, they would begin to look elsewhere / feel like their time isn’t being valued. This is excluding situations where it has been communicated up-front that the response time will be longer due to certain circumstances.

• Within 1 business day: 3%
• Within 2 business days: 8%
• Within 3 business days: 35%
• Within 4 business days: 14%
• Within 5 business days: 25%
• Within 6 business days: 4%
• Within 7 business days: 10%
• Other: 1%

In this question, participants were asked whether or no they have ever chosen to not work with someone based on a slow inquiry response time.

• Yes: 65%
• No: 35%

A majority of participants expect a personalized inquiry response within 2 business days of inquiring and will potentially look elsewhere or feel as though their time is not being valued if they haven’t received a response within 3 business days. And 65% of participants have chosen to not work with a service provider due to slow response time.

How important is your project proposal?

In this question, participants were asked to select the timeframe in which they would expect to receive a project proposal or similar booking information after having a discovery or consultation call with a service provider.

• The same day: 8%
• Within 1 business day: 37%
• Within 2 business days: 35%
• Within 3 business days: 12%
• Within 4 business days: 5%
• Other: 3%

In this question, participants were asked to select the time at which, having not received a proposal or similar booking information, they would start to feel uncertain about working with this service provider.

• Within 1 business day: 5%
• Within 2 business days: 21%
• Within 3 business days: 27%
• Within 4 business days: 15%
• Within 5 business days: 17%
• Within 6 business days: 3%
• Within 7 business days: 11%
• Other: 1%

In this question, participants were asked whether or no they have ever chosen to not work with someone based on how long it took to receive a proposal or similar booking information.

• Yes: 48%
• No: 52%

In this question, participants were asked what type of proposal they preferred to receive from a service provider.

• A PDF proposal where you have to respond via email to let them know which service(s) you’d like to book: 1%
• An interactive proposal where you can self-select which service(s) you’d like to book: 66%
• No preference between the two: 33%

A majority of participants expect a proposal or booking information to be delivered within 1 business day of a discovery or consultation call and will potentially being to feel unsure about the investment if they haven’t received this information within 3 days. 52% of respondents, however, say that the timeframe for receiving a proposal or booking information does not impact whether they choose to work with that service provider. It’s time to ditch PDF proposals for good, because 66% of participants shared that they prefer an interactive proposal over a PDF!

How important is using a CRM like Dubsado, Honeybook, etc.?

In this question, participants were asked to select which option best aligns with how they feel about working with a service provider who is using a CRM.

• Typically makes the process better: 68%
• Typically makes the process worse: 4%
• I don’t/haven’t noticed a difference: 28%

Most of the time, using a CRM results in a better process and experience for your clients, as shared by 68% of the participants.

Biggest Takeaways

Client experience matters. Period. Especially if you care about receiving referrals and having repeat clients.

• Stop spending so much time stressing about how your experience looks and more time focusing on how it functions. The quality of your deliverables, your communication, and the ease of the experience all have a greater impact on the client’s satisfaction than having a well-branded experience.
• A poor client experience greatly impacts you ability to receive referrals and repeat clients. 82% of participants would not refer others to a service provider who provided high quality deliverables and a poor experience. And of that 82%, half of them also will not work with the service provider again.
• A website inquiry form is a must. Across the board, participants are more likely to inquiry with someone who has an inquiry form on their website than a link to their email, a Google form, or a link to book a call.
• Your inquiry response times matter. A majority of participants expect a personalized response within 2 business days, and will start to look elsewhere or feel like their time isn’t valued if it has been more than 3 business days. Plus, 65% of participants shared that have chosen not to work with someone based on a slow inquiry response time.
• Sending off proposals quickly is a boost to your inquiry experience, as most people expect to receive them within 1-2 business days.
• PDF proposals aren’t the vibe anymore—66% of participants prefer an interactive proposal where they can self-select the service(s) they’d like to book. An added bonus: interactive proposals through platforms like Dubsado or Honeybook tend to take way less time to create than PDF proposals, meaning you can send proposals faster and in the format that your potential clients prefer!
• Utilizing a CRM platform not only makes things easier for you, it makes the process better for your clients too, which was confirmed by 68% of participants.

Resources for Improving Your Client Experience

Free Resources

• Speed up your inquiry response time with my free Dubsado inquiry workflow. Get instant access to 4 editable email templates that are ready to be plugged into your Dubsado account, and a video demo showing you how to set up and customize the workflow to align with your unique inquiry process.
• Get insight right from the source with this free guide for creating an effective feedback form. Includes 3 lessons in audio, video, and written format, along with a bank of over 60 feedback questions that you can use to build your own form!
• Remember how Communication was the second most important thing, behind Quality of deliverables, that impacted the client satisfaction? Check out this blog to learn about how improve your communication.
• Don’t have a website inquiry form yet? When you set one up, make sure you check out my tips for creating a contact form that pre-qualifies your leads.

Paid Resources

• If you’re ready to make the switch to an interactive proposal, but don’t want to skimp out on the design, check out my Dubsado form template bundle which includes a badass proposal template that has the 4 elements you need for a high-converting proposal.
• Time to start using a CRM platform? Dubsado is my choice! You can use code TPC30 for 30% off your first month or year. (Psst that’s $120 off your first year!)
• Feeling overwhelmed and want someone to either a) look at your current client experience and tell you exactly what to do or b) do it for you? Check out my Client Experience Audits—a roadmap for my DIYers and the pre-requisite to a done-for-you project with me.