Client experience doesn’t take a summer holiday

Welcome to The Happy Client!

Written by our Director, Anna Lake, this monthly newsletter shares insights, ideas and inspiration to help you build stronger client relationships and create move value for your business. If you're not already subscribed, click here to never miss an issue!

Summer is often when client experience is tested most as people are away, and teams are stretched. However, for clients, the need for clarity, reassurance and responsiveness does not pause just because someone has switched on their out-of-office.

Every email, every out-of-office message, every phone call, every handover shapes how clients feel about working with you.

That makes summer a useful moment to ask a simple question:

Is your client experience built to deliver seamlessly, even when people are away?

The small moments matter

Client experience is not only shaped by the big set-piece moments, it is also shaped by the moments that happen when things are slightly less convenient:

• The out-of-office message that gives a helpful next step, not just a return date.

• The colleague who answers the phone and knows enough to reassure the client.

• The handover that means a matter keeps moving without the client having to repeat themselves.

• The internal system that allows someone else to pick things up confidently.

• The enquiry that is followed up quickly, even when the usual contact is on leave.
  

These actions send a clear message: we are organised, we care, and you are not dependent on one individual being available.

The out-of-office message is part of the experience

Too often, out-of-office replies are written from the sender’s point of view:

I am away until [date] and will respond when I return.

That may be factual, but it is rarely helpful. A client-focused message answers the questions the person actually has:

• When will I hear back?

• Who can help me now?

• How do I contact them?
  

A vague message creates friction, whereas a clear one creates confidence.

Handovers are invisible until they fail

Clients may never see the handover note, the shared folder, the internal update or the CRM entry, but they feel the effect of all of it.

They feel it when a colleague knows the background. They feel it when deadlines are still met. They feel it when they do not have to chase, repeat themselves or work out who to contact next.

And they feel it just as strongly when the opposite happens.

Continuity is not the same as constant availability

This is not about expecting people to be available on holiday - quite the opposite, proper, uninterrupted breaks are essential for team wellbeing. A strong client experience should allow people to take proper time away, because the experience is supported by the team, the process and the systems around them. 

Clients rarely resent someone being away. They resent being left uncertain, unsupported or unsure who is looking after them.

A simple summer sense-check

Before the next wave of annual leave, it is worth asking:

• Do our out-of-office messages genuinely help clients take the next step?

• Do colleagues know enough to respond confidently when someone is away?

• Are handovers consistent, practical and easy to find?

• Are new enquiries monitored, or do they sit unnoticed in individual inboxes?

• Can clients experience continuity without relying on one person being available?
  

The answers will tell you a lot about how resilient your client experience really is.

Happy clients are not only created by excellent technical advice or brilliant relationship management. They are also the result of the quiet confidence that, even when their usual contact is away, the firm still knows them, values them and has them covered.

Summer may be temporary, but the impression you leave with clients lasts much longer.