Jasmine Star 00:00:00  We have to be able to like, hold down in to that and resist the temptation to say, I need to do it and it's going to look a certain way. No, no, no, we're going to have a series of tests and we're going to get data and analytics, and then we're going to figure out this is going to be the first way. We're going to try it strategically. And guess what? We're going to have to tweak and change again. The second way we're going to do this strategically, we're going to have to continue to repeat that process until you know, your system is buttoned in. And then you say, now we're pushing on the gas. Welcome to the Jasmine Star Show, a place where we talk about mindset, business and today creating a client continuum or in other words, building a specific path for clients to keep on and coming back. And we're buying from you. So let's start here. I don't think I've really spoken about my first digital offer, so let's go back to 2009.

Jasmine Star 00:00:43  At this time, I was building my name in the photography industry and I was speaking on stages. I was traveling the world, and I was working with amazing magazines and clients. I was also blogging daily about my life and my business. This was before social media, so my blog was a platform that I connected and I engaged with most people. I was writing educational content about the business of photography as well as my progression of my career. Now people would leave comments and send emails asking for more content and the ways you know they can build their photography businesses too. At the time, I had no idea how to create, sell, or even market a digital product, so I simply started to test ideas. Most of them were just PDFs, like, I'm just going to test because it was like, what's the easiest path for me to test an idea whether or not I could sell something? I used a template storefront from a site that allowed me to upload content, and then I could assign a price and then receive payments.

Jasmine Star 00:01:37  Super basic. I called it the Jasmine Star Store.

Jasmine Star 00:01:41  Oh, I know, it's like so unique.

Jasmine Star 00:01:43  But I was focusing on branding my name. That was like a big push at the time. It was ridiculously simple, like the page, the store itself building. It was not that easy, but just there was nothing fancy to it. But everything felt new and at the time I programed my mind that new equalled hard, but that was simply a choice. New doesn't have to equal hard. Within a year, I released a series of educational PDFs, a series of behind the scenes photography tutorials, and 150 page self-published magazine. So the more I blogged, the more engagement I got, and the more I connected with people online. I'd see sales coming in daily from that online store. And let me tell you, there's nothing better than waking up and seeing 16 new sales that happened right when I was sleeping. The business kept growing and my career kept on evolving, but I really didn't have anything different to sell to these existing audience of buyers.

Jasmine Star 00:02:38  Yes, I could have made more PDFs, I could have had more videos, but it felt like just more of the same. And I didn't have like what I thought was going to be next. Now, at the time, I started thinking about how I might expand my offers so that my existing customers could buy different offers within my product suite. This is exactly why in this episode, we will cover what a client continuum is and why it's important for your business success. And then you can also identify when somebody is ready for the next level offer, and then techniques to keep your clients and customers coming back for more. Y'all, I am so excited for this episode. So on that note, a few weeks ago I shared an episode with Julie Solomon where she mentioned how she birthed out like new offers from questions that her clients are asking. She listens and then she creates. I'm going to link that show in the show notes. It would be really great for you to go and listen to after this one.

Jasmine Star 00:03:29  So what is a client continuum? A client continuum is a strategic next offer that guides clients to the next phase on their journey with you. So here's an example. Imagine you run a fitness business. A new client starts with a basic gym membership where they get access to the equipment. As they become more engaged and start seeing results, you might offer them personal training like it's a tailored package based on their goals. After they start seeing even more progress, you could offer them a more advanced program that offers nutrition coaching, 24/7 gym access like the whole nine yards. This keeps this person, you know, with their starter gym. Instead of moving on to a more advanced gym, you get to offer all of them right there in that continuum. When I first began creating courses, I started with an Instagram four business course called instant 80. This felt like a natural extension for my current online store. Like my current online store, customers like those were professional photographers. And then it also felt like it was a really good fit for a whole new group of customers, small business owners.

Jasmine Star 00:04:29  After that, I created a course called The Path to Profitability How to Build a Brand and Market It on Social Media. Later I launched SOS Selling on Social. Now, at the time, my product suite was courses that were all focused on social marketing, social branding, and social selling. Now that you know what a client continuum is, let's talk about why it's important to build it out. Well, there's a lot of reasons. Increased revenue, stronger customer relationships, more word of mouth when you have an offer that your clients can graduate from and then go into after they've gotten the first level results from you, they're going to be more likely to stick with you instead of going to other solutions or competitors. Studies show that when people buy from you once, they're 60 to 70% more likely to buy from you again, compared to new prospective leads who only have about a 5 to 20% chance of making a purchase. You can find that online study. I'm going to be linking it in the show notes, but I read it in a book called Marketing Metrics.

Jasmine Star 00:05:25  Here are three more reasons you want a strategic next step for your customers and clients. The first reason is providing a better customer experience. When you provide a clearly laid out path for your customers and clients to follow. You create a smooth and enjoyable experience, and it gives them something to work toward and keeps them engaged and motivated with your brand and with your program. During the last business coaching session I hosted on the inside of Social Curator, I guided an entrepreneur through optimizing her customer experience through her continuum. Her starting offer was social media management. Then she will guide her clients to add on by adding on her list building offer by creating a lead magnet and marketing on social media. After that, she could expand into offering social media strategy, and that that's a powerful continuum, all focused on creating a better customer service with next level options. So the second reason is increased LTV lifetime customer value. By offering more products or service to clients you've already sold, you're maximizing your marketing efforts and your company's resources.

Jasmine Star 00:06:27  You don't have to spend as much money acquiring new customers because you're increasing the value of each existing client. If you want to learn more about LTV, just yell. You have to listen to the entire episode I created to help you figure that out. Especially I used a whiteboard if you can find it on YouTube and or any listening podcast platform. It's called Understanding and Increasing your Customer LTV. Five Strategies to make more money from the same customers. You're going to love it. I'm going to link it in the show notes. Okay, now let's get into the third reason that you're going to want to really do this, and this is to stand out from your competitors. Having a client continuum sets you apart from competitors who might not have their next steps mapped out. It shows you're committed to long term client success, making you like the go to choice in your industry. Trust me, your clients will see you as a forward thinking business that's dedicated to helping them achieve their goals. Let me walk you through my current model what my continuum looks like.

Jasmine Star 00:07:25  Social curator is usually the first offer when somebody gets into the continuum. It's low cost, self-paced, and a great place for 5 or 6 figure entrepreneurs to learn together, get coached as a group, and gain social media resources they need to grow if they're interested in scaling their digital offer by way of a launch, which is the exact system I still use to this day to market my digital offers, they might come into my course. Your biggest launch ever, or another offer I put out there to get to the seven figure market. Now, once they become a seven figure entrepreneur, they become a candidate for one of my masterminds, where they learn the skills needed to become an eight figure owner, or even become a private consulting client. Sometimes I will take on a private consulting client for one on one. So how do you create a client continuum in your business? The first step is to clearly define your specific ideal client's journey with you when they're going to work with you. Think about the different stages your clients are going through.

Jasmine Star 00:08:20  From an initial awareness stage to becoming an evangelist, I've shared how to do this on a podcast called How to Create Unforgettable Customer Experiences. I'm again going to link it in the show notes in case you want to check that out. But once you've mapped out that journey, you can identify opportunities to introduce new offers or services at each stage that they're in. It could be a self-paced course. It could be group coaching. It could be a VIP membership. It could be one on one membership. It could be a program that offers individual help from your team of reps and your business, or a mastermind or different features, or adding on to a product suite. If you have a digital product or a tech based product, like whatever makes most sense for your business, or if you have people wanting to work with you who aren't ready for your signature program. Maybe you create a lower ticket offer that prepares them for your signature offer. Remember the study that I mentioned earlier? This will prime and prepare them to invest when they're ready.

Jasmine Star 00:09:14  They're going to be more likely to buy. To implement your client continuum strategy, here are going to be for tips. Tip number one start small. Let's get it out there. Begin by focusing on 1 or 2 of your most advanced clients, or the ones who need the most support and noticing what they need more of. So the most advanced, or what people need the most of those two ends of the spectrum are really going to give insight into where you start building your continuum. This will help you shape your offer and see how you could provide a bigger transformation. Or it can help you create an offer that's more hands on or high touch. Tip number two is to listen to your customers and clients, and want you to pay special attention to their feedback and let them know when you're applying their feedback. This will give them a stake in the new program or the offer, and it's going to make them more likely to purchase because they were a part of it. Tip number three is to test and refine.

Jasmine Star 00:10:04  I want you to experiment with everything to see what works best. Experience messaging, product features, pricing, delivery methods. I'm going to try things and then measure the results. And then I want you to tweak your offers based on what you learn. The more you test and the more you refine, the better your understand what resonates with your clients and meet their needs. Before we get into the fourth tip, I want to pause here. I was recently on a consulting call with brilliant entrepreneur, and one of the things that she wanted to test was how to expand and diversify her sales team. She knew that she had a low ticket offer that immediately pumped up into a tens of thousands of dollars offer. Now, she said, Jasmine, the jump from this low ticket offer to this high ticket offer, only about less than 10% of people are even qualified for that. So most of our deal flow is 90% not ready for it. And I was like, this is an amazing opportunity for you to offer a separate product that is a much lower price point than the high end.

Jasmine Star 00:11:00  So you get them in with the low end offer and then pitch them on a monthly recurring offer, she said. Yes, that's one of the things that we plan to do. I said, fantastic, but you're going to need a different sales team for both, because the commission off the lower end recurring is not going to be as much as a commission off a tens of thousands of dollars offer. So she said, okay, what am I going to have to put in place? And I said, before you even think about putting something into place, you actually have to know the efficacy. You have to know the effectiveness of how that mid tier offer is being taken up on. And I said, more than anything, what you're going to want to do is you're going to want to get somebody into the mid tier offer. And about month three, which is the highest month for somebody to churn or leave home a subscription is to make them an irresistible offer, either to get them into the highest offer, or you're going to make a third offer in your continuum.

Jasmine Star 00:11:49  So at this point in time, she had her high end offer, which was tens of thousands of dollars. She had a low end offer which was $70. What I had proposed is coming in with a $300 recurring monthly offer, and her sales team could not sustain at this point. So I said, it's going to be important for your sales team to act almost as somebody who could follow that person through the journey over three months, see what progress you're making, and then sell them into a different offer, where the commission then becomes standard commission rates. And she's like, great, I love this idea. I think it's going to work. And I said, but to begin to build the system or you have to do is have to test it. And each test will take about three months. So three months of a subscription payment before you get your first data set, then another three months from a different set of users who are coming in and see that data set, and then have to wait another three months to actually see what progress that this new group of people are getting after those nine months.

Jasmine Star 00:12:41  Then we have a new set of data points that we can then turn to the sales team and say, okay, this is what we think the gestation point will be. This is when we think we're going to make the offer. This is where we think that your commission will be increased at this point or this point. All of that just takes time. It just takes time. And so as we're looking at what is meeting your customers and clients needs, please don't think that is going to happen overnight. We have to be able to like hold down in to that and resist the temptation to say, I need to do it and it's going to look a certain way. No, no, no, we're going to have a series of tests and we're going to get data and analytics, and then we're going to figure out this is going to be the first way. We're going to try it strategically. And guess what? We're going to have to tweak and change again. The second way we're going to do this strategically, we're going to have to continue to repeat that process until you know your system is buttoned in.

Jasmine Star 00:13:26  And then you say, now we're pushing on the gas. Okay. So the last tip that I have for you is to make it easy to upgrade. We just talked about that, remember okay. So create a clear transition for clients to move with you along each level. Simplify the process as much as you can. This reduces friction and makes clients more likely to take action by creating a customer experience and providing that ongoing value. You'll not only increase revenue, but also create deeper connections with your clients and that is how you create evangelists. So let's talk about how to identify when somebody is ready for that next level offer. Let me tell you knowing when to introduce a higher tier offer to an existing client. That's a skill. But just like any other skill, it's a skill you can learn. You don't want to rush it and then risk losing a client's trust, but you also don't want to miss an opportunity. Here are some signs that a client might be ready to upgrade. The first sign is that they've reached their initial goals.

Jasmine Star 00:14:21  Like this is an obvious one, but it's important to celebrate their success and then present the next step to them. For example, when a member of social curator remains consistent in creating their social marketing and they're ready to uplevel their marketing efforts, they're asking for the next big step. Which leads us to the second sign. They've expressed the need to get more support from you or your team, and this could be an opportunity to offer a more intensive solution. Maybe they need weekly coaching instead of monthly. Maybe they need more accountability. This is why we designed our course. Your biggest launch ever in a very specific way. It's a live course experience over eight weeks with live classes twice a week. Myself and the team are all hands on deck during those live calls. Those live classes, answering questions, providing step by step operating systems for a launch. The private community is home to get extra support, and the team is there engaging. And then there's a whole other amazing, incredible group of entrepreneurs. Okay, so that's a lot there.

Jasmine Star 00:15:22  There is, however, a small group of people who wanted even more. And this leads us to the third sign. They ask for additional services, even if it's just out of curiosity. Their curiosity shows that they trust you and they're willing to invest more to achieve better results. Now, we launched your biggest launch ever in March of 2024 for the first time in whoa, did we learn a lot? People were asking for things like getting someone from our team to review their funnel. They were asking for a small accountability group led by somebody on the team. They were asking for a way that a team member could review their specific launch strategy for their specific offer. Oh, okay. And at the time, we were not prepared for that level of additional request. Now, even though people wanted to pay more for these additional services, we're just like we did not plan timewise for that, but it opened our eyes to a gap in the client continuum. So the next time we launch your biggest launch ever, we're going to be better prepared for ways so that we can better serve in personalized ways, if that's what they want.

Jasmine Star 00:16:23  Now, the last sign they're ready for more is that they have the financial means to invest more. If you notice a client's personal financial situations have improved, they might be open to higher ticket offers. So how can you tell? It could be through historical buying decisions or their willingness to spend on other offers. Recognizing this allows you to propose premium solutions that deliver even greater value. Now let's get into some action steps. You know, this podcast is all about action. But first I want to recap what we've gone over. So far because we've gone over a lot. We talked about the client continuum, like what it is. It's a strategic next offer that guides our clients to the next stage of their journey with your business. We talked about creating a client continuum by defining the customer journey, and four tips to keep it in mind as you're creating it. Now we're going to get on to your action steps. The first action step is to listen to podcasts that I lead for you on the show notes, because literally, they clearly map out how to build that customer journey and your product suite.

Jasmine Star 00:17:20  The second action step is to identify those two clients in your current offer that need extra support, or if they're ready to uplevel, remember the ones who are like, I need to uplevel. I need extra support, focus on them, and then start noticing where you can help them next. This will help you get ideas for that continuum offer and you know, propose it to them when you're ready. I want to say thank you for listening to The Jasmine Star Show. If you found this show interesting at all, engaging or helpful, it would mean the world to the team and I if you leave a review. Thank you so much. I'm eternally grateful.