75: How to Build Trust and Increase Sales Without Burning Out

If every new inquiry sends you scrambling...
If you’re still winging it after years in business…
If you want more referrals without hustling harder...

This episode of Leading Her Way is your roadmap.

In today’s episode, Nikisha King dives deep into the Signature Client Journey—the first “S” in her 5-Star SCALE™ Framework—and shows you how to build a structured process that boosts client trust, saves time, and increases sales without adding more work to your plate.

You’ll learn:

• Why clients aren’t ghosting you—they’re confused
• How to turn a messy sales experience into a memorable one
• The 3 steps to confidently map a client journey that works before, during, and after the sale

This episode isn’t about doing more—it’s about creating clarity so you can work smarter and get your time back.

Whether you're a wedding professional, designer, or creative service provider, this episode will help you book more dream clients and turn them into raving fans who refer you again and again.

Grab you free Ticket Today and join the next More Profit, Less Chaos Masterclass at https://nikishaking.com/business-essentials-academy.

Support the show

Want to attract aligned clients with less hustle and more heart?
Follow @nkbizguru on Instagram and get access to Nikisha’s 5-Star SCALE™ Framework at her More Profit, Less Chaos masterclass.

Episode Transcript

Announcer (00:01):
Welcome to Leading Her Way with your host and
business guru, Nakesha King.
This podcast is the ultimatedestination for women, creative
entrepreneurs, who want to breakfree from burnout.
If you are overwhelmed byclient demands and feel like
you're doing this all alone, you, my friend, are in the right

(00:23):
place alone.
You, my friend, are in theright place Now.
Let's dive in for steps to takeback your time and simplify
your workflow.
All right, Nikisha, take itaway.

Nikisha King (00:39):
Hello and welcome back to Leading Her Way podcast,
the podcast that meets you inthe middle of messy and helps
you move into your iconic era.
I'm Nikisha, your sales andsystems coach.
I love that your soul coach,your sales and system coach and
today's episode is going to hithome for a lot of you,

(00:59):
especially if you've ever feltlike your business is running
you and not the other way around.
This is week two of the moreprofit and less chaos.
Sorry about that.
This is the week for the moreprofit, less chaos series, where
I'm walking you through myfive-star skill framework.
I'll be teaching an in-depthand free masterclass to learn

(01:21):
how does my five-star salesframework work for you.
You'll be able to join me, takeaway a whole slew of
information and learn how to useit in your business.
Now, today we're staying in theS of scale the signature client
journey and we're talking abouthow to map your experience from

(01:41):
the moment someone inquires allthe way to the moment they can't
wait to tell everyone about you.
This is about turning everyclient into a raving fan, and
not by accident.
So let me start with a truthbomb, because it is truth bomb
Tuesday.
If your client's journey livesin this beautiful head yes, your

(02:05):
head like it used to live forme.
And if every new inquiry sendsyou scrambling, if you're
reinventing the wheel for everyproposal, every onboarding call
and every email, you don't havea client journey.
You have a client maze yes, amaze.
And let me tell you somethingconfused people do not buy Any

(02:28):
business owner who is looking toscale.
Confusion is not going to helpyou.
So today I'm giving you threeways to clean this up create
clarity and build a journey thatsells for you before, during
and even after the project.
But first let me tell you abouta previous client of mine.

(02:52):
I don't name clients, but Ilove sharing their stories of
how they evolved.
One of my past clients who wasa super talented designer.
Clients who were super talenteddesigner, incredible eye for
details.
Client loved her.
If they made it to the end, shehad a consistent pattern.

(03:13):
People will inquire, she'll getexcited, send over a long,
beautiful email with all herpackages and then nothing,
silence, or they would say yes,but the project would get messy
halfway through.
Have you ever experienced that?
Her words to me were I'mworking so hard, but I feel like

(03:36):
I'm winging it every singletime.
So we slowed it down.
We mapped out her entire clientjourney Within a few weeks.
She had a smooth process thatmade people feel seen, secure
and supported, from the firsttouch point to the last thank

(03:58):
you, and her close rate went upby 40%.
Listen, people, this works.
Here's the kicker.
She didn't get better at hercraft, she just got better at
leading her clients through herprocess, and that's what I want
for you Now.
Most wedding professionals,coaches, creative entrepreneurs

(04:21):
think their problem is marketingor pricing, but really it's a
lack of structure in the clientjourney in the way that they
engage with someone from thebeginning or during the process.
You've got talent, you know howto deliver, but if you don't
have a repeatable flow, you'reforgetting follow-ups, you're

(04:44):
wasting hours on custom emailsand, worst of all please don't
get it wrong Custom emailsdoesn't mean every email have to
be custom.
You can definitely write emailswhen you need to and, worst of
all, you're not giving people areason to talk about you once
the job is completed, of reasonto talk about you once the job

(05:08):
is completed.
This means every month you'restarting from scratch, and that,
my friend, is not sustainableas an iconic woman CEO.
So here's what I'm going to askyou, I want you to take a
second.
Ask yourself if 10, forget 10,if 20 new inquiries came in
tomorrow, what would happen?
How will you process?

(05:30):
How would your system process?
Now let's talk about thesolution.
I gave you the scenario.
I told you what my client wentthrough, but here are the three
powerful steps that I use tohelp my previous client map out
her signature client journey.
One we want to name yourcheckpoints, not just your

(05:53):
services, your checkpoints.
When you're clear, your clientscan follow.
So we're going to start byoutlining the stages of your
client journey.
Please don't mistake me for thetask, not the task, the stages.
So here's a simple one, becauseyou might have something
different, but this is why wework together Inquiry, discovery

(06:17):
, proposal, booking, planningand prep, delivery, follow-up
and referrals.
So this is a really clear andthat's like the overhead of the
stage.
Now, it isn't about beingperfect.
This is about being predictable.

(06:37):
When your clients know what'snext, they feel supported, and
when you know what's next, youstop waking up in a panic.
The tool that I use, the toolthat I love because the
capability to customize it isTave.
It allows us to map out thejourney and create these amazing

(06:58):
custom automations for ourclients' needs.
Tave is a CRM and there are somany but I specialize with Tave
because I use it, I love it andit has such an expanded way of
using it where you can build itfor anyone.
So that's what I do.
Since my clients are so diverse, the mapping out of the client

(07:19):
journey will tighten up yourbusiness in a big way and that's
what I want for you.
Two assign one clear action perphase.
Listen, most of you areexperienced ghosting and it's
not because your offer wasn'tgreat.
I want to repeat that again.
It's not because your offerwasn't great.

(07:41):
It's to repeat that again.
It's not because your offerwasn't great.
It's because the next steps arejust too vague and they leave a
lot of people either confusedor curious, and people don't
like to ask questions becausethey feel like they're getting
your business.
Each checkpoint in your journeyneeds one action.
So here's an example theinquiry process.
They filled out a formDiscovery, they schedule a call

(08:05):
Proposal, they sign the contractor agreement.
The booking part is not only awelcome email that's so long and
dreadful, but the booking partis time where you get to extract
the information from them thatyou need to do your job,
whatever form it is, whateverinformation the form gets you,

(08:29):
that is it.
And if you clearly tell themthat that's when they're going
to do the form and not take fiveyears to get it to you, I am
very aware of that.
Planning and prepping this iswhere you get the materials you
need to fulfill the job.
Materials could be paper forstationers, it could be getting
your digital assets together forphotographers, and then

(08:51):
production and delivery.
This is the part where you puteverything together, you approve
it with them and you deliver it.
You are the leader.
They're not the leader you are.
If you're giving them options,backdoors or long-winded
paragraphs, my love, you arecreating confusion.

(09:13):
Keep it simple, keep it moving.
Now, real talk.
You can be warm and clear atthe same time.
Clarity is going to build trust.
Confusion will always kill it.
Did you hear me?
Clarity is going to build trust.

(09:35):
Confusion will always kill it.
I want you to remember that.
And last but not least, numberthree end with a Raven fan
moment.
Most people finish a project andpoof, they just disappear, but
not you.
They're not being rude, butthey're tired.

(09:57):
Do you ever feel tired at theend of a project?
And you're just like I am sodone with this client, this
project, and you just disappear.
I get it, I completely get it.
I used to do it.
But if you want referrals, ifyou want that, omg, you have to
hire her energy.
You got to create a lastimpression that feels

(10:18):
intentional.
It can be so much, but let megive you a couple ideas.
A beautiful, crafted,handwritten note Make sure your
stationery is branded.
You know from a stationerydesigner that is so important.
A follow-up email with a bonustip, something that will help
them on their next journey.
A video walkthrough of thefinal deliverables, which is

(10:41):
always nice for them to have.
You never know people likekeeping mementos.
And a thoughtful what's next?
Guide for them.
What's next?
It could be so much.
Here's a pro move.
Ask yourself this what wouldmake me me feel amazed and taken
care of if I were the client?

(11:03):
What would make you feel amazedand like, wow, this person
really thought about this finalprocess?
I want you to reverse the role.
Be them.
That's what builds into yourfinale overall.

(11:24):
The truth is, you don't need todo more to scale.
You're doing well, you're doinggreat.
You just need to do the rightthings consistently.
That's what it is.
It's just about taking the timeand doing a certain process
consistently.
That will get you and yourclients in a really good place.

(11:47):
Mapping your journey isn'tabout perfection.
It's about permissionpermission to stop scrambling,
permission to create structure,permission to lead your clients
with calm and confidence.
This is how we stop leakingtime, energy and money, and this
is how we become iconic andunforgettable.

(12:10):
So I want to introduce to you,next week we're going to be
digging into the pre-bookingmoment how to build trust with
people before they say yes, howto create that sense of I feel
like I already know her beforethe invoice even gets in their
inbox.
That's what we're doing nextweek and I'm excited.

(12:32):
That's where we're going tocover and that's what we're
going to talk about.
So could you confidently andcalmly guide each one from hello
to happily book withoutbreaking a sweat?
If your stomach flipped just alittle bit, the next week
episode is for you.
I am excited, cannot wait anddefinitely, my friend, check out

(12:55):
the show notes to find out whenis our next masterclass.
It is free.
So please feel free to sign up,join me and let's have an
amazing time.

Announcer (13:15):
Thank you for joining us today on Leading Her Way.
We loved having you with us.
Join me and let's have anamazing time.
And visit our resource hub,which is linked to the show
notes.
There you'll find tools tostreamline, organize and grow
your business.
Keep moving forward and we'llbe right here to cheer you on
next week.