The Details Matter: What Professional Encapsulators Need to Know (Part 2)

4 Tips for Creating Above Average Customer Satisfaction for Your Placenta Encapsulation Clients.

Client Contact Prior to the Service

You've been hired. Now what? 

Sometimes clients hire us early in the pregnancy. They need to know that we are still in business and ready to provide placenta services to them when they give birth. Make your after hire/pre-service follow up plan to reasure your clients that they have hired a professional.

​ Some clients may get concerned and reach out to you if they have not received any communication after the hire.

Here is a sample plan:

• Confirm reciept of payment/contract from client and ask any clarifying questions.
• Send detailed information packet.
• "Looking forward to working with you" card mailed at 30 weeks
• Mail cooler to clients at 36 weeks.
• Check in email to confirm receipt of cooler after delivery date. 
• Check in at 38 weeks with short direction email of what to do when the baby comes in case they don't read/have lost the detailed direction sheet.

I do not recommend repeatedly contacting the client between 38 weeks and delivery.  The client may be getting multiple emails and phone calls from concerned friends and family asking if the baby is here yet. Don't be one more person the client needs to tell, "I HAVE NOT HAD THE BABY YET!" 

Client Contact After the Service

The client has had a baby. You have encapsulated the placenta and the client has the capsules. Now what?

Following up with clients after they have thier capsules boosts client satisfaction. Sometimes people are nervous about taking the capsules. It sounded like a great idea, but now the "EWWW factor" has set in. They may not remember how or when to take them. They could have a potential problem or question about the capsules. Don't be afraid to reach out and check in via their preferred communication method. Your clients will feel valued and potentially boost your future business from referrals. 

Here's a sample plan:

• Check in 2-4 days after the service is complete.
• Check in two weeks after the service is complete.
• Email six weeks after service is complete. This is a perfect time to ask for a testimonal.
• Send a six month birthday card.
• ​Send a one year birthday card.

Providing the Client with a Cooler

This can be a controversial topic. While providing a cooler is not a requirement, it is one additional step in providing excellent customer service to your clients.

I do provide a new cooler to every client for transport of thier placenta. If the client is birthing anywhere outside of the home, the placenta needs to be transported. The client knows the cooler is clean and new when it's shipped from a supplier like Amazon. Providing a cooler also helps maintain food handling safety by keeping the placenta at a correct temperature until it can be refrigerated or processed.

One word last word of advice on providing coolers for your clients:  Make sure the placenta and the container from the hospital or birth center will fit inside the cooler. ​If you have a small soft sided cooler that is only large enough for a placenta inside a baggie, then make sure someone knows how to place the placenta inside the baggie. If the placenta and container can't fit and there are no additional instructions, it's a waste of money and makes you look less professional than not supplying the cooler.

Taste and the Capsules.

This is one of my favorite tricks of the trade!

I wipe the outside of each filled capsule with a dry sterile gauze. The process takes about 5-10 minutes of my time, but it invaluable to client satisfaction.  

The number one complaint from clients who were otherwise happy with their experience was "The capsules taste bad." I researched the problem. Supplements, in capsule form, do not have a taste. The reasons that supplements are placed inside capsules are ease of consumption, a way to measure the consumption, and a way to avoid the taste of the contents. Some people will choose to use flavored capsules to help hide the taste. While this is an option, I prefer not to add additional flavorings, chemicals, or ingredients to the capsules.

In filling the capsules, either with a capsule machine or by hand, small amounts of placenta powder come in contact with the outside of the capsule. Clients report that since I have started wiping down the capsules, the "bad taste" complaint is nearly eliminated. 

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Read Part 1 of the series:  The Details Matter here.