I have always felt that packaging and client experience are a way to add value to your product or service. Especially for service based businesses such as photographers, videographers, coaches, interior and graphic designers. Often they provide so much value and skill but it can be difficult for them to create a tangible extension of that brand because they mainly provide a service.

This is where packaging and client experience can help create a luxury brand experience.  When creating a luxury experience, you want to ensure that you are creating a full round captivating experience for your clients. From start to finish you really want to ensure that you are adding value throughout your time spent with your customer.

Often the service providers lifecycle with their clients is longer than that of a product based business. The journey is more intimate, and your client has probably had to make a rather large purchasing decision. That is why it is so important to make your clients feel valued and appreciated throughout their client journey.

There are three key areas to consider when creating a luxury packaging & client experience for your brand:

Welcoming New Clients

You need to get your client excited about working with you. It’s also the perfect opportunity to thank them for choosing to work with you, as well as set the way forward and provide them with a roadmap, to what they can expect while working with you. A small gift, or thank you note is a great way to show some gratitude and appreciation. As with all packaging, we always advise our clients to be very intentional about the gift / messaging in their packaging. A beautifully thoughtful, purposeful and curated welcome gift will add much more value than a random Starbucks voucher or notebook and pen.

Here are some of our favourite luxury products, you can use to create a thoughtful and meaningful gift:

• Candles – a beautifully packaged candle & thoughtful note could really encourage your clients to slow down and take a moment for themselves.
• Pouches – these are perfect for sending important documents, or for presenting mood boards & samples
• Journals and Notebooks – Why not add some personalisation, and give your customer ideas on how to use these items – that is in alignment with your business goals. For example, you could gift a baby journal if you are a newborn photographer. This would encourage your client to document all of the little milestones their baby would experience.

The Teamwork Phase

You may be working with your clients over several months, perhaps even a year. It’s important to keep adding value throughout the process. Think of a way to include a small pick me up – or something encouraging or exciting to keep them engaged and excited about working with you.

For an example, a photographer could mail their client a little note card wishing them well for the big day, or a beautiful reminder card about their next session together.

Remember to spread out your experience throughout the client journey – instead of providing them with all the info at the start of the project, perhaps you could leave key elements out, and sprinkle these in while working on their project.

Final Delivery

This is your final chance to make an impression, all of your hard work over the past few months will be solidified in the final delivery. Make sure that you don’t leave your clients feeling underwhelmed or unappreciated.

This stage is also important for you – as you want to feel proud and confident in your final delivery.

Here are our top five tips on how to create a luxury packaging experience:

• Solidify your brand messaging & purpose
• Create a deep sense of appreciation and gratitude
• Add value to your product
• Create a tactile and interactive experience
• Only use the finest materials & finishes

If you would like to create an intentional client experience for your brand, take a look at my services.