#183 - How to deliver a premium client experience + more, with Marcus Syvertsen
The delivery of a premium client experience is not a set and forget process - it’s something that takes continuous work.
While I’ve personally learnt a lot about the client journey throughout the years, I still ensure that I’m putting energy into refining my approach day by day.
Someone who shares this ethos of putting the client front and centre is Marcus Syversten, a soul-led interior designer and dear client of mine.
Marcus’s journey to becoming a well-respected interior designer wasn’t linear, which is a story I think that many of us can relate to. Before finding his calling in design, Marcus spent nearly 16 years as a paramedic. After facing some difficult mental health challenges, Marcus shifted direction and began to explore his passion for architecture and design.
Now, with extensive experience in both residential and commercial interiors, his design firm Little Road has become Adelaide’s leading authority on interior design and styling. Beyond his role at Little Road, Marcus brings his valuable expertise as a creative director for renowned brands, developing business concepts, brand identities and creative strategies to help businesses achieve their full potential.
I can hand on heart say that my conversation with Marcus is one of my absolute favourites on the podcast, and I know you’ll be incredibly inspired as Marcus shares his insights on delivering exceptional client experiences, maintaining consistency and the importance of building a supportive network.
Communication and Client-Centric Approach
Marcus shares how his experience as a paramedic honed his communication skills, a critical tool he now uses in his design business. From extracting precise medical histories to ensuring his clients feel heard and supported in their design projects, Marcus’s story underscores the importance of crystal-clear, empathetic communication.
One of our shared beliefs is that the business journey is not linear. Having transferable skills, like communication and problem-solving, can be the linchpin to success no matter where your professional path takes you.
Exceeding Client Expectations
In Marcus’s world, delivering a premium client experience is non-negotiable. For him, it’s about constant refinement, not a set-and-forget strategy. His secret to exceeding clients’ expectations? Continually improving systems and processes within Little Road to ensure things become more and more seamless. He believes consistency across the team in all the little things, such as tone of voice in emails, can add up to provide exceptional service every time.
Surrounding Yourself with the Right People
It’s undeniable that building a supportive network is crucial to succeeding as a small business owner. Marcus often draws on the expertise of professionals like bookkeepers, lawyers and mentors. He stresses how outsourcing allowed him to focus on his creative genius, rather than getting bogged down by administrative tasks.
There’s often a hesitance in many business owners when contemplating outsourcing. With tight cash flow, it’s challenging to see beyond the immediate costs. However, Marcus reframes it beautifully by highlighting the value of outsourcing, where business owners can reclaim their time and creative energy, focusing on what they do best.
Talking to Marcus was an absolute treat, and I know you’re going to get so many nuggets of gold from his wisdom on creating an experience that keeps clients coming back for more.
-
Tracey: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome back to the Rise Up in Business podcast. You are in for a real treat today. I'm interviewing a guest on today's episode who I'm so heartened to talk to and share with you on the podcast. And I can honestly say hand on heart, this is one of my favourite conversations to date on the podcast.
I'm joined today by interior designer, Marcus Syverston of Little Road. Marcus is a client of mine, and Marcus and I share many core values and underlying ethos in our businesses around client experiences and the client journey. And I'm so [00:01:00] thrilled to have Marcus on the podcast to dive into a little around his journey, because as we know, the business journey is not linear.
Marcus is very generous in sharing his journey with us on the podcast and some real gold nuggets that we can all take away and implement straight away in our businesses, which all go to the delivery of a premium client experience every time. And it's a work in progress.
This stuff is not set and forget and Marcus and I dive deep into that. One of the beliefs that Marcus and I share that underpins both of our business journeys is the value of surrounding yourself with the right people in business is instrumental to your success as a business owner. And we talk about that a lot in this conversation. I'm going to dive in now, I'll be back at the end, but I hope you enjoy this one as much as I thoroughly enjoyed chatting with Marcus.
Marcus, welcome to the podcast.
Marcus: Thanks, Tracey. [00:02:00] Pleasure to join you this morning.
Tracey: Thank you so much for being here. I think this is going to be such an enlightening conversation. I'm really looking forward to this. I have invited you on as you know, because I think that your story is one worth sharing and we have lots of similarities in our approach to business, which I really want to highlight in this episode.
The first and foremost being, you and I both know the business journey is not linear. People talk about it. It's almost like a cliche these days, but you're living proof of just how beautiful and organic the non linear business journey can be. So whilst you're here now talking to me as a very soul led interior designer, Very well respected in your industry. You didn't start doing this, did you?
Marcus: No, I didn't. It certainly has been a bit of a journey to get to this point today, but no, yeah, I country boy, grew up on a farm, which not many people can [00:03:00] pick these days, but went to boarding school, university. I started my first junior degree was nursing and health sciences. And then I got into the ambulance service at the age of 21.
So very young, back in those days, you know, they were generally employing older people. So I was kind of thrust into this big wide world of pre hospital emergency care and just absolutely loved it. And I did that for nearly 16 years. And that was a huge, important part of my life. But unfortunately, you know, some mental health challenges presented three quarters of the way through that career and I had to change or something had to change. And unfortunately, I just couldn't go back. I was lucky, maybe at that 12 year point, my wife, Megan, encouraged me to, you know, why don't you just delve into something else? Just a bit of a pastime. I think she recognised that I needed something other than work and this was pre children as well.
And I've always loved [00:04:00] architecture and design and did some study. I loved it. That took me a couple of years, really resonated with me and I just sort of had it just on the side is what I thought was just a pastime. And then just slowly, people found out and approached me and sort of one job after the other.
And I started to do sort of both interior design and paramedic part time each. And in hindsight, I'm grateful that I had this to branch out into as a bit of a saving grace, really, for my mental health in particular.
Tracey: Gosh, and how privileged a position to be in, to have something so beautifully and aligned for you to transition so, well, it looks seamless, it sounds seamless, but I know it wasn't seamless, but it seems like a really organic next season of your life. The way you describe it though, it sounds like it was a smooth path, but of course it wasn't a smooth path, but it's interesting that you've identified that and you've expressed gratitude for it.
Marcus: Yeah, absolutely. It took me a long [00:05:00] time and I knew probably the last couple, maybe two to three years where I've recognised the extent of the transferable skills from my role as a paramedic into a small business owner and also interior designer. You know, communication, problem solving, thinking on your feet, all these things that really have set me up to be successful in this new career.
Tracey: I love that you've said that because those transferable skills, they're so ingrained in you, the client centric approach, the client first approach and we'll talk about you and I working together a little later in the episode, but we have worked together. You are a client and very early on, it was very clear to me, just how important the client experience is for you in your business.
And it's interesting that you put so much weight on the transferable skills that came from that earlier part of your paramedic career in developing that. I think that's a beautiful thing, Marcus and I think that when we talk about skills, [00:06:00] communication, crystal clear clarity, we talk about the client journey, almost I feel like there's some seasoning that needs to be experienced to really understand the full weight behind what that actually means. There are lots of young business owners that I talk to, I lecture at UNSW into their law program. And there's lots of young people that come through that think, yep, that's fine.
I can communicate. It's great. But then when confronted with a challenge, confronted with somebody who can't articulate what they want, confronted with somebody who's feeling unheard or unsupported, it's a very different set of skills, something that you seem to have mastered and taken forward into your business that you're doing now.
Would you say that that's a fair representation of the importance of those skills and having the time as a paramedic to really dive in deep into developing those skills? Does that make sense what I'm saying? I'm sort of going off on a tangent, but it's something that I think is so [00:07:00] fundamental.
Marcus: Absolutely. You know, my role as a paramedic, you know, it's 90 percent communication. You have to draw information out of people to be able to get their medical history and assist them in that time of need in that emergency setting. So, you rely on your communication skills, sound, precise, exacting sort of skills to draw that information to create a timeline of events and what's led to this to then engage treatment.
And then transport them to hospital. You know, this is all based around really solid communication and that is my core value is communication. And I've definitely taken that into my role as an interior designer and a small business owner is, part of that client experience and that client journey is, perfecting our communication skills to really establish sort of a deeper understanding of our clients, their expectations, what [00:08:00] they're after in their project. From having great communication skills, you develop such a sound relationship with the clients.
Tracey: It's something that I think so many people take for granted and think, I can communicate, of course I can. But it's actually so challenging. And I see it all the time with people that reach out to me for help with disputes and resolution. It all comes down to, to communication. I love that we've touched on that and to shine a light on just how important that is and I'm hoping that some of the listeners are going to pause here and think, huh, am I a really good communicator? I think I am. I've never really thought about it. And they'll go away and spend some time and perhaps refine their own processes around that. I think that's a massive nugget of gold. So thank you for sharing that and for answering my questions about that.
Marcus: And I would just add, Tracey, if that's okay that we can all sit here and we can have a chat and conversation with people, but it's those deeper conversations and often the hard conversations at times that need to be had with clients to really allow a [00:09:00] project to be successful. You know, sometimes it's like, I'm really sorry that doesn't fit into this budget.
We can't do that, unfortunately, or I haven't heard from you for three weeks. Your project is now going to be delayed. So, you know, there's positives and there's the constructive feedback that we have to be able to give to people and it's having that strength and trusting your gut feeling and your communication skills to maintain that relationship with your clients.
Tracey: I love that. That's so important and so valuable. That's a great segue. You've mentioned your gut instinct and that's something that I focus on a lot in my day to day life and in business more broadly. When you started your interior design journey, you straddled, didn't you? And you had a retail arm to the business as well as the interior design arm.
And I know from a mutual friend of ours, Kate Adamo, who we both work with, she was instrumental in supporting you to follow your path, to [00:10:00] lead you to where you are now. Can you just share a little about where that started and how that unfolded? Because I think that that's inspirational for so many people who feel stuck.
Marcus: Yeah, absolutely. And thank you. I've worked with Kate for a number of years. I think it's almost six. And she was pivotal and instrumental into me sort of taking that leap and opening a retail brick and mortar store. It was always a passion of mine. I had an online store attached to my website, which was doing okay, but she sort of helped me dive into that.
And we used it almost as a marketing opportunity to expand I guess the reach for interior design services and it worked. You know, my business grew so quickly, and I think that's what the point where I reached out and started working with you is at that point where I'm like, Oh, I need some more assistance here.
And had the store for about 2. 5 years and that closed a couple of years ago. Just things got too busy, but [00:11:00] I love retail and I'll definitely do something like that again down the track. I'm not sure if my wife will let me, but, um. You know, it's always been a deep passion of mine. And I think because I worked in retail when I was at university, just on weekends as a casual, and that really taught me, you know, this was back in the day when we had old school customer service, that's how you were taught.
And I'm such a big believer in customer service. And I think that's where I get my, sort of my passion for that client centric, positive experience. And that all round providing all the things and exceeding their expectations.
Tracey: Oh, you've just nailed something there, Marcus, which is the concept of exceeding expectations. And I think there's many things that we can take away from this conversation and previous conversations that we've had, but your focus on the client journey, the client experience, what you bring to the table in terms of committed [00:12:00] communication, because it is committed, you're deeply committed to the communication, which is something that everybody can take something from, the focus around what it is that you're delivering for the clients and surrounding yourself with the right people to help you do that. And this is one of the things I love about your openness that you reach out to ask for support from the right people. And I think that being surrounded by the right people in business can make or break the journey, to be really honest.
Absolutely make or break the journey. And I know Kate's been pivotal in supporting you on your journey. I know you've got a fabulous team at Little Road, spoken to, to some of them. And you're very intentional about who you surround yourself with. And you've now mentioned your wife a couple of times. And there's just such, such a deep respect there, which I think is just heartening to see.
But again, it's consistent with Marcus surrounding himself with the right people. Can you talk a little about your view on surrounding [00:13:00] yourself with the right people in the small business space?
Marcus: It has been the absolute key to our success at Little Road, you know, from way back in 2016, where it was just me and to now, you know, 2024 and I've got a team of five, which is amazing and I'm super grateful, but I have, know, Kate helped me with that early on in the piece, you know, surround yourself, with good people that will just elevate your offering.
And by that, I mean outsourcing. Creatives, as you know very well, don't like the finances or the legals or all those things. So, having a great bookkeeper, great accountant, you know, got a great lawyer in yourself, creating a team that you can go to, when you need, but also just these people allow you to establish these, whether it's, you know, a design service agreement, which you established for us. It's just so [00:14:00] empowering to know that everything's in order. We're protected, the client's protected. There's something about that, that you can really just sit in and go, okay, cool. We're good. You know, it's a really succinct document that you've created for us, and we're all safe.
I'm not gonna lose my house. I think it's just recogni what you're not strong at, and really reaching out to those people who can assist you, so that I can then focus on being creative. Because when you're not doing the things that you love, it drains your creativity.
Tracey: It does so much, so much. And I'm loving the concept of outsourcing and it's something that I talk about a lot and you should be in your zone of genius as a business owner. We all hear it because let's face it, we all start out as business owners, wearing all the hats and doing all the things and most of us, I haven't met anyone that doesn't fit this mold yet, will go through seasons of scarcity mindset and think, gosh, I can't outsource. What if I don't get any more clients? I'm going to [00:15:00] be spending money. I can do this myself. And to that, I often say, just because you can do something doesn't mean you should. But there is a barrier where I see it so often with business owners reaching a point where they're actually, I don't know if comfortable is the word, but prepared to reach out and start outsourcing some of those things.
Lawyer, bookkeeper, accountant, mentor, contractor for a skillset that isn't necessarily in the zone of genius. Can you resonate with that? Can you relate to that? Being in that, that period of do I or don't I outsource and then making the shift to outsourcing? What was that like for you? How did you know now's the time I'm going to reach out and start building this team around me?
Marcus: It's so hard to know when it's a good time and as a small business owner, you always look at, what's the cost, in a financial sense. We don't think of what is the cost If I don't do that, you know, I'm gonna be way behind in my BAS repayments, if I [00:16:00] don't have a good bookkeeper because this is now another skill that I need to spend all this time and energy researching how to learn Xero.
That's the platform that I use. I can use it, but nowhere near to the extent that Claire my Amazing Bookkeeper can. She's saving me so much time and it's a brilliant investment. So I know that I can jump into Xero and I can, it's all up to date. We can't do all the things, but it is, it is really hard when cashflow is tight, to sort of have that strength and courage to say yes to that, but in the long run, it's setting you up for success in my opinion.
Tracey: Oh, I wholeheartedly agree to that. I love how you've reframed it and you said the cost of not doing it. I think that's really important. And again, another nugget of gold that you've shared here, Marcus, that yes, there's a cost and business owners will have a look at what's it going to cost me financially if I engage that bookkeeper or that accountant or that mentor, but [00:17:00] what's the cost if you don't, and I'm loving that and there's a financial cost to it, but one of our time and Marcus needs to be in his zone of genius to be doing brilliant work for beautifully aligned clients, not watching YouTube videos on how to use your Xero. Absolutely. And there will be people nodding along to this, and I'm hoping that this conversation we're having can act as a little nudge for people who are in the throes of do I, or don't I, such that they can take that step forward to do because it's vital for growth to start surrounding yourself with the right people. And case in point is your business journey right here.
Marcus: Totally. Totally. I mean, I think of all the time if I, whilst I had a contract in place, I was using it sporadically and then I met with you and it's a really concise, brilliant [00:18:00] document and you didn't just give us a document. You were also like, okay, well, what's the process? What's your system for implementing this?
That's what I loved. And, it empowered us to put not the worst case scenario first, but you have to have that in the back of your mind, that what if, and that one job where you don't send it out, that could be that one comes to bite you.
Tracey: I think we've all got one or two examples where we can draw on that and say, yes, that's right. There was that one time I let my guard down or there was that one time that I thought it won't happen to me and it did. You're right. It is that one time, and I'm loving that you've mentioned that because our time together developing your documents, as you've said, it is holistic because, you know, I am the lawyer that likes to get involved in understanding all the things.
And how does this work? And how does that work? And there are clients though, that aren't interested in having conversations with a lawyer. And I get it, gosh, I don't want to have conversations with many of them either, to be honest. But that's not me. And, [00:19:00] and I'm, I am the lawyer that likes to get involved to understand your process and system.
So I can, I know I'm creating something that works for you. And on that, you are the interior designer that puts the client first so that you can understand what it is that the client actually wants. And I know that sometimes they don't know, and sometimes being able to articulate it is really hard and challenging.
Enter 16 years of very well developed communication skills into your toolkit of, of armory that you're able to roll out when you're working with clients. And I know from our work together that that premium client experience is what drives you. That's front and center and you do all that you can to ensure consistency in delivering that.
And I love that. Is that something that is set and forget for you, Marcus, or is this something that's constantly tweaking, refining? How do you keep that front and center in your mind? Because I know lots of people struggle with this, particularly when they get busy.
Marcus: No, it's been sort [00:20:00] of hot on my mind the last probably six months is really delving back into what our systems and processes are, particularly as my team has grown and we have new members starting, you know, it's like, okay, if someone new starts next, I want them to be able to go somewhere and see everything in its order, exactly how we like it done.
And that's still a work in progress. You know, we certainly don't get it right all the time. What we're trying to do as a team is learn from our mistakes, of course, but how can it be better? How can we exceed our clients' expectations even more so that next time it's seamless? And that's constantly reviewing systems and processes.
Is there things that we can automate? So we're just sort of going through that at the moment. What processes can we automate with a program so that, you know, this is just even more seamless. You know, what's our tone of voice? Is that consistent across emails from each team member? All of these [00:21:00] little things that in my opinion are super important so that there's consistency.
Tracey: I love that. And I, I love that you've shared that so openly because other business owners listening to this can take heart and know you're not supposed to be perfect. It is a work in progress. It's not set and forget and looking at somebody experienced and well established like yourself with fabulous reputation for client service delivery.
Marcus is still working on it too. And I can hand on heart and say, I'm still working on it too. I talk to clients about it. I work on it, but I've still got room to improve. And in fact, as of last week, I was drawing on Kate for her mentoring expertise in my business to say, Hey, how can I do this? Because I'm really feeling like this is letting me down.
And I couldn't for the life of me, see the forest for the trees. And she was able to pinpoint it straight away and we worked through it. It was just gold. And this again comes back to the theme of this conversation being the [00:22:00] value of surrounding yourself with the right people in business. And I love that we've been able to have this conversation to really shine a light on that for people, because I feel like there's a lot of guilt, sometimes. Small business owners carry a lot of guilt because they feel like they should have it right. They feel like they should know this. They don't want to reach out and ask the question or have the conversation, but we're all in that boat from time to time and it's okay to reach out and ask the questions and get the support you need from the people you've surrounded yourself with.
Marcus: Absolutely. It's vital. And even just writing things down, whether that's in a diary, on a piece of paper, in a platform, you know, I use Trello, where Kate is strongly encouraging me, you know, just have a yearly plan and plug things in, in each month. And there might be an idea that crops up that you want to do, but is it important right now?
Or can it wait three months? But just store it somewhere. So you get it out of your creative mind so that opens up more space for your creativity, but yeah, I think just starting, it's not going to be perfect. [00:23:00] It's always going to be a work in progress as we are as human beings, you know, we're growing personally and professionally all the time.
And I think outsourcing really just helps take that load off. Because we can't wear all the hats. It's literally impossible. And then there's, you know, it's not just business. It's our personal lives as well, when my number one is, you know, I'm the dad of two daughters. I'm a husband. So also taking off a few of those hats allows you that time to focus on your family, which is my number one as I'm sure it is yours and everyone really, you know, business is secondary, but business success is super important to me and outsourcing is the best thing I've ever done.
Tracey: Oh, I love that Marcus. Thank you. You have just hit a chord with everybody. You just have hit a chord with everybody listening to this. And I'm so grateful for your time and sharing your story and your thoughts and your little insights because it's so valuable. And I know that every single [00:24:00] person listening is going to be able to take something away from this conversation.
So thank you so much for sharing all of that. Tell me where can listeners find you if they want to go and explore the world of Little Road?
Marcus: Fantastic. Well, littleroad. com. au is our website, and socials, Instagram, Facebook, um, at littleroad. studio.
Tracey: And we will include those details in the show notes. So people can go and check that out. Marcus, thank you so much from the bottom of my heart. I really, really loved this conversation.
Marcus: Thanks so much, Tracey it's an absolute pleasure to be a guest. You know, I'm a big fan of your podcast, and I'm pretty sure I've listened to every single episode, for all those snippets of gold that you so generously give. So no, thank you for this opportunity.
Tracey: Gosh, that's brilliance right there. I've got to say it. Talking to Marcus, as you can see, has been an absolute treat and his insight into what's important to him and his business and to what he has shared about his business journey, I just know is going to [00:25:00] resonate with just so many of us, if not every single person who's listened.
I'm so grateful to Marcus for his time on the podcast, and I have thoroughly enjoyed sharing this with you. We'll put Marcus's details in the show notes, go and check out his business, go and have a look and enjoy exploring a little more in the world of Little Road and Marcus. As always, thank you so much for listening.
I'll catch you next week.
LINKS:
Connect with Marcus:
Instagram: @littleroad.studio
Website: http://www.littleroad.com.au/
Check Your Legals with the Essential Legal Checklist here
Book a Free 20-minute Initial Consult with me here
Join Me on Social:
Rate, Review and Follow me on Apple Podcasts
If you are loved this episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This supports me in helping to empower more coaches, creatives and consultants - just like you - protect what they're building, and move forward with confidence in their business. It's quick and easy - click here, scroll down to the bottom, tap to rate with 5 stars and select 'write a review'. As always, I'd love to know what you think, and what you loved most about this episode. Also, don't forget to follow the podcast to stay up to date with the latest episodes.
