EPISODE 47 OF WHAT WOULD THEY DO? THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PODCAST FOR SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
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In this final episode of the reflection and intention-setting series, I share my personal approach to planning with purpose and how intentionality can shape your business in 2026 and beyond.
I open up about how I mapped out my entire year in advance without needing every detail locked in so I can focus my energy on what really moves the needle.
But this isn’t just about calendars and to-do lists. It’s about being strategic with your customer journey, mapping from the outside in, and creating offers and experiences that meet your audience where they are.
If you’re tired of reactive launches, last-minute stress, and half-baked onboarding, this episode will help you step into the year with clarity, intention, and a customer experience designed to retain and delight.
What we cover:
What intentionality in business really means (and why it’s more than just “planning”)
Why understanding your audience’s seasonal needs is key to retention
Mapping your customer experience backwards from key moments that matter
How Retention Lab can help you make these strategies actionable
Soundbites:
“When you plan ahead with intention and being super strategic about every move that you make in your business, you’re not just doing yourself a favour and your future self. You are actually building and growing and scaling a business that keeps its promises.”
“Personally I have planned out my 2026 already. Not every last detail, but the big markers for this year are in the calendar. So that’s upcoming promotions, upcoming live events, whether it’s in the membership or as free workshops. I’ve really focused on the projects that deserve my energy well in advance rather than in a panic mode because they can really move the needle in my business.”
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Episode Transcript:
Nadine Nethery (00:00)
Hey, hey, and welcome to the final episode in this reflection and intention setting series. So today we are going to look at how I am going to continue moving through the year in my business. And if you’re feeling like you’ve been flying by the seat of your pants in 2025 or like you’re constantly behind when it comes to upcoming promos,
your pre-sale strategy, your next launch, or in general, how you’re onboarding, offboarding people when it comes to your services or even your membership. This episode is hopefully going to give you a bright spark and some ideas to make intention a bigger part of your processes in 2026. So we are going to today explore intentionality
in business in general and how it can serve you when it comes to financial benefits but also to creating a business that seems to flow more that seems to give you less anxiety because you have things designed with intention with strategy and with a bigger picture in mind. Personally I have planned out my 2026
already. I did that before my parents arrived from Germany at the end of November because my inner German likes to know what’s coming up. I, as I said, have mapped it out. Not every last detail, but the big markers for this year are in the calendar. So that’s upcoming promotions, upcoming live events, whether it’s in the membership or
as free workshops, for example, but also upcoming holidays when it comes to actually going away with the family or ⁓ school being on a break, which always puts a bit of a spin on my workload and my capacity. I’ve really focused on the projects that deserve my energy
because they can really move the needle in my business. While things are still fluid and I’m not saying things aren’t going to shift slightly down the track, there is that intention. So at least I know what’s coming up every quarter. I know how I am going to invite people to work with me throughout the year.
and it just means I am less anxious and things are less like throwing spaghetti at the wall. 2025 really was the first time we heard the term trust recession. That means people need to hear from you more regularly before they trust you. People need to
be super confident that you can actually deliver on a promise before they invest in you, which is totally fair game, right? Money is tight. The world is still a mess and there are just so many offers out there that simply are very underwhelming once you’ve handed over that cash. So if we in 2026 want to grow our business, retain our customers and serve our people really well,
We can’t be reactive as potentially worked in 2023. We need to anticipate and design experiences and strategies around what our audience actually needs. So it’s not necessarily starting with what you want to sell. We need to understand what our people need and how we can best support them. And that’s where intentionality comes into the picture.
So what can that mean when it comes to the customer experience and your customer retention strategies? That basically just means you need to map things from the outside in. So starting with your people and asking yourself questions like, what are they going through right now? When throughout the year are they most likely to need your support,
to need your accountability, to need the solutions that you can help them with? And what moments on their customer journey matter most? So what is going to be a priority in how you serve them so they’re ready to invest in your offer when you present them with that offer. And once you’ve answered those questions, you need to then reverse engineer things. How can you onboard your customers in a way that makes them feel super special and gives them
everything they need to see quick wins. What content do you need to create to help them overcome objections ⁓ early on so they’re not a deal breaker when they are ready to hit that buy now button? What support do they need rather than what support do you want to deliver? You know, what really matters and moves the needle when it comes to getting results and then you need to meet them there, right? And what things do you need to have in place now
So your promotion, your launch, your sales process is going to be successful later on? And when you plan ahead with intention and being super strategic about every move that you make in your business, you’re not just doing yourself a favor and your future self. You are actually building and growing and scaling a business that keeps its promises,
delivers on a promise, delivers on what you said you would do. So if you want 2026 to feel more intentional, more impactful and way less reactive, ⁓ Retention Lab is
absolutely the place for you. We are building the systems and the strategies to help you make that happen. And if you join now, you ⁓ also get an invitation to our live planning day on the 4th of February inside the Lab. We’re going to map out together how we’re going to take baby steps and build our retention brick stack
gradually throughout 2026. So if you want to kickstart the year with ⁓ forward vision, with intent, and with a rock solid strategy that you can gradually execute month by month, rather than one big block, I would love you to come and join us and yeah, map things out together.
You can find out about Retention Lab via the link in the show notes. So next week we are back to regular programming with an amazing guest. She has built and grown her own business with a stellar customer experience, while
protecting her boundaries. This guest is going to be a must listen. and hopefully I will see you next week. Have a good week.
