I once heard from one of our all-time favorite movies,”If you build it, they will come.” This is a quote that rings in our heads during our best times in business and during those more questionable days. We also firmly believe it’s not just enough to be a great photographer. In addition to being the best you possibly can at your craft, you should serve your clients in a way that shows how much you appreciate them. We have some quick points that can turn around your client experience so quick that you can start using it on your current clients and your very next lead!
1. BE A RESOURCE!
We are continually so humbled by all our couples who managed to choose us above so many others to capture all the memories of their wedding day. We want every client to know how much we truly appreciate that decision they made. Show each client that you care about them and their needs. This can start as soon as an initial inquiry and will continue throughout the wedding planning process. Always ask yourself, what can I do for my client? We strive to go above and beyond a business transaction and truly offer ourselves as a friend to them. For current clients, we are continually checking in with them about the process. Do you need us for anything? Vendor referrals, opinions about your current vendors, engagement session outfits, or just a simple how are you doing. We love to send little emails that show we care about the outcome of their big day!
This also goes to all the brides that inquire, and we are unfortunately booked. We still have their best interest in mind. Offer her referrals of people you know fit her style, availability (very important, don’t send her another booked vendor), budget, and most importantly someone who you feel will serve her in a way you would have. This gives her a sense that just because you didn’t receive money that you still care, just like a friend would have! It is monumental and can lead to referrals down the road just due to your kindness!
Take away: from the beginning – be a resource! They obviously like your work, so there’s not much more reason to “sell” them on your work. Now sell them on your business and personality. Make yourself a resource that they can’t live without.
2. ALWAYS UNDERPROMISE AND OVERDELIVER
We have always, ALWAYS, kept some of our fun little surprises a secret to our brides. For the fact some of our brides could be reading this, we won’t go into super specific items, but we have some great examples to wow your brides that don’t just eat away at that very important bottom line. “A little goes a long way”! So in our contract, it states 6-8 weeks for delivery. We never even get close to those numbers. It’s never any fun to wait a month or MONTHS to receive your wedding day product. So we do what we would want which is delivering quickly and giving sneaks along the way. Showing off one photo within 24 hours of their wedding day and a blog with about 100 images only a couple days after! They love feeling like the star of the week and before they know it they have wedding pictures in hand! We also surprise our brides with a Bridal Guide made from us with our brides in mind. This in no way takes the place of a planner; however, it helps her along the way in realms of photography and videography to be sure she knows what expect on her big day!
Finally, giving a little gift at their wedding to show how excited you are to be there celebrating with them and another gift with the final product delivery! All of these are minimal in price but make a huge impact on the experience with your couples!
Take Away: Go above and beyond what your contract states. Gift and Give! It can be small and thoughtful. But doesn’t have to break the bank. The total cost of gifts should be around 3-4% of the client’s package cost. Some great gifts we’ve done in the past are; The Newly Wed Cook Book, A Framed photo from their wedding day, Monogrammed blanket from Pottery Barn, Or something simple like a gift card to a movie. Don’t forget to go above monetary gifts. Gifts like receiving their wedding gallery while on their honeymoon, while it cost nothing, could be their favorite gift of all.
3. HAVE GREAT EMAIL ETIQUETTE!
OKAY. I know! It’s such a huge deal though! We are firm believers in having business hours but for most clients, our office hours are the same as their work hours. Meaning, they might only be able to email us after they are off work. Our goal is to respond to their email within a few hours after they sent it. Alex and I each have our own methods for keeping our inbox EMPTY! I love having notifications on my phone. I know some of you cringe at the thought of having all those red dots on your phone remind you what you have to answer, I like it. So throughout the day when I need a little editing break, I’ll open my phone and check email and answer emails for 5 minutes. I’ll do this same process throughout the day whenever I just need a break from the computer. Alex, on the other hand, hates notifications or little red dots on his phone. Alex’s method is checking email once in the morning and clearing his inbox. Then checking email before lunch, before we “clock out” for the day and maybe once after we put the baby to sleep. Even though our methods are different, we both spend about 30-45 minutes MAX per day in email. Most of the time it’s way less than that
Our max goal time is to respond within 24 hours but we strive to never make a bride wait that long! If you’re anything like us we like answers to our problems or needs right away. We have a little patience and we are definitely not the “angry” you took too long to respond kind of people; however, we get wowed everytime we get a quick response back and remember those who take ages to respond. We have heard OVER and OVER and OVER about how much people appreciate our quick response. This is why this point made it on the list! Brides are talking about it so it’s important! We have actually received bookings because a bride got a response to us WAY before a response from someone else! This is what will make the difference and not only give you more referrals but receive more bookings!
Take Away: Don’t make clients wait long for email responses. ESPECIALLY an inquiry email. We do our best to answer those within 15 minutes NO MATTER WHAT! For normal emails, we do our best to answer within a few hours but at the very latest 24 hours. Don’t make email more complicated that what it needs to be. Do it in small chucks and keep that bad boy cleared!
ARE YOU STRUGGLING WITH CLIENT EXPERIENCE? DO YOU HAVE MORE QUESTIONS? COMMENT BELOW OR EMAIL ME AT CONTACT@ALWEDDINGSLLC.COM. I WOULD LOVE TO HELP YOU SERVE YOUR CLIENTS!
