One of the things that I just love about my job is to be able to help other people. I guess it’s always been something I loved to do. As some of you know my career before photography was retail management. Look at a specialty store in any normal mall in the USA and the odds are I’ve worked and managed at least a couple of the stores in that mall. The Limited, Bath and Body Works, Victoria’s Secret, Aeropostale, Gymboree, The Children’s Place…..some of the things I was most proud of in these stores was to be able to develop other associates and help them attain their goals of becoming managers, etc. I’m still friends and in contact with people that worked for me over 9 years ago. And actually we worked TOGETHER! Mike was a part time sales associate for me and ready to quit and not come back, when I convinced him to stay and work on moving up. He went from part time high schooler, to part time Key Holder, to Assistant Manager, to Store Manager and is now shooting for District Manager. Now I love helping other photographers, just like people have helped me, and I also, in a way, help my clients. I help them document times in their lives.
This post tonight is aimed at other photographer’s but really can apply to anyone in their job. Today I was out delivering some orders to clients and stopped by the workplace of the mother of one of my senior reps. She works in a medical office and I had the opportunity to chat with the doctor, as I found out he goes to the same church as me. We were talking about different things about his office, but we got on the topic of “client experiences”. I’ve been thinking about what he said all day long because I always find it interesting how basic business practices apply to almost any and all businesses, and what he was saying was EXACTLY the philosophy I have for my own business.
He was telling me about how his business isn’t really about the patients that see him everyday. For him, it’s about the experience they have with him. Note the word EXPERIENCE there? He offer’s complimentary consultations. No hassle, no pressure. You come see him, you find out your options and then you make a decision. They also give top notch customer service, or customer “experiences”. I’ve always felt that I subscribed to these ideals in whatever job I’ve ever done. I want to make the customer happy. Does that mean that I always do everything perfectly? No way….far from it in fact! I’ve had many many growing pains as my business has grown. But I HOPE that no matter what the situation has been, that my clients feel like I have taken care of them and that their experience with me has been a positive one. I will do almost anything to make the experience positive in the end. This is because I feel like the best form of advertising is word of mouth. I’ve done a lot of studying and research over the past 10 years on customer trends and psychology and if a customer/client is unhappy they will tell on average 10 people. If a customer is happy then they tell on average 5-7 people. So it’s in every business person’s best interest to make their customer’s happy, within reason!
I was impressed and happy to hear the doctor say that his business wasn’t just about the type of service he provides, but it’s ALL about the experience he provides his patients. To apply that in my life, I say: sure there can be people out there that are better/worse than me in what I do technically, but what kind of EXPERIENCE do I offer my clients? My goal is for my clients to FEEL the difference in experience. It’s all about how they feel in every contact I have with them. Here’s a great article that wasn’t written for photographer’s but the message in the article can apply to anyone in business!
30+ Ways to Create an Incredible Client Experience
If you’re a client of mine and you feel you’ve had a great experience with me and my studio, then please leave a comment below and if you like this article then please share it!
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