How to Deliver a Great Photography Client Experience
Wondering how you can go from a good photographer to a great one?
Deliver an excellent client experience, from beginning to end. This doesn’t only mean you are able to capture and professionally edit beautiful photos— it means your client feels seen, heard, understood, and taken care of from the moment they first encounter your work to the final gallery delivery.
The art of under-promising and over-delivering is one that I’ve been practicing for almost all of my career. It’s the #1 way I am able to deliver an amazing photography client experience every single time. Why? It increases your value as a photographer and enables you to stand out from an already saturated market.
When you practice under-promising and over-delivering to your clients, you increase your chances of 1) generating more referrals and 2) receiving stellar testimonials.
What exactly does that look like? Stick around to find out the four things I do in my own business to under-promise and over-deliver.
First and foremost, you should always use your photography contract and booking page to manage your client’s expectations.
When you have the expectations clearly outlined in an attorney-drafted photography contract, you know you’ll be able to achieve everything that's promised to the client. A photography contract gives you solid guidelines for those bare minimum requirements so that when you’re unable to overdeliver to that client, whether it be due to a time restraint or an extra busy season, you’ll still be able to maintain a professional client experience.
Free Resource: 5 Things to Include in Your Photography Contract
On the flip side, if your schedule does allow you to over-deliver, it will make for an above-average client experience that will only end up benefiting you and your client.
However, there's an order to this. That’s why I'm going to share with you four things that I do in my own business when it comes to under-promising and over-delivering.
Whether or not I do all four of these things is dependent on the season I’m in. If it’s not a busy season or I’m not traveling for work, it’s more likely that I will be able to achieve them all. However, if I’m in doing a photoshoot in New York City and on very limited time, I may not be able to hit all of these four touch points that show up at different times during the booking process.
I say all of this to remind you that you have to do what’s best for you and your business. Use these four ideas as examples, brainstorm your own, and let’s give your clients the best experience they could ask for.
Send out thank you cards before the photoshoot.
A thank you card is the number one thing anybody can do to over-deliver, even during their busy season. It requires a bit of extra time and effort to make sure your client receives the thank you card the day before the photoshoot, but otherwise, this is a pretty simple task. Start with a simple but heartfelt message or spend a little more time elaborating on a more personal message.
Personally, I write a simple note on some beautiful bright yellow paper and stamp it with my logo. Afterward, I use a wax seal version of my logo to close the letter shut. Save yourself the time by ordering return label stickers as little stickers. After that, all you need to do is write their address and add a stamp!
2. Text them the sneak peek images within 24-48 hours of the photoshoot.
When you speed up that sneak peek time, your clients are still on a high from the photoshoot and they're likely to text you a mini testimonial that you can screenshot and use in your pricing guide on your website or Instagram.
It's a great way to be able to capture your client’s full excitement outside of a formal testimonial.
3. Increase your turnaround time speed.
If, for example, your photography contract says your final images will be delivered in two weeks but you have the ability to deliver them in five, do it. My biggest tip for being able to achieve this fast turnaround time is this free photography software called Narrative Select. By using my special link, you’ll be able to use this software culling program for free. Watch as you *literally* cut your photo culling time in half— I’m not kidding!
This is yet another easy way to under-promise and over-deliver to clients.
4. Increase the number of images that they receive.
Before you over-deliver in this way, make sure that the original number of agreed-upon images is in your attorney-drafted photography contract— just like your turnaround time should be.
These four ways of under-promising and over-delivering will help increase the already amazing client experience you are preparing to deliver to your client. Not only will you be able to lock in an incredible testimonial to use on your website and social media, but you’ll display that extra bit of added value and care that will make your clients keep coming back for more.
Make sure to under-promise and over-deliver in a way that makes sense for your business and schedule and don’t forget to protect yourself and your business with attorney-drafted photography contracts before taking any of these four steps.
Resources:
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