Everyone in business assumes they have good customer service, and why wouldn’t they? They are likely doing for their clients what they’d like to see done for themselves, but is that really the best road map?
Suppose you go to a diner and order a cup of coffee. The cup is poured and she disappears. She comes back in five minutes and begins to top off your now half-full cup, because that’s what SHE’D like done for HER. But you don’t LIKE it that way because now you’ve got to guesstimate how much more sugar and cream it will take to bring that now-full cup back to the perfect color and level of sweetness!
#firstworldproblems, I know, but the point is, customer service isn’t providing the client with what WE’D like to have, it’s providing them with what THEY’D like to have.
I’m an “all-in” kinda guy. Once I’ve agreed to providing photography services for someone – at any price – I no longer look at the contract of services agreed to or the amount I’m being paid. I’m simply “all-in” with whatever they need, photographically. Even if that means working overtime or providing services that I “might” have charged more for. I want my clients to recognize the value I brought to their assignment when they hired me. I’m not one to wag a contract in their face saying “Sorry! I refuse to do anything that’s not on this piece of paper right here!” Sometimes it hurts, because it’s easy to feel like you’re being taken advantage of, and of course there are times when that happens, but you know what? You live and you learn, and you prepare for the inevitable NEXT time, but THIS time is your LESSON. Learn it like a professional. And more often than not, your ability to deliver what that client wants or expects without question, protest, or complaint, will earn you more respect and five star reviews than you can possibly imagine.
I’m a small business owner. It is within my power to deliver a better product at a higher level of customer service than ANY large photography company because I have total and complete control over the decisions made in my business. I’m fully vested in making you happy, and won’t quit until I’ve exceeded YOUR expectations.