Elevate your photography clients experience

Every business owner knows excellent customer service is integral to any small business. 

Making sure you check all the boxes necessary to keep a client satisfied should be at the core of any marketing plan. 

However, while the nuts and bolts of keeping a client satisfied is important, you should be aiming for something more. 

After all, is there really anything exciting about just being satisfied with something? 

Photography isn’t an impersonal business.

You want clients that feel a connection with you and your work. 

Emotions need to be involved.

You deal in preserving memories and bringing them to life in film. No client should leave working with you feeling unattached to you and your work.

If your clients think you are just satisfactory after engaging with you and have no emotional investment in your business, you are doing something wrong.

Aim higher!

When you are running your own photography business, thinking of ways to improve a client’s experience should be right up there with setting the right prices and delivering the best possible photographs to your clients. 

What is client experience?

Often used interchangeably with customer service, client experience goes beyond the standard services and common interactions you have with your clients. 

With client experience, you focus on forming a relationship beyond the single photography session they may have hired you for. 

It’s not a one and done connection.

Instead of concentrating solely on the tangible things, you can offer at the time of service, find ways to get emotions involved and help nurture a feeling of loyalty and pride from your clients. 

Your client experience should be treated as an ongoing relationship with no marked beginning or end. 

It’s the difference between a client feeling like things were “fine” and a client feeling like you are the only photographer for them. 

While it may be impossible to have every client fall in love with you, you should do your best to make your client form a strong emotional connection and the loyalty that comes with it. 

Why is client experience so important?

An elevated client experience creates excited clients…

…Excited clients turn into loyal clients…

…Loyal clients are your most profitable clients…

Do the math!

(Learn more about the importance of repeat clients here)

Creating a great overall experience for your clients increases the likelihood of:

• Repeat customers- Family photographer? Now you have a client that is likely to hire you annually so they can get their perfect Christmas card photos and other important occasions. 
• Impulse purchases- Planning on doing some mini sessions this year? Your clients are more likely to schedule an unplanned session just because they trust you and got excited about what they saw when you posted the upcoming session on your Facebook page.
• Client referrals- Whether it’s through sharing recent photos you took of them via social media with family and friends, or through an online review, happy clients naturally lead to more referrals.
• Increased revenue- In life, the more emotionally attached you are to something the more significance you give it and the more valuable it becomes. Photography is no different. A large pool of loyal clients makes it easier to charge more for your services without fearing the loss of your clientele. 

How can you improve your experience with your photography clients?

When I’m working with photographers, this is what I suggest they do.  First, make a two-column list. On the left side write down what you do now. On the right side, list what you can do. 

Write down every single client touchpoint you have. 

Are there ways you can elevate this experience – surprise and delight your clients? Write them down. 

It will take some time to implement your new ideas into your workflow so be patient. I just added a few new ideas every couple months until I had a client experience I could be proud of. 

Everyone will have a different experience for their clients so please don’t compare your plan to others and feel you’re not doing it right. 

Some clients may just want simple, easy and fast and your goal will be to make the experience as hassle free as possible. 

Let’s say you’re a wedding photographer with a fun, colorful brand. You can sprinkle in fun, playful elements into your time with your clients. Perhaps you send them funny memes about marriage through social media. You send them a light hearted book about relationships as a wedding gift.   

Another photographer’s brand may be focused on creating beautiful collages of their newborn baby. This photographer could visit the home before the session to determine the best places to hang the art. She could help style the family to match the colors and vibe of the rooms and as an added bonus, she could even hang up the art on her client’s walls. 

I don’t have a studio but my desire was to create a boutique-like experience for my clients. This the list I made for my photography business many years ago.

There are so many different ways that you can elevate your client’s experiences. Comment below and let me know one way you plan to improve your customer’s journey? 

Want to send your client a gift, but not sure what to send? 

One way to surprise and delight your clients is by sending a gift. Here are some great gift ideas!

Branded gifts

Face mask

Coffee mug

Your brand blank note cards with a custom sticker to seal.

Photo gifts

Christmas ornaments

Holiday Gift tags

Photo keychain with leather case

Mini canvases

Calendar

Notecards

Image cube

Video slideshow set to music

Accordion or mini-album

Glass polaroid coaster

Pillow or blanket

For all photograghy genres

Nice frame

Discounts, freebies

Essential oils

Tea | Coffee | Wine

Candles

Gift certificates to local partners

Greetabl boxes

Flower

Viewmasters

Snap chat on-demand Geo-filters

Photography gifts

Camera paper clips

Personalized gifts

Cardboard camera filled with candy

Home or studio sessions

Charcuterie board/box

Family

Movie night in a box

Children’s book about a mom photographer

Wedding

Wedding dress hangers
Bridal magazines
Book about relationships and marriage

Slideshow at the wedding

Bridal Buddy

Newborn

Branded onesie

Beautiful blanket

Camera shaped teeters

Bring to session

Gourmet donuts | cookies | brownies 

Water | drinks

The claw or treasure box so kids can pick toy

Other ideas

Handwritten notes

DIY anything
Personalized videos

Welcome packets

Beautiful packaging

Bonjoro (respond to emails with personalized video)

Having a great customer experience plan in place equals happy, loyal clients that will help increase your revenue. I hope this article has given you some unique ways to improve your client’s experience. In the comments below, name one way you plan to improve your customer’s journey.

Talk about a win-win!