Professional Photographer - USA (2019-10)

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BRIDGING THE GAPSUCCESS

 exible, contract-based aides work remotely

to help you manage critical everyday tasks,

often at considerable savings over an onsite

employee.

An assistant can also provide a human

connection when something in your system

breaks. When that happens, people want to

feel heard, so make sure your assistant has

good customer service skills and access to

processes that address clients’ needs.

PUT THE CLIENT IN THE SYSTEM

It’s important to put the client into the pro-

cess, says Washington. In other words, build

systems around clients’ needs, preemptive-

ly addressing FAQs, scheduling issues, bill-

ing speci cs, and other details. When you

take care of your clients’ concerns up front,

their impression of your professionalism im-

proves dramatically.

“Help them understand that the systems

are created for them to give them a better

experience,” says Washington. “The experi-

ence of working with you on the logistics and

other details should be the same high quality

as the photography experience and the pic-

tures you produce. It’s all about perception,

and those perceptions need to be consistent.”

PERSONALIZE

Automation doesn’t have to be impersonal.

No one likes feeling as if they’re stuck in an

automated loop with only robots for compa-

ny. Every good system includes places for

you to insert personal touches, so make use

of them. These could be personalized notes

that you add into reminder messages. You

can send emails explaining your process or

introducing your assistant. You can set up

automated reminders to perform personal-

ization tasks like sending handwritten notes

or congratulating a client on a signi cant

milestone. Or use a system like TouchNote

to send personalized e-cards and image pre-

views from your session.

“When you do have opportunities to pro-

vide personal touches, blow the clients away,”

says Washington. “Show that you’ve done re-

search and know who they are.”

GO ARTIFICIAL WITH YOUR INTELLIGENCE

“A personalized touch doesn’t mean it has

to be you all the time,” says Washington. You

can build the personalized touches into any

system, including chat bots and other arti-

 cial intelligence-powered communications.

Some of these systems are so good at in-

teracting with people that your clients may

have no idea that they’re communicating

with a bot instead of a real person. Put a lit-

tle of your personality into the system and

you’ll make it a lot more human.

PLUG IN CLIENT FEEDBACK

A good system requires continual adjustment

to adapt it to your evolving business and

clients’ changing needs. One of the best ways

to strategize those adjustments is to ask cli-

ents how you can improve their experience.

Washington suggests scheduling debrief-

ing calls with clients. Ask them for 10 min-

utes of their time to gather a little feedback.

“This can be a very simple call,” she says.

“Start by asking, ‘What’s your feedback on

the process?’ Then let them talk. Sometimes

people are hesitant to offer criticism so you

might need to dig a little deeper. Ask some-

thing like, ‘If you look at this whole process,

what’s one thing I could tweak to make it

that much better to work with me?’ Present

it as if they’re offering you a huge gift if they

can tell you one thing to do better, because it

is. That’s some of the most valuable informa-

tion you can receive.”

MAKE TECH WORK FOR YOU

“Many photographers think that shooting

great pictures is enough,” says Washington.

“They believe if they do this job really well,

they’ll have a successful business. Unfortun-

ately, that’s not true. There are people who

are less talented, with inferior skill and equip-

ment, but healthier businesses. Why? Be-

cause they’ve created a better overall client

experience through good business systems.”

The solution: Make the technology work

for you, not the other way around. “Make the

business processes fun by embracing your

creativity and bringing it over to the busi-

ness side,” says Washington. Translate your

spirit of innovation into business processes

that are as engaging for the client as they are

ef cient for you. Your clients will thank you,

and so will your business. •

crystalwashington.com

Crystal Washington

“When you do have

opportunities to

provide personal

touches, blow the

clients away. Show

that you’ve done

research and know

who they are.”

Crystal WashingtonCrystal Washington