Feeding Your Business with Feedback
So you’ve gotten your client through the door. The session is done, photos and products have been delivered, and your workflow is complete. Or is it? So many photographers forget the very last step in providing a unique and complete client experience, which of course is FEEDBACK.
Many of you may ask: why is feedback so important? The main point in booking a client is to make money, right? So if the money has been made, what more is there left to do? Let me preach about this for a little bit: your client’s perception about you, their experience with you, and the way you make them feel should be your top priorities in helping to grow your business. Consumers want to be able to have control over the investment process, and the best way to lend them some control is to offer them a chance to provide you with honest and constructive information about what you did right, and most importantly, what you did wrong. Here are some tips on gathering these crucial bits and how to use them to your advantage to continue nurturing your business baby.
1 AUTOMATE: This is a no brainer. Automation is a must if you are a small, business owner. It saves you time, it saves you energy, it saves you from wanting to rip your hair out. With that being said, many customer management systems will allow you to create workflows that (when set up appropriately) will automatically generate a questionnaire or feedback mechanism for your clients to complete. A great way to set up these forms is to offer a variety of question types, including free response as well as rating systems, to assist you as you analyze your results. If you haven’t yet invested in an automated system for your customer management, I would highly suggest looking into several options including Dubsado (my personal favorite), Honeybook, and 17hats.
2 INCENTIVIZE Once you’ve prepared your post-session questionnaires, use incentives to entice your clients into actually completing them. These can be anything ranging from print credits to coupons for their next session, but the most important thing is to make sure you are giving them something that they value AND will ultimately lead them back to your business.
3 ANALYZE Put aside time periodically to truly analyze the results from your feedback questionnaires, whether this be monthly, quarterly, etc. If you’ve used a rating system, pay special attention to the items that received high marks and the items that received low marks. Note client comments from free-response questions, and if appropriate, utilize these to establish short term and long term goals for your business.
4 FOLLOW UP If your clients take the time to give you some substantial feedback, make sure you follow up with them promptly to address any concerns, and thank them for their time. Let them know you appreciate their input and are working to improve your clients’ experience. This is essential you guys- do NOT treat your clients like a number. You are here to serve them.
Do you have your client questionnaire ready? If not, don’t delay. Start creating yours today, and keep building it until you are satisfied that you will get the answers you need. For access to my client questionnaire template, subscribe to my email list below!