Business NOT as Usual

For a very long time I have prided myself on being a quality and customer satisfaction driven photographer. Was I perfect? ABSOLUTELY not! But I have learned from my mistakes and feel like I have continually gotten better in both areas. My work has improved over the years, at least I'd like to think so, and me paying attention to clients or prospective clients wants and needs has also come a long way. I also take time to try to educate clients on how some things work or won't work and why, without getting too winded or boring. OK, winded probably happens but that is just who I am. LOL
 

I don't think asking for good customer service is a lot to ask for. Over the past few weeks as I have ratcheted up my work to get my business going, I have had to deal with a lot of people in the customer service industry. Heck, I've even been doing a lot more of it when it comes to my personal life as well. One thing that I've noticed throughout my life, and especially over the past few weeks, is there are some people in the industry that really need to find a new job.

Some people act like they don't want to help you and sometimes I can't even get a simple call back to explain what my situation is. This is just bad business, in my opinion at least. If you can't even call a prospective client back, what would lead you to believe they would trust you to return a call if they were a client? I know that I have several companies that I won't be looking to do business with for just that reason; big and little alike!

I've taken a valuable lesson from these types; this is NOT how I want to do business. I will attempt to treat everyone like they are my golden ticket to happiness by returning calls or messages in a timely manor. I will treat you with dignity and respect no matter your knowledge level on the matter at hand and try to bring you up to speed without belittling you. I am the photographer and I don't expect you to understand everything and it will benefit the both of us with a better experience if I take the time to explain.

My mom has always told me I should have been a salesmen. While I get where she is coming from, it isn't something that interested me. Her key point is I can talk to just about anyone and sell them anything. I think that goes a long way in describing how important I think customer service is. Customer service starts with the salesperson and continues for as long as needed in the clients opinion, whether you agree or not. You have to at least acknowledge that there is a perceived issue and either correct it or educate them on how it is a nonissue in the most respectful of ways.

Maybe I'm making a hill out of a mound, I don't know. I just don't think it is a lot to ask for.