It’s Not Them, It’s You!
3 Reasons Why Your Lack Of Customer Service Is Keeping You From Being Booked, Blessed, And Paid.
There has been times were I’ve scrolled down social media and saw statuses such as, “My city doesn’t support me. People only support those who are popular.” Hey, there might be some truth to that I’m not sure but I do know that sometimes people don’t patronize other business owners simply because of something they did or didn’t do. The one thing that people compliment me on is my professionalism. I’m not the SUPER PHOTOGRAPHER! I’m not the BEST PHOTOGRAPHER in the world but guess what, that doesn’t matter. I provide a quality service and I do good business. Sure, I make mistakes and something might slip through the cracks; but overall the quality and value is there.
“The service is quite unmatched.” -Client
If you are having trouble making consistent sales it might be your lack of customer service. I want you to reflect on these three things:
1, How Often And Quickly Are You Responding To Emails? Sometimes people want to book you but you’re not responding quick enough. You go days without checking your email and then you take weeks to respond. Generally you want to check your email about 2-3 times each day and reply within 24-48 hours. Your money is in your email but you don’t have any order in your day so your emails go unchecked. If this is you take 1 hour in the morning and maybe 30 minutes in the evening to check and reply to emails. If you are completely swamped it might be time for you to invest in a virtual assistant. A virtual assistant can handle your emails, organize your calendar, and bring order into your workflows. CLICK HERE to start your search for a virtual assistant
2. Do You Have A Pleasant Attitude? If you’re not pleasant to work with I probably wouldn’t work with you either. Customers want to feel valued and respected. If you have a nasty attitude or you make people feel uncomfortable more than likely they will not come back and they will not refer you to their families or friends. If you haven’t noticed, WOM (Word Of Mouth Marketing), is one of the most powerful and trusted marketing tools. Research shows that WOM can impact your marketing campaign by 54%. When I wrap up a clients project I love to hear, “I’m going to refer you to my friends.” Please believe if you’re rude and nasty the majority of your clients probably aren’t coming back. Just a little boss tip, it’s cheaper to keep your existing clients than marketing to find new ones.
3. How Is The Quality Of Your Service Or Product? When I first started taking on photography clients I was no where near as good as I am now. I knew I had to improve my skills if I wanted to offer a premium service. I attended photography workshops, invested in coaching and quality equipment that allowed me to offer a premium service with premium pricing. You might need to do the same. Do you need to improve your skills? Do you need to invest in quality tools so you can too improve your service and or product. You might not be a photographer but maybe you’re a cake designer. Ask yourself and your clients a few questions to evaluate your performance, “How does your cake taste? Is it neat? Are you efficient? How do you rank amongst other people in the industry?” It is important to know what you’re doing well and the areas you can improve on so you can know how to move forward in your business.
Running a successful business and working with clients is not easy but it’s very rewarding. Today is the day you’re taking a pledge to improve your customer service skills. It’s time for you to get out of your own way. I want you to get on the phone with your clients and ask them for feedback. You can send out surveys with an incentive. Also, be sure to block out time on the daily basis to check emails. If emails are overwhelming don’t forget to check out Fiverr to hire a virtual assistant. The mediocre customer service stops today! When you go above and beyond your clients will do the same for you. Hopefully these small changes will increase your sales, generate more leads, and keep you booked, blessed, and paid.