Everyone knows how important it is to make a good first impression in business. How you dress, the decor of your studio (or home if you meet clients there), how you answer the phone, your website, etc., are all important aspects of your business to which you need to pay special attention. However, sometimes we get so caught up in making a good first impression, we totally disregard impressions 2-infinity. That can be a big mistake.
What do you do to ensure that when a prospect comes back to you, they are equally impressed as they were the first time? After they hire you, what do you do to ensure the customer service and quality of product you offer is the best it can be? Here are some suggestions to keep impressions 2-infinity as good as the first:
- Provide on-going communication with your clients about the progress of their projects.
- Provide the fastest possible turn around.
- Positive surprises. If you promise three months, deliver in two.
- Give gifts. If a client is paying you $5,000 to shoot their wedding, you can afford to stick a $20 Starbucks gift card (or two) in a thank you card to them (that was one of the things we used to do when weddings was our primary business. I need to start that up again for my commercial clients. 🙂 )
- Survey your clients to find out what they liked and didn’t like about their experience with you. Tell them to be brutally honest.
- Survey prospects who didn’t hire you to find out why.
- Do amazing work (that goes without saying).
I haven’t been the best at doing all of these things, but I’m in the process of kicking it up a notch. (Have you figured it out yet that writing these blog posts are just as much for me as they are for you? 🙂 ) What are some of the things you do to “Wow!” your clients and make every impression a lasting one?
[…] There are many more impressions than just the first […]