Speaker 1: 0:10

Welcome to the Wedding CEO podcast, where we discuss all things marketing, sales and scaling so you can become the CEO of your life and business. I'm Elora Rochelle and I've been a wedding photographer for over a decade and now I'm sharing all of my secrets so you can stop sacrificing your time and make more money like a CEO. In today's episode, we're diving into what this experience taught me about customer service and possibly, sales, so let's just dive straight in. Once I went to a restaurant and the experience was probably the worst I've had forever, but it taught me a valuable lesson on how to treat customers, especially if you want to keep them happy and possibly have them raving about you, rather than telling everyone it was okay and we've all had that right.

Speaker 1: 1:03

Where someone's like, oh, I went here. I'm like, oh, how was it? Eh, it was all right. And you're like, oh, not going there, like I only want to go places that people are telling you you have to go here, you have to try this right. So I went to a restaurant and I ordered something and I was so excited about it, couldn't wait to try it. Right, it's the story of my life. Waitress comes back and says it's unavailable. I'm like, oh man, well, what do you suggest? Actually, I don't eat here, so I don't know. Is what she told me, okay, is there something similar to what I ordered that you know of on the menu? And she was like, no, not really. And I was like, okay, I'll just order this. So, as a result, I left disappointed and rushed to order something that later didn't end up tasting nearly what I had wanted or expected from the first thing.

Speaker 1: 1:48

Now, if that were me and I was the waitress with my sales skills, this is what I would do, based on how I felt as the customer. Now, let's say I'm the waitress hey, sorry to let you know this, but we're sold out of X. Let's say they ask the same questions as me Okay, well, is there something similar to what I ordered that you know of on the menu? And they would say no, but I highly suggest this on the menu because it's my ultimate favorite and we sell so much of it every day. Or I haven't tried it yet, but everyone is raving about X, would you like to try it? And, just for the inconvenience, we would like to offer a free blank. So sorry about that.

Speaker 1: 2:31

I mean, this is like a slap of good experience on both sides here is something really good and also have a free blank, because this was kind of our fault. Right, I'm not saying that this is what every restaurant should do, but it does leave such a good taste in your mouth that they cared about you so much as the customer. They're willing to make it up to you to keep you happy, and there is nothing worse than being betrayed by your food. There is nothing worse than not getting what you actually wanted, and so, removing the pressure and the fault of the customer but still staying in control of how they feel, I feel like it's definitely the way to creating this ultimate client experience for your customers. So this kind of more doesn't apply to the wedding industry, because there's probably an abundance of what we sell because it's a service.

Speaker 1: 3:23

But I do think that if you're constantly booked for a wedding date like you had to turn away 10 to 15 clients not because they weren't a dream, like they were a dream and it was painful to turn them away, but because you were booked this could be a sign that maybe, instead of just turning them away unless you have a network of people that you feel totally fine with sending them that way. But maybe it might be time to build a team. Maybe your brand is so in demand that customers just want what you have to offer. And that was when I realized too, I think I turned away 20 clients one year and I was like this feels bad and I would have clients that would change their wedding dates, but still for me I was like wow, it's like really nice, I didn't have to do that. I feel bad. I hope you didn't send out like invitations already. But what way could I offer them an alternative where I can still work with them or make sure they're happy or take care of them? And I feel like an associate team does all of that and more so that is when I decided to kind of lay out the strategy and the plan for creating you an associate team, and that also helped me be able to raise my prices a ton, because if they couldn't afford me, they still got my team, who was trained by me. But the editing style that I had, because my clients were very picky about editing styles. So that is definitely something to think about.

Speaker 1: 4:54

This is a very bite-size episode because I don't know, I like giving out little tips here and there and I don't want to drag it out, I'm more of a straight shooter to the point. I'm trying to get these back to 25 minutes, but I don't know. I just can't talk that much, I don't know. So I do have guest episodes coming here and there if you want more, because what is going on? Why do I not have so much to talk about?

Speaker 1: 5:18

But maybe this could be a good time to take a look at your own customer service experience, your own inquiry stage, or maybe looking at the demand, like are you in demand? Do you need to provide a solution to your clients' problems instead of just sending them away and being like, sorry, or maybe you're not getting enough inquiries and we need to figure out why you're not getting the inquiries, especially the dream inquiries. There is one thing to get inquiries and there's another thing to get dream inquiries that you feel like are 100% the client you have been dying to photograph. And I think that this is the game changer versus being like, oh yeah, I have a lot of inquiries, I book them. I don't know they're gray or you know, I didn't like this, I didn't like this, but it was my paycheck. We want you to be overjoyed and ecstatically excited about your clients, that way that everybody's happy, you treat them well, you're not resentful, you give them the best experience and therefore they will tell all their friends and family about you, hopefully, who are also dream clients as well. So definitely something to think about.

Speaker 1: 6:28

What is your client experience like? And then also next time you go somewhere, maybe even be like me and just kind of take notes on the experience, you'd be surprised how customer service has always been non-negotiable for me. I was always like what can I do to keep my customers very happy? I want them so happy that they were like, even though I didn't book her, she was so kind, just some way, that you are in people's mouths all the time. And that's marketing.

Speaker 1: 6:53

Honestly, customer service, customer experience, is marketing. By the way, it's not a separate thing. What you say, how people feel about your business, your brand, what they're saying about your brand that is ultimately marketing. I do have to say branding is what people say about your business when you're not in the room, like how they describe it, I think. But the experience part in terms of word of mouth and networking that's just two more branches of marketing. Marketing is also making sure that you're constantly getting people in the door in your business, booked, ready to go.

Speaker 1: 7:30

But I also think that the connections you make and the word of mouth, the way that people find you, whether it's Instagram, seo, google, like I said, word of mouth, all these other things that's all marketing, which is why I think we need to really work on it. All spectrums like taking a look at the client experience, taking a look at your workflows, your automations, your systems, and then taking a look at the delivery of the end product, like all of these things are all marketing. So it could be about that time, guys we're almost at the end of the year where it's time to look at what we're offering. Look at how people are finding us. If you have HoneyBook, you have DeBusado, look at how they're finding you and if you don't have that question on your inquiry form, put that on their ASAP and figure out what's working and then what's not working. So you could probably do less of that and more of what's working. So definitely something to think about.

Speaker 1: 8:26

I will see you, guys, in the next episode. Have an amazing week and I will be in your earbuds again soon. Wait, don't go yet. If you loved today's episode, I would love if you took five seconds to leave a rating and a five-star review. If you do, send me a DM so I can give you a virtual hug and, of course, a shout out.

Speaker 1: 8:50

Now, if you're ready to grow your photography business, I invite you to apply for the Wedding CEO. The Wedding CEO is my signature program for wedding photographers who are ready to scale their way to 100K. You're finally ready to work less, make more and live your dream life. If you've seen my Instagram, then you'll know we have students making five-figure months launching their dream brands, doubling their prices, taking vacations and more. We teach marketing and sales, which are lifetime skills that you can take with you even if you decide to leave the industry. Accepted applicants will get an exclusive access to a private advanced training where I'm going to show you exactly how easy it is to scale your way to 100K. And, trust me, you don't want to miss this Link in the show notes. I'll see you inside.