So a few days ago I was at my studio listening to podcasts and painting away. We always have this need to redecorate our studios in January, it seems! Unshowered, dressed in my grubbies and covered in paint, I heard a knock at my door. I only take sessions by appointment, so I figured it was the landlord or the tenant next door needing something. I opened the door to find a guy standing out there. "Are you Ashley?" I said "Well, sort of. My last name is Ashley." So he says "well, what's your first name?" And I say "who are you?" He tells me his first name, and that he's from a company that helps photographers get more business. I tell him my name, and he says "Okay, well I just wanted you to be able to place a face with a name." He'd called and left a message on my phone the day before, and had sent me a postcard a week or two before that. I told him I was really in the middle of something, so he left.
I went back into the studio and thought "this guy went to the effort to find my studio's address and drive over here, but he didn't even bother to find out my name before he showed up?" Couldn't he have just checked out my website for two minutes? " How about approaching me this way instead?: "Hi, are you Mary Lynne? I was checking out your website, and you sure have some beautiful baby photography on there. January's sure a slow month for photographers, isn't it? Do you have a few minutes to talk about how our company might be able to help you with that?" Of course, I still wouldn't have been thrilled about him just showing up without an appointment, but he might have had a chance with me. A few days later I received an e-mail from a woman trying to sell me an Internet/phone bundle, and the first thing she said in the e-mail was how impressed she was with my photography, and how she wished she lived closer so she could bring her kids to me. I didn't need Internet service, but she at least earned a polite decline from me.
How would this lesson apply to your photography business? It took me back to the time I had a client show up to pick up her prints, and my new employee gave her a blank look and said "and your name is...?" completely acting like she hadn't just recently spent a couple hours in a session with her and another hour or two in the sales room! Knowing our clients' names is HUGE. They certainly deserve it after making the important decision to choose us as their photographer.
Well, that's my little rant for today! It just seemed like a relevant experience to share.
-Mary Lynne
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