This is an Ask Anything post that I am really excited to share about!! Why, you wonder? Because the advice of “Under Promise, Over Deliver” when it comes to customer service is super well known.  It is one of the first things I learned about client care, and one of the first ideas I put into practice in my business. After all, it is such a good and easy way to impress your clients! Serve them well, go overboard for them, and blow their expectations out of the water!   We don’t just under promise and over deliver to make ourselves look great (though it can), we do it because our clients deserve it!
But after hosting many coaching sessions, photographer after photographer has sat in my office feeling like their efforts are going unnoticed.  Or that they aren’t making a big difference in their business. So I started to consider why. What was the essential piece of the puzzle?  How can we be serving our clients so well by giving them more than promised, but not see the results??

Because they don’t know we are over-delivering.

Of course! It was so simple!  So let’s say we promise our clients 50 images, and deliver 75. We feel like we are giving them something great, something extra, and serving them better than they expected (and than they feel like they paid for).  But we never hear anything about those extra images, and our clients aren’t telling all their friends that their photographer was amazing and gave them so much more than they paid for. Why?!  Because they don’t remember how many images you promised in the first place!

We all lead busy lives. Remembering the smaller details of our purchases just doesn’t always happen. Delivering those images can happen two ways.

Option 1: “Thank you so much for allowing me to capture your beautiful family. I hope you love your images!.”.

Option 2: “Thank you so much for allowing me to capture your beautiful family. I know that your collection only had 50 images in them, but you guys were just so easy to photograph and so lovely together that I took and delivered quite a bit more- I hope you love them as much as I do!.”

Which encourages and lifts up your clients more? And which empowers them to see how you are over delivering for them to allow them to rave and share about you?

This carries into so many areas in my business, and for other creative business owners too. I have a friend in Jacksonville who owns an wedding venue there.  As a service to her brides, she provides all sorts of snack and drink goodies during their weekend at her venue. But those gifts are just sitting in their cabins where they stay- with no real explanation of who they are for or who they are from. But a little gift tag that says: “Enjoy this one on me! Xox, Katie” makes it clear that these are extra gifts for them. These are small examples- but all together, by the end of my wedding experience, there are a lot of small examples that add up and end in my client feeling loved and adored- and being more likely to share about it!

Are you looking for more ways to wow your clients? We all know the general rules…but do really know how to implement them in your business so that your clients become word of mouth advertisement for you? If not, I have more tips for you! Sign up below for a free e-book walking  you through my 3 top secrets!