Welcome to another Reader FAQ! Thanks for submitting your questions to us – we get such a thrill out of answering our readers most pressing questions about their businesses.
This is an ongoing series, so make sure to read the rest of our Reader FAQ posts.
If you have a question that hasn’t been answered already, check out the info at the bottom of this post for how to submit.
You never know, it just may be featured here on the bloggy-blog!
On with today’s question…
Where do you host your client meetins or where would you recommend for photographers who don’t have their own studio?
Because we work with couples all over the country, we don’t actually meet with any of our couples face to face.
Instead, we meet with our clients over the phone and highly recommend it for anyone that is looking to free up some of their time.
Learn all about how we do client meetings over the phone at this post here.
That said, before we started phone meetings, we would meet with our clients in our home.
We invited them over, opened a bottle of wine, and spent a few hours chatting about them, their love story, their wedding, and where we fit in the midst of all that.
We loved how the relaxed environment of our home spoke to our cozy, inviting, and approachable brand.
However, I totally realize that we moved into a house with a super cozy second living room that we designed for relaxed client meetings, so this doesn’t work for everyone.
There’s two things you need to remember when it comes to client meetings:
- The experience needs to be an extension of your brand and appeal to your Dreamies
- You need to be in control of the situation as much as possible
So is a laid back coffee shop next to the beach a fit for your brand and your clientele? Or does a luxury boutique hotel fit better?
Before we had a home that worked for meetings, our first place was a one bedroom apartment with our office in the living room/kitchen – no bueno for client meetings.
So instead, we met with clients at Starbucks or Coffee Bean.
(If you’re doing this, I’d suggest becoming friends with the folks that work at your local coffee place, introduce yourself, and create a nice environment.)
Jeff met with one of our FIRST Dreamie couples at a Starbucks where he showed up wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and sandals.
He was the most casually dressed photographer they met with (they later told him), and they hired him simply because it felt like they just had coffee with a friend.
However, a coffee shop has a lot of distractions and noises (think espresso machine grinding in the background), so after a while we began meeting with you couples at their venues or in the lobby of a nice hotel.
We would buy a round of coffees or wine from the bar to keep the relationship with the hotel on good terms, and go from there.
Just remember, whether it’s a local coffeeshop or a luxury hotel, either location could work brilliantly. It’s more about the environment you create and how it appeals to your dream clients.
Create the environment that your Dreamies are looking for and everyone wins.
Bring albums, prints, etc, but most importantly bring yourself and showcase what is unique about YOU that your dream clients will absolutely love.
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***As always, make sure to read through the current Reader FAQ posts to make sure your question hasn’t been answered already!***
Hugs,
Erin
