Century Color Labs

One of the key components of any successful business (especially professional photography) is having past customers talk about and refer you to family and friends. And the best way to make these referrals happen is to do something “remarkable.” While this may sound daunting, it is really quite simple. Within the word “remarkable” is the word “remark”; therefore, the idea of being remarkable is doing something that generates positive remarks about your business.

Remarks can come in many forms.  While word of mouth is great, it is not viral; the message is being past one person at a time. In today’s new world of marketing allow your customers to post their positive remarks on your Facebook page, your blog or as testimonials on your website. All of these venues allow for a greater number of people to “hear” the remarkable anecdotes of doing business with you.

So, you may be asking yourself, “What do I have to do to be remarkable?” Well, being remarkable is much easier than you might think. First, you want to make sure that all of your customers’ basic expectations are met; you’re courteous, punctual, thorough and any obligations you have made are met. Then, step it up a bit. Your remarkable attribute doesn’t have to be the same for every customer. Everybody loves a no charge upgrade or gift. Think of things that people would appreciate but may not spend the extra money for. If you are having a really great shoot with a family or couple, give them an extra 10 or 15 minutes and let them know that your extending their session because you are having such a great time photographing them. If you’re a wedding photographer, consider adding an extra page to the finished album and surprising them when they come to pick it up. Imagine how thrilled a new bride will be to learn that she received a 22-page album when she ordered a 20-page album. As she shows the album to all of her friends and family she will surely tell them how her wonderful photographer graciously added extra pages to her album because there were so many great images it was hard to narrow it down.

For the few dollars you may spend out of your pocket to make a customer feel special you will reap the benefits ten-fold in becoming remarkable to them. Spend some time brainstorming ideas for becoming “remarkable” to your customers. You can come up with some ideas that won’t cost you anything and others that cost very little. It’s all about exceeding expectations.

Feel free to share your “remarkable” ideas by posting a comment to this post.