Building Blocks for 2024 - Part VII: Exceeding Expectations

"The best advertising you can have is a loyal customer
spreading the word about how incredible your business is.” 
Shep Hyken

Sitting through a 4-hour delay

by Skip Cohen

​I try to keep Friday posts short. Today's post is more of a reminder of what every small business owner's mantra should be: exceed expectations and make yourself habit-forming!
  
Thinking about 2024 and the challenges we all face for the new year, I couldn't be more optimistic. It won't be an easy year, but I'm hearing so many great stories about business picking up around the country. Well, I started thinking about the role Customer Service will play in the months ahead.

It's simple—your success is about going the extra steps you take and staying in touch with your clients, even when you don't have to. It's also about keeping your promises, never compromising on the quality of your images, and creating a brand/reputation known for integrity. 

Coming back from Cleveland just a few days ago, we got stuck in Charlotte for hours due to bad weather in Florida. The delay had absolutely nothing to do with American Airlines directly - just storms. But here's where American missed the boat - their computer wasn't synchronized with the announcement information they were sharing.

​Every 30 minutes, the departure monitor updated to a new time—and it was always wrong. That put the gate agents in the position of announcing the real-time data they had received. But with each update on the monitors, we'd get excited, thinking we were finally going to take off! To add to the pain, the gate agents shared an update every 15 minutes, reminding everybody our departure time was in "God's hands, not theirs."

Here's my point: Be honest with your promises. Then, deliver what you promised and more if you can. Building trust is about great communication and follow-through. Done right, working with you will become habit-forming. To paraphrase two of the industry's finest portrait artists, Tim and Beverly Walden, "It's all about creating an experience, not just the finished product!"

As we head into Spring, now is the perfect time to keep in touch with your clients and your audience. It's about giving back, being helpful, and growing your strongest marketing tool: relationship building!

​Excellent Customer Service isn't just about solving problems. It's about being proactive and creating top-of-mind-awareness with your audience - so whenever they think about photography, your name is right on top. It's about going beyond the customer's expectations.

---

There are no traffic jams along the extra mile.
Roger Staubach