Do You Pay Attention to Your Customer's Needs?

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I found this post from my good buddy Scott Bourne in the SCU archives, and it's so relevant today.
 
For example, there are those of you with "About" pages that talk about what gear you shoot with; how you got started or what awards you've won. Your potential clients, especially in the portrait/social categories, only care about one thing, can you be trusted to capture the kinds of images they want? They want to know why you love being a photographer, not what awards you've won.
 
Years ago Polaroid brought in a remarkable motivational speaker, Ed Foreman, and I've never let go of something he shared,

                       "If I can see the world through my client's eyes, then I can sell my client what my client buys."

This is a lot more than the old saying about putting yourself in their shoes. You don't need their shoes; you need to understand how they see the world, what's important to them, and what are the things they care most about. This is about relationship building, your very best marketing tool.

The end of the "slow season" is rapidly coming to a close and Scott's point is perfect to help you think through your approach in the new year ahead.  Remember:

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Your customer doesn't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."
Damon Richards

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by Scott Bourne

If you want to sell photography (or anything else) you should spend more time caring about what your customers care about and less about everything else. 

Your customers don't care what your Klout score is, which of your lenses is the sharpest or which brand you shoot with. Your customers care about having photographs that make them (and their families) look good. That's it. That's all.

The online camera forums are full of discussions about photography but, not the people who buy photography. Want to stand out? Want to get ahead of your peers, including those with nicer gear and more experience than you? Simply start caring about your customers. Put all your focus (pun intended) on them and their needs. This is NOT about you. This IS about them. The sooner you realize that - the sooner you'll start to thrive as a professional photographer.

Let the nerds in the photo forums duke it out about which lens is sharper. You go out and make your customers happy by paying attention to their needs and making them look their best. You'll win every time.
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