How to save time in your photography business with your Client Experience!

Business, Client Experience, Productivity

Saving time in your photography business with your client experience can create a balance between your work and your life! Who doesn’t want that?

“Time is what we want most, but use worst.”

I don’t know who said the above quote, but isn’t it true? Each day that goes by, we long for just a little more time—a little more time (and sometimes energy, let’s be honest) to wrap-up an editing session…

… a little more time to get the dishwasher loaded before we crash for the night…
…a little more time to iron out our marketing and content strategies…
… a little more time to get on the floor and play with our littles…
…a little more time to spend a long weekend back home. The list goes on.

And, if we’re really honest, we often use our time in the worst ways.

Sure, there’s that quick scroll through Instagram that turns into 20 minutes, but there’s also the barrage of emails, the constant repeating of tasks that could be automated, the lost time digging through disorganized files looking for that one packet you created spur of the moment that one time.

So often we’re not in charge of our time, our time is in charge of us.

While it feels like you need more time, what we all really need is more productive time, because there’s a big difference.

Productive time is the time we spend producing something not just doing something.

So, what can you do to create more productive time to move the needle in your photography business?

Well, the quick and dirty answer is: Carefully and strategically plan out your Client Experience! Yep, simple as that! 😂

You will save so much time and energy by having a fully mapped out client experience that works to grow your photography business. With the entire journey outlined and branded, you’ll serve clients how you truly desire to, move each client through a very strategic process, and deliver final results and a final experience that brings in leads and referrals for you.

Like everything in business, it’s important for you to be realistic so you don’t get overwhelmed. If it’s not feasible for you to do something, don’t promise it and not deliver. By making small adjustments in your client experience, you can still have a big impact. Intentionality and simplicity will serve you well, and you can serve clients well with a simple process that’s well-thought-out and well executed.

This kind of thoughtful client experience has many long-term benefits, but you will reap some very immediate benefits too! (Think extra snuggles with the littles, more time for your favorite workout, or even just taking a minute to breathe and know you are on top of your game!)

Here are four examples of processes and systems your photography business needs to save you time:

A Mapped out Workflow for your client experience if you aren’t sure where you are with each client – you will definitely drop the ball somewhere! Save yourself the misery, take the time to think it all through!
Educational and Strategic Brand Collateral, sending informative collateral that educates your clients at the right times and including branded “touchpoints” of where you’ll wow your clients. I can’t stress enough how important having branded collateral is, not just because I am a brand designer, but as a client to photographers, I know that this can enhance the experience when information is provided to me in small doses right when I need it. It can be the difference between having to spend your time responding to a million messages OR spend your time doing things you actually love!
Systems that Support Your Client Experience, if you haven’t started using a client management system like Honeybook, you need to be! I cannot express to you my deep love of Honeybook. It is so easy to use, it keeps you focused on what is important, and allows you to remain on brand and lay out a beautiful client experience all while creating workflows and automations built in! YES!!! From the intake questionnaire to your final send off – you can manage your entire workflow and all communication within Honeybook! (this is an affiliate link but I love it so much – I wouldn’t share things I don’t love!)
Systems to Support your Project Management, if you aren’t’ ready to take the plunge into a full CRM like Honeybook, there are FREE options to use for your project management that can keep you on task and organize your projects easily. I personally use Trello for my project management and weekly planning in conjunction with Honeybook. There are options like Trello or Asana that you can use to organize your client work as well as your own business! Setting up one Weekly Calendar board with all of your client projects and your own business projects in view allows you to easily stay on top of what you need to get done and not have to search all over for what you are looking for.

This is just the basics of the kind of systems or process you need to create for your photography client experience. Do you see how creating a system for these saves you time? If you have a workflow to follow, you know where you’re at with each client, what you need to do next, and that you’re replicating a well-thought-out and amazing experience each time.

When you have brand collateral that serves a purpose, send it at the right times, and take the time to personalize it so you are creating an even stronger connection you are light years above the rest!

And when you take your workflow and brand collateral and add in the automations of a client management system – whew – think about how this can change your life and the amount of time you are spending doing the busy office work!

PLUS, when these systems are custom created for you and your business, not some ONE SIZE FITS ALL approach that you can’t get to fit into your lifestyle, you streamline your life and business and…

….Finally, feel like you’re the photographer, wife, mama, and businesswoman you want to be!

So, how do can you achieve all of this?!

Well, the FIRST thing I’m going to tell you to do is one of the first things Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and the world’s leading CEOs do…

Buy Time by Buying Expertise

I know. Arrrgh, you probably didn’t want to hear about another investment. But, let’s pull back the curtain and take a look for a moment.

You need more time—more productive time. And to get that you need to likely overhaul your entire business (at least it’ll feel that way if you tackle it alone).

Where are you going to get the time to create a process or workflow checklist or system just to follow to create your ACTUAL processes and workflows?

Because you know if you sit down to “work on your systems,” you’re going to start Googling “how to create systems for your small photography business,” “how to create a brand style guide,” or “how to create a content strategy” and you’re going to get lost down the rabbit hole, sign up to 5 more email lists to get 5 more free downloads to guide you and then—wham! just like that 2 hours are gone.

I am sure you have a list of experts to check out for each of the pieces you need. BUT I want you to be the EXPERT! The most important piece of our client experience is creating one that is truly ours. No more swipe files that don’t deliver. I am sure you know by now that what worked for someone else probably won’t deliver the same results for your business. Why? Because it was built for their photography business, not yours!

So I am giving you all of the tools to tackle exactly what you need to build a client experience from your heart for your photography business! Yep, you can find it all in ONE spot not reading through a million different blog posts wasting even more time!

I’m a firm believer that if you have a solution to someone’s problem, it’s selfish not to offer them that solution. You’re here searching and if I just give you a checklist to follow, I’ve just created MORE WORK for you. You’re here to get your time back not divide it down even further and allocate it to other things.

Introducing The Client Experience Playbook!

The Client Experience Playbook is just what you need to start saving precious time!

Listen—I can’t organize your files, map out your workflow, or help you implement all of your systems, but I can help you plan your client experience, workflows, AND exactly what marketing materials/brand collateral you actually need. Whew!

I can help you overhaul your current client experience and take it to a whole new level.

It’s Time to Create the Branded Client Experience that Keeps You More Organized and Efficient than Ever Before and Gets You Swamped With Clients Who Love You Every Step of the Way and Share Your Name With Everyone They Know.

I will be your guide on this client experience journey. I want you to have an impressive client experience that works for you. I want your needs to be met by your business and I want your business to meet the needs of your clients in a way that your competitors aren’t providing. This playbook is going to help you do just that.

You’ll use this playbook to lay the foundation for your branded client experience. In it, we’ll: walk through client experience examples; brainstorm how you want clients to feel before, during, and after working with you; map out the steps in a workflow that fits with your mission and how you want to serve your clients; and talk through systems and strategies to help support your goals in serving your clients with an all-encompassing brand.

Define Who Does the Client Experience Well and how you can replicate this in your own experience.
Map Out Your Client Journey and layout each step of your client experience
Identify Key Touchpoints in your Client Experience where we take your highs and make them even better and turn the lows of your experience into highs!
Bring In Branded Marketing Materials that serve you, your business, and are strategically sent instead of creating more noise in your clients inbox.
Build Out a Detailed Workflow when you have a detailed workflow you will know that you are providing the exact same experience to every client, every time, not missing a single step!
Select Systems To Support Your Experience when you have systems to support your workflow and experience you will be much more organized and save yourself so much time!
PLUS BONUS SECTIONS!!! If you want to learn how I use Honeybook and Trello for my very own business planning as well as client management you are in luck! I have provided bonus sections on each of these platforms!

I’m just going to be real with you…this playbook contains the whole kitchen sink. And I don’t care what “they” say about NOT throwing in the kitchen sink. I KNOW how much we all LOVE ourselves some farmhouse sinks and I’m giving your business house one because it’s time for a complete remodel….

…It’s Time to Transform Every Aspect of Your Client Experience

You’ve done the hard work already. You’ve created a business that you love and you create really amazing photography. Now, it’s time to truly legitimize your business and run it like the CEO you are, so that you have a well-run ship that sails without you and allows you to step away.

If you want a jump start at elevating your client experience head over to the shop and purchase your seat to the Client Experience Playbook!