Communication is key to a great client relationship. It’s so important that you understand what your clients’ needs are. It’s also equally important for you to be clear with your clients on the timelines for the services and products that you will be delivering. Nobody likes misunderstandings or unpleasant surprises. It is your job, as the business owner, to provide great customer communication that is clear, friendly, and effective.
Weddings and events are very personal and emotional celebrations. Your customers need to be able to enjoy their festivities, however, they also need to understand the process of doing business with you. Your pricing, turnaround times, and policies need to be articulated in a simple and friendly manner to keep expectations on track.
Keep in mind your client’s priority is THEM, not you, and rightly so. Often with all the feelings flying around when planning a wedding, specific details like custom wedding album cover options, album design turnaround times, and payment schedules can get a little foggy. It’s okay to continuously review all of these items throughout the client relationship. Let’s look at some examples of great customer communication.
Simplify the Details
When communicating the details of your contract, have a simplified version, or checklist, to highlight important items. This mini agreement can simply have initial boxes that focus on the most essential parts of the service and products provided. However, don’t list more than 8-10 things and keep it short and sweet.
Here is an example:
Some highlights of your contracted services and products are:
___ X Hours of Consecutive Coverage
___ X Days after your event you will get a link to your gallery
___The gallery will be available for downloading images for X days
___A 10x10 Premium Wedding Album with 50 Images
___Album Images must be selected by X
___Additional images can be added to the album at X
In the real world, people tend to blindly initial and sign. Prevent this by reading the document with your client in person. Do not forget to ask if they have any questions. Remind your clients that this is a great document to refer to if they need a quick reminder about items like timelines and what they should expect.
Reviewing your services and wedding album details are friendly reminders and help manage expectations.
