Today’s Seniorologie 101 is all about Fulfilling our Clients Expectations all while keeping up with all the other things we have going on as a wife or mother, husband or father, or full time employee at a completely separate job.  Trina Weingart of VioletRay Photography shares with us her experience on how to Fulfill Client Expectations without Killing Ourselves!!  Thanks for sharing Trina!!

Let’s face the facts. We live in a world that feels that 24 hours a day are never enough. We even have lists of lists that we keep in order to try to keep us on track! We have our list of morning chores for ourselves and the kids, the grocery list, lists for the laundry, lists for dinners for the week, and finally, as photographers, we of course have the lists for our business: The session list, the editing list, the ordering list, and the product delivery list. Should there be any surprise when our seniors hand us a list of what THEY want for their session?! Not really. So we need to learn how to utilize this tool, especially when you have more than one job to try to take care of.

When it comes down to it, we should be thankful when they hand us that list. As a boutique photographer, I make sure to push the fact that I am here for quality service. To give them EVERYTHING they want to make their dream images come true. But you can’t deliver that if you don’t stay on top of everything. Time to add another list!

Planning is crucial! I cannot put enough emphasis on that. When I send off my senior magazine to either a potential client or a client that has already booked, I go over everything that I offer in my senior session in a very clear and easy to read format. Eliminate as much room for confusion as possible. In there, I even tell them, I love lists of ideas that they want. Then I give them lists starting with our planning phase: Where they can get the current chic clothing styles in our city, to how and where they will get their make-up and hair done!

The best way to start saving yourself time, is to organize your time. The best place to start is at the beginning. Don’t forget these seniors are just kids still. They need our guidance, but we need to give it in the form of “cool, hip, and chic” ideas! After you’ve gotten all the preliminary details figured out, and the senior has their session booked, the next most important thing is to get the theme or feel of the session that the senior is wanting. If you know ahead of time that they are going to want 5 different looks, you can do your homework and figure out how to pick a location that is going to give them all their looks without a lot of backtracking, driving, or massive reorganizing. That alone will save you an hour!

Once you’ve completed the session and the senior is busting at the seams to see their finished product, you are left with the daunting task of culling, clean edits, and fine portrait edits, if you choose to go that route. If you’re anything like me, this is the hardest part, especially if every image is perfect straight out of camera (SOOC) like it should be. You need to make sure that you stay focused and keep to your plan. How many images do you normally include in a gallery? Keep a consistent edit, and stay focused on your task (Oh Social Media networking, how you love to take my attention!).

For me, following these steps is crucial. Primarily because I have a promise of a turnaround time to keep, and secondly because I have a secondary job in diagnostic imaging that I have to fulfill. Not everyone has a second job that they have to clock in for, but many of you have families that need your attention. I do consider that a job, because they are counting on you. We need to keep everything in its allotted space so that we don’t send ourselves into overload. We need to stay healthy by allowing ourselves the chance to work out. We need to allow our minds and our eyes a chance to relax by allowing ourselves the time to take the children and pets outside and play catch or take a walk. If we make our check list, and plot our courses of action, we will be able to save ourselves not only time, but money and health issues. We have to remember that the key to a successful business is that “time is money”. It doesn’t take much to set a list of things that have to be accomplished- just determination and a hefty amount of organized focus.

And because every post is better with an Image, check out this beautiful fall photo by Trina!!