064: Preparing for Growth with Dave Shay

Episodes The Bearded Tog

December 5, 2018

Preparing for Growth

What would your business look like you suddenly had 10x the amount of clients you currently have? Would your systems, workflows and processes be ready for that?

Your workflow might not be the most attractive thing to work on in your business, but having a streamlined process that helps you work fewer hours and make more profit, gives you the freedom to live the life you want.

In this episode of The Bearded Tog Podcast, Dave Shay explains the value of having a workflow, the step by step processes to prepare for growth and his favorite tips to get started.

Dave’s Takeaways for Preparing for Growth

If you suddenly had 10x the amount of clients you have now, are you prepared for that amount of work? What have you done to prepare for growth?
People will spend more on a product because they want to be taken care of and pampered and experience good customer service.
When a person reaches out to you, do they reach a robot who sends them a price list and basically tells them to go away? Or do they reach an actual person who cares about them and their day?
We may have written the same email a thousand times, but the client on the other end is reading that email for the first time and it is part of their experience with you.
If a client is unhappy with you, it is probably your fault. Yes, this is the wedding industry, and we will meet crazy people, but most problems with clients come from miscommunication, or not giving your client expectations of how you will perform your services.

More Tips on Preparing for Growth

A lot of photographers put stuff in their contract and assume that’s communication. The client’s never going to read all that fine print to find out what they need to know. You must be the tone to communicate with them.
Send friendly emails and texts and call your couples before the wedding so they don’t think you’ve forgotten about them.
Remember that this is their wedding, not your photo session.
Photographers don’t realize how much time they can save with using systems in their business.
CRM (customer relationship management) software can give you the steps needed to make your process more powerful.
You shouldn’t need 12 different as or services to run a small business.
Know when it’s time to have a phone call with your clients to talk over stuff because that can save you time and make your service so much better than spending hours back and forth with confusing emails.
If Dave’s going to spend 10 hours working on a Saturday, he wants to make the most of those hours. All the time you waste at home with inefficient processes, means you are getting paid less per hour for that 10-hour wedding.
Make your automation personal.
Set up a system that allows your business to grow, and it’ll grow.