Yesterday morning I had a wonderful coaching session with Tabitha Rhea! As I read over her quick Q&A I was already brainstorming and super excited about all the ideas I wanted to share with her! Tabitha had already done a great job establishing her brand and just needed help getting her pricing strategically set up for profit along with some proven strategies on how to get the clients she dreams of to start ringing her telephone… Luckily, those are two of my favorite favorite topics to cover!

Through out our conversation I gave her several strategies and ideas on how to reach directly into her target client market as well as how to set up her pricing and ordering for profit. ‘It’s not enough to understand how to price’ I explained, ‘you have to think of everything! Every objective that might arise, every situation you might encounter and you must already have an answer prepared or you’ll be left…’ Well we’ve all been left there at one time or another. As our conversation continued Tabitha said something that really stuck out to me… “Wow, I would have never thought of that.”

And that’s when I explained one of my very personal Leah Remillet Photography rules… NEVER LEAVE THE CLIENT OFFERING SUGGESTIONS!

Owning and starting a business involves a whole lot of learning, messing up and trying again. It’s all part of the game and it’s something that we ALL have to experience – but – the key (that I believe will set apart the successful from the rest) is in taking the time to learn from all of those wonderful mistakes we make  and make changes.

When I started my business I made lots (and lots and lots) of mistakes, I still do. But with every session I had and every session that closed I took the time to acknowledge, address and fix problem areas that I found in my workflow as well as in the customer experience. I remember in the beginning, clients were often offering me suggestions and I HATED IT. Not because I didn’t value their feedback (I did and I still do very much) but because I wanted to create such an experience that instead of offering a suggestion they walked away saying, ‘I would have never thought of that’. Of course a lot of those ‘never thought of’ moments could only be found through my own trial and error but each time a “suggestion” was offered I painfully had to acknowledge that I wasn’t there yet.

Let me give you one very small example of trying to think of everything and leaving my clients grateful for my attention to detail…Like many photographers, after the session I give the kiddos a special little appreciation gift. When designing my gift I put a lot of thought into what I could gift that the kiddos would enjoy while at the same time the parents would benefit from. It needed it to be cost effective, fun for the child and beneficial to mom, I ended up creating a little thank you art bag (cost $1.35 each). Inside is a little pad of paper, a mini paint set and a little candy (either taffy or a candy necklace) … Here is where the “I wouldn’t have thought of that” bit came in. I knew that this would often get opened right after the session at a restaurant. As a reward the family goes out to dinner and while they sit and wait for their meal the kids are quietly playing with their little paint set. Of course they would need a little water cup so I made sure that was included too, I didn’t want mom searching around trying to figure out what they could use to rinse the paint brush. Instead I want mom to be able to enjoy a  quiet (often a rarity) moment talking to dad because the kids are completely entertained thanks to none other then me!  She’s loving me even more right about then!

Look for special attention that you can pay to the details. Great experiences do not usually come all at once but rather arrive thanks to layers and layers of little opportunities taken.

If you’re ready to bring your business to where you DREAM of, let’s chat! I can help you do it!