Basically there are 3 steps:
- Get your contacts, vendors & other relations in there asap. Within ShootZilla there is a contacts database that can hold everyone’s address details & their social media presence details.
- Create a system to never forget to ask your clients for their contact details and as much as possible have them fill out their contact details themselves to avoid typos. Within ShootZilla you can automate this in your workflows by sending an email with a link to their contact details form.
- Use those contact details for marketing purposes.
I will expand more on point 3 since that is where the ROI will come from from investing in a photography client management software.
People usually book a wedding photographer way in advance. Leaving you 6-12 months ahead of time with their details but no contact moments in between.
Within ShootZilla (and other tools or your spreadsheet!) you can create milestones for yourself to keep the connection alive and sparkling. This will not only limit buyers regret but will make sure your connection with the couple will remain like it was when they choose you as their wedding photographer. And that is a perfect way to start your wedding day.
Here is an example of such a workflow prior to the wedding day (having all the contact details present in your photography client management software is a must of course).
Make sure to adjust every touch point to your own branding, personality and style!
Example workflow prior to the wedding day:
- 6 months before the wedding: check in via email if everything is going okay, do they need any help finding vendors for the day?
- 4 months before the wedding: Send your clients a thoughtful image with a quote to remind them that you will capture their beautiful day and they should not worry about that.
- 3 months before the wedding: check in via email with a form where they can update their final planning of the day.
- 2 months before the wedding: Send your clients a nice image on facebook with a note saying you are looking forward to their day.
- 1 month before the wedding: Send them a nice gift to their home address to enjoy together, this could be anything from vouchers for the movies to vouchers for a starbucks or a physical gift that they can both enjoy at the same time (chocolats anyone? ;-)).
- 1 week before the wedding: Give them a call just to hear their voices again and join in their anticipation. All the other details are captured in ShootZilla
If you have a lot of weddings booked and you think this is way too much work, try to see if you can afford a good photography client management software like – but not limited – to ShootZilla which will do the majority of the work for you.
It will take almost all the work out of this list. Just create it once and then (optionally) personalise the messages when the software tells you they can be send out and click send!
If you want to start with a cheaper solution first, try to create a workflow chart with all your tasks (like the examples above) listed on one side and your clients on the other side. You can download a free template here.
Your clients will love you for it!