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Kevyn Dixon
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The Number One Reason Why I Do Client Consultations Over The Phone

For Photographers

April 9, 2019

If you have talked to me about business recently, you probably know that I absolutely love doing my client consultations over the phone and I have probably talked your ear off about it.  It has been over a year at this point since I have actually met a bride or a couple or anyone for that matter in person to talk about my photography experience! 🙂

I discovered late 2017 that even though I felt confident about how I was handling my in-person consultations, I would sometimes be ghosted after the consultation which of course is very disappointing. So I decided to take a new approach… the phone. DUN DUN DUN. So many people will just exit this blog post now because they are scared of the phone. Don’t let that be you!

Now, the phone doesn’t scare me mainly because I actually worked at a call center in college to raise funds for different areas of my University.  Yep… I was that little college student that would cold call alumni and… yep, you guessed it… ask for money over the phone. There were a lot of things that I learned from that job, and the most valuable thing that I learned is that it is so important to build trust with the person you are talking to before you ever bring up money.

I know phone calls are so scary for a lot of people because with this world of emails and text messages it’s just not something that we’re used to anymore.  But I want to challenge you to be brave and give this a try because if it can work for me I know it can work for you!!!

I wanted to share with you the number one reason why I do client consultations over the phone.  I really could go on forever about the many benefits of doing consultations over the phone however the number one reason is to build TRUST.  I could just say “Yep, I build trust” and just leave it at that but I want to show you why building trust is so important.

The first way that I build trust with my clients in regards to the phone call is by using an online scheduler. I use Calendly to block off certain times during my schedule. My potential clients can go in and choose a day and time that works for them.  They leave their contact information – most importantly their phone number, and then at the scheduled day and time I give them a call right on the dot of the time they chose. Before the call, they actually receive email and calendar reminders if they choose.

Calling them at the exact time they scheduled is a great way to build trust FAST because it shows that I am on time for things in that they are a priority for me!

Another way that I build trust with my clients over the phone is that I first ask them several questions about themselves.  I never start the call with anything to do with my business or myself. I want to hear all about them. If I’m talking to a bride this means asking about their proposal. How they met, what they like to do, what they’re envisioning for their wedding day, and a few other personal questions.  People absolutely love to talk about themselves and I absolutely love to hear about everyone’s unique story!!!

Doing this at the very beginning of the call is a great way to not only build trust with someone but also get a feel for if they are going to be the right fit!

This building trust thing only works if it is truly what you want to do in your business.  This will only work if you want to be relational rather than transactional. You may have heard that phrase before… transactional means that you are acting professionally of course, but less personal.  Relationally means that you are acting professionally as well but you are being more personable and seen as trustworthy.

For me, a phone call is a no-brainer when it comes to building trust.  You can schedule a phone call faster than you can schedule a video call or an in-person meeting, but you still get that personal touch of actually hearing a human voice on the phone. Scheduling phone calls is also convenient for your potential clients… and if they realize that you are making the process convenient as opposed to other wedding professionals that they are talking to, that is going to build trust and give you a huge advantage.

As I said, I could go on forever about how wonderful phone consultations are and their many benefits, but I will stop there for now! Building trust is the main reason why you want to go ahead and schedule a phone call with someone as soon as you can after receiving their inquiry!

Did you know that you can actually get my wedding inquiry response email for free?  In my first email, I encourage brides to schedule a phone call and you can get my exact wording for how I do it.  Grab your copy here!

If you liked this post, you might also like… link to 3 educational posts

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