We were lucky to catch up with Charley Van Amburg recently and have shared our conversation below.
Charley, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the best thing you’ve ever seen (or done yourself) to show a customer that you appreciate them?
An amazing customer service experience is one of the highest priorities in my business. As a wedding photographer, word of mouth and referrals are vital for a long lasting business. For me, I infuse exceptional customer service in all aspects of my client experience. I start off by always being super responsive. There is nothing more frustrating then trying to connect with a professional who takes a long time to respond or is hard to get ahold of. My client deserve to feel like they are my top priority always and I always have time to talk them! I provide a ton of free resources like vendor recommendations and planning tips. Upon booking with me, every bride gets a bridal box as a unexpected gift and thank you for booking. I get an insane amount of compliments and referrals right after they receive this gift and I haven’t even photographed their wedding yet. This just goes to show how important customer service is!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Charley and I am the owner and photographer for Modern Moments Photography. I am a full-time wedding photographer and I service Colorado and Oklahoma. I chose the question about customer service before because I think that is one thing that makes me stand out in my industry, is my above and beyond customer service approach. The thing that I am most proud of is that I started my business from nothing. When I say nothing, I mean I didn’t know a single thing about photography or running a business. I am completely self taught and so proud of the business that I have been able to create in such a short period of time. If you have the desire and drive to do something, then put your mind to it and do it!
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
My biggest advice for social media is showing up and showing your face. No matter what your business is, your clients and potential clients want to see you. So many people are emotional buyers and are more likely to buy your product or hire your services if they feel emotionally connected to you. I show up talking in my stories almost daily about what I’ve got going on, my business, my personal life and people love that. I think it is important to also be relatable, so don’t feel like you have to get all dressed up and put a ton of makeup to talk in your Instagram stories. Be authentic and if this is you in your sweatpants and no makeup…then do that!
My second piece of advice about social media is quality over quantity. The number of followers you have does not matter if they aren’t engaging with you and buying your product or service. Focus more on engaging with your following and creating connections with them. My goal every day is to go into Instagram and reply to 5-10 stories and make a meaningful comments on a couple posts that I like. I also go through and delete followers who are fake and scammy, because they may add to your quantity of followers, but they are not quality and bring no value to your business.
We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.
If you haven’t caught on yet, my biggest strategy for my business is great customer service. I think some people think if they have a great product or service, then their customer service doesn’t matter. I believe that my clients are loyal to my business and me because I made a meaningful connection with them that goes beyond the service that I provided.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.modernmomentsphoto.com
- Instagram: @modernmomentsphoto
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/modernmomentsphotograph
Image Credits
Headshot: Her Branding Bestie