I was talking with a ‘burned out’ wedding photographer about their experiences, and in particular what his advice was for capturing the special day in a memorable way; “relax, enjoy the day, and pretend I’m not there” was his advice.
But it practically never happened. In fact his two most common complaints were micromanaging and price sensitivity. Both of these problems are practically small business maxims. Both can be solved with the same approach.
It’s imperative to understand the root cause; TRUST.
They don’t trust that there is a repeatable process and they don’t trust that the value is there.
In every service business, the customer has a job. Yes, the customer has a J.O.B.
Setting that expectation upfront demonstrates that you DO have a repeatable process (Trust) and that the value IS there (Price).
Every small business person I talk to has their version of Momzilla. When you control the process she either looks somewhere else for someone to bully or she relaxes.
Either way, you both get what you want!
