Getting Referrals

The bulk of the business that comes through my doors is from referrals. I take great strides to make a good impression wherever we are invited and do my best to make my conviction that the customer always comes first (especially when that customer is a bride). It is always extremely nice when someone else recognizes it, particularly when that someone else happens to be a photographer. About a month ago I got a message from someone who was referred to me by a photographer that I've worked with and recommended before. That in and of itself is not really the wow factor here though. This bride decided to sign with Simply Interactive and on that same day, another photographer who she had asked for referrals gave them the Simply Interactive contact information. Wow. I have to say that I feel no small amount of pride that my company is being seen exactly the way I had envisioned, planned for, and strode towards. For years I have watched the deterioration of customer service from companies touting that customer service is their number 1 goal. The phrase "The Customer is Always Right" went out the door and was replaced with something along the lines of, "The customer needs to be told why and how they are wrong." I think what happened is that small companies got replaced with big ones who employed people who were paid little and had no real vested interest in its success. But from my end, working with a total of 6 videographers (besides me), the one thing I state more than anything else is that we will focus on customer service. How? By doing whatever is necessary. We always go the extra step to make the day of the wedding as smooth as possible. That's why we don't charge for hours That's why we go to every rehearsal That's why we don't charge extra for "premium editing" (all our editing is premium) That's why we put in the contract your specific requests for editing style And that's why we don't charge as much as the other top-end video companies (though our quality competes effectively with their premium packages) We have a commitment to excellence that I have actively pursued -- and I love it that it pays off in ways like this.