EP 119: A New Way to Think About Client Communication

slash revenue. I am thrilled to finally have this out in the world, it has taken me longer than I anticipated mostly because the further I dove in on how this course could be more of a sort of one stop shop for those of you wanting to set up a membership, the more I realized that it really needed to be bulked up in some pretty

significant ways. The first thing that I and I knew this going into the rerelease was that a lot of people who were taking the course, who were not using the simple sale system and hadn't gone through my simple sales blueprint, weren't familiar with how to properly price themselves. And I know pricing is sort of a perennial problem for a lot of

photographers. And so I more or less took all of the pricing training that is in the simple sales blueprint and added it into the revenue on repeat training, except that I didn't make it specific to if you want to do simple sales. So if you are all inclusive, or if you do in person sales, this is still going to be applicable for you. But then you can take that and turn it into a profitable membership model as well. And my hope is that with this robust pricing

membership. So that part took a fair amount of time. Along with that I built a pricing calculator that is actually it's even bigger than the one that is currently in the simple sales blueprint, although that now has my wheels turning about how we can improve the simple sales blueprint calculator. So now the revenue on repeat calculator not only walks you through your pricing stuff, but also helps you build out your tiered

pricing for your membership. And then like walks you through every step, naming your membership, figuring out how many people that you can invite into your membership, all those different things. And then once all of that is done, then we talk about the logistics of a membership and how you collect payment, how you run your calendar, all of those different things are still in the course.

But the other big addition, which I'm super excited about is a dedicated Facebook group just for revenue on repeat students. So I have always had Facebook group, a private Facebook group for my simple sales blueprint. Students, it is super busy, lots of conversation in there lots of support in there. And I felt like because I didn't have that for revenue on repeat, there wasn't really a good place for people to come and ask

questions. Now that problem is solved if you purchase revenue on repeat, you have access to the private Facebook group where people will be talking about how they are tweaking their memberships to suit their different needs. And I just find that that sort of group thing hive mind and really be beneficial because we all have different targets and different markets and we all come to this with slightly different needs.

So I never consider myself to be the person who knows everything I don't I I know that this is a podcast where I'm talking into the microphone, but I get so many amazing ideas from my students every day. It is an amazing opportunity to build community and so I wanted to extend that to my revenue on repeat people as well. So if any of that is interesting to you, I again encourage you to go to this can't be that hard comm slash revenue to check out more information and just to light a

little bit of a fire. I am offering a live training if you're listening to this when it drops which is the beginning of August. I am offering a live training to all my revenue on repeat students in the middle of the month. I believe the date is August 13 where I am going to be going over how to transition clients From any sales model, so all inclusive in person or simple sales into a membership, and also talk about marketing strategies for the membership.

And the reason that I'm doing that is partly to celebrate this new release. And also partly because August is a really great month to launch a membership, that August September time because we are getting into your busy season. So if you are thinking about it, if you're on the fence, I strongly encourage you to go ahead and join us before that live training because that is going to be a super valuable add to the

course. Again, it's at this can't be that hard.com slash revenue, you can find all the details and with that, I will Cue the music and get into today's episode. Welcome to this can't be that hard. My name is Annemie Tonken. And I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way.

Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard, you can do it. And I can show you how.

with a team. So you know, in an office, or if you run a business where you've got several employees, there are issues that come up in terms of communicating within a team. However, what she was talking about really made me think about the way that we communicate with our clients. And it actually just created this really beautiful framework for the way that I already think about client communication. So I wanted to share that with you, because I felt like you might find this to be a handy way to

think about this as well. So Juliette talks about 2d versus 3d communication, as in two dimensional versus three dimensional. So two dimensional communication is anything that is just like a very simple, straightforward transactional kind of communication, maybe it just requires like a yes or no answer, or like a very quick explanation or something like that. versus 3d communication, which she describes as being more complex, more challenging,

more nuanced. So things that really require a little bit more explanation. And her point, when she was talking about those, is that you have to match the right message with the right medium, she was talking about going into meetings where somebody is just sort of like reading a document that anyone could have just sent out ahead of the meeting. And it feels like it just wastes

everyone's time. It's that is, you know, using a three dimensional space, like you're in a meeting with people to go over something two dimensional, something that could have just been read on a page. And vice versa, she was talking about when you end up in these text threads that are like 1000 miles long, or email chains where you're just going back and forth and back and forth. That's often because you're trying to cram a three dimensional topic into a

two dimensional space. So when it comes to 2d communication, she talks about using text or email or sending like a PDF. Versus with 3d communication. You want to be able to hear someone's voice or see their face, whether you're on the phone or in person or on like a zoom call. And all of this really was like a perfect way to describe what I have talked about over and over here. So you guys know that one of the big things that I teach is to get on the phone with a potential

client. And you know, it's been interesting. In the simple sales blueprint Facebook group, I have had several students who have basically just drawn the line and said, the phone does not work for me either like they're super introverted, or they have kids at home all the time and they can't get the quiet space they need for a phone call. And I totally respect that and get it but what they've done is instead of just defaulting back to like, well, I'm just going to send my pricing in an email.

They have started creating videos to explain to and personalized video. So they Have an inquiry and they create a personalized video responding to that person's inquiry, when they have a few minutes to, like, sit down and actually do that, then they send that to the person. And that starts the

conversation. What I love about that, and what Juliet fund has now given me, this language to describe to use to describe it is that they are sticking within the 3d medium, they are creating a video with their face with their tone of voice so that that person, even though it's not synchronous, and they can't have a two way conversation, that person is getting the benefit of some of those 3d communication

styles or strategies. So it does make it more personal, it does give it a little bit more context, I guess, is the word I'm looking for. But in general, when someone inquires with you, I still stand by my phone call recommendation if you if you are in any way able to, because that does give you the ability to not only share your tone of voice and share your personality, but have that experience of that person

on the other end as well. You can hear their questions, you can sort of see where they're where you're meeting resistance, and you can respond to that. So a new inquiry, and explaining things like your process and your pricing, that is a huge, very three dimensional topic. And to try and cram it into a PDF, or an email is just doing yourself a disservice. All throughout the simple sales process. As you know, I am talking about educating your clients communicating with your

clients. And some of those things are two dimensional, some of those things are three dimensional. And what we try and do with simple sales is automate as many things as possible, even if they are more three dimensional. So as far as like 2d kind of communications, you know, when you're confirming a meeting, or when you're reminding somebody that their session is tomorrow, or if you're just trying to do like scheduling, basic scheduling things, all of that is quite two

dimensional. When we get into three dimensional stuff, then you're talking about like, in addition to meeting with someone for the first time that you know, potential client call, I like to send a welcome video when somebody first books me that's just sort of like my face. And you know, hey, it's so great to have you I'm so excited. And several other pieces of content that can be made more personal, more three

dimensional. But the number one thing that is absolutely critical that you always address with a three dimensional point of communication is going to be when your client is upset about

anything. So if they are upset because they didn't like their photos, if they are upset, because there was a miscommunication about something or a misunderstanding about something, you need to absolutely pick up the phone, that is not time to send an email, it is certainly not time to send a text, you may need to give it a little bit of time. But then you want to get on the phone so that you can communicate with that person in

the very best possible way. So when it comes to client communication, the types of two dimensional communication that are appropriate are like, I don't know, little things like confirming meetings, reminding people about sessions, obviously, like scheduling conversations do not necessarily need to be had over the phone. Although I find that it's quicker and easier. If you're both on the phone at the same time. You can do things like check ins like hey, just wanted to make sure that you got your

photos. If you have any questions, let me know that sort of stuff doesn't need to be anything more than a text or an email. You can send requests like asking someone to fill out a questionnaire, that's an email, obviously, if you have PDFs, those can be sent. But if they are PDFs about more nuanced things, I like to introduce them with a phone call or a video and then move into sending the PDF. 3d communication with your clients can be broken down into

two different categories. There is the 3d communication that you can create for several people. So you create it once and then you use it over and over again. I use video for things like walkthroughs of the online gallery or product videos. Videos are a really great way to create 3d content that doesn't have to be made new each time. But then there are some 3d communications that do need to be one to one they need to be individualized for your clients. So whether that is you Your

initial phone call. But like, also, if someone books you, it could be really nice just to jump on loom and send them a welcome video saying like, thanks so much, I'm so excited to work with you, instead of that email, it just adds a little bit of extra personalization. And then the absolute non negotiable, you must do this as a 3d conversation is when the client

is upset about anything. So if they didn't like their photos, if they are, you know, feel like you haven't communicated properly with them anything like that. Don't leave that to text or email, absolutely, maybe give them a little bit of time to cool off if they seem truly upset, but then get on the phone with them so that you can have a conversation. I know that that can be scary, but it's also going to be better in terms of the communication and the customer service that you

provide. So I just wanted to share that idea and that language, because I feel like it's an amazing way to differentiate in your own mind how you need to respond in any given situation, hopefully, it will end up saving you some time. Because sometimes we sit down to try and write an email about something that should be a 3d topic and it takes forever. So hopefully this will end up

saving you time in that way. And also saving you time because you can think through the ways that you can batch create certain types of 3d or 2d content. So email templates are obviously also a thing. But don't limit yourself to thinking about this only in the context of client communication. This is also a really great way to think about what you put on your website and what you put in your social media as well as Instagram moves from whatever they're saying now about they're not a photo

sharing platform. It's you know, they're doing so much more video. Great. embrace that. Think about ways that you can include more 3d type experiences for your viewers on your social media. Just a little food for thought. I hope you guys have a great week. I will be back same time next week. Well, that's it for this week's episode of this can't be that hard. I'll be back Same time, same place next week.

In the meantime, you can find more information about this episode along with all the relevant links, notes and downloads at this can't be that hard comm slash learn. If you like the podcast, be sure to hit the subscribe button. Even better, share the love by leaving a review on iTunes. And as always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.