Today, I’m going to share with you what to do when your client process is too complicated.

I had to do some digging in my client experience in the way that I communicate to them. I just felt like if I am struggling with this then you must be too.

There is no secret that we are going to have to edit our processes as we move on in business. Everything evolves at some point. Everything has to change and be tweaked in our lifetime regardless of whether we are talking about life or business. Our client process is the exact same way.

I had to ask myself a question. “Are my clients truly being served throughout my process or am I just giving them things to look at and do because it makes me look more professional?”

I knew my clients were being equipped. I was serving them, but I knew that they were probably doing a little more than I wanted them to do. How could I give them the same resources in a simpler way that is not going to make them feel overwhelmed? I wanted to know where in my process they were getting stuck or falling off the attention span? Ask yourself those same questions.

Let’s Dive into Client Process!

Do you have too much of a complicated process? For me to see this I had to take myself out of the photographer shoes and put myself into the client shoes and navigate the process as a client. As I was going through the process I asked myself these questions:

• What things do they need to know right now?
  • At what point in the process does this question come up?
  • Is there something I’m telling them too soon that they are going to forget and ask me later?
• Am I giving them too many guides?
• Are they receiving too much information right after booking?

MAKE IT AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE.

One thing I found that my clients were struggling with was ALL the to-dos in my initial confirmation email. In one email, I was asking them to pay their retainer, sign the contract, and fill out a questionnaire. It was a ton of information and things to do and I could definitely see why they were getting lost.

I have simplified the process.

I’m going to break it down for you. First, they sign the contract and pay the retainer at the time of booking in one fluid process (thank you to Iris Works!). Afterwards, they receive a confirmation email that lets them know to watch out the following day for an email from me. We are setting expectations. Then, when they get the email it includes a questionnaire, but it is the only thing they have to do.

Clients were struggling when it came to the questionnaires.

I HAD TOO MANY!

So, what I decided to do was create one questionnaire to send when they are most excited about booking. It is an all-in-one questionnaire that gets me all the information that I am going to need. I took out all pointless questions. If I didn’t REALLY need to know it then I deleted the question.

I encourage you to do that exact same thing. Go through your questionnaires. Can you turn them into one? Can you shorten it? No one needs a 30-question questionnaire. I simplified mine to 12 questions. There are 12 things that I need to know in advance that is going to help me give them a better client experience. If you feel like your clients are getting lost or not filling out what you want them to, ask yourself the question, “Is my client process too complicated and how can I simplify it so my clients are doing the bare minimum work?”

Right now, is a great time to make sure that your client process is streamlined, simplified, and it is truly serving your clients.

I have supplied you with some resources. Grab them from the template shop to implement them into your business.

Now that you’re wondering if your client process is too complicated, come join the #1 community for photographers Book More Photography Clients: Branding, Marketing + Client Experience and ask any questions you have!

Want more in depth knowledge of how to Simplify your Client Process? Tune in to the Book More Clients Photography Podcast.