Have you ever walked into a business and known immediately that you were going to have a good experience? Maybe you were immediately greeted by a friendly front desk employee at a gym, the shopping racks were perfectly straight in a boutique, or the smells coming from the kitchen made you certain you’d chosen a new favorite restaurant. That’s the thing about business: good experiences keep your customers coming back for more, no matter what kind of business you run. 

As photographers, we’re all looking for our dream clientele, especially when we’re just getting started. But once you find your niche, you’re more motivated than ever to find yourself in a steady stream of amazing clients. 

If you want to book your dream photography client, experience is key — and I’m not talking about your experience as a photographer. I’m talking about the client experience! This career path requires creativity, attention to detail, and great people skills. If you’re running a photography business, you probably already have those things! But over the years, I’ve learned a few tricks that take my client experience to the next level — and today, I’m going to share them all with you. 

6 Ways to Create Your Best Client Experience Yet

One: Create a communication system. 

Communication is everything. I repeat — it’s everything, and it starts long before your session does. From the very first moment a client reaches out to you about your photography services, you should have a communication plan or system in place. You don’t want anyone to fall through the cracks or get lost along the way! Think of yourself as a guide helping them through the entire process, from choosing the session look and feel to getting in front of the camera to receiving their gorgeous images. 

How can you make this happen? By working smarter, not harder. I use email templates that help me provide a consistent experience for every potential client. My emails are all written with room for me to add personal notes when needed, but they’re prefilled with all the info interested people need to know. Plus, adding my email templates to a CRM makes sending and tracking emails super easy. I’m a big fan of Cloudspot, but whatever system you use, make sure that connecting with new clients is a seamless process!

Two: Send out a Client Guide.

I truly cannot recommend this tip enough! Even though you know your process like the back of your hand, your clients have lots of other things to juggle (and they may be nervous to get in front of a camera). Creating a detailed guide will reduce their stress and help them prepare for their shoot — which makes your job sooo much easier on session day, too! 

In my guide, I include tips for choosing outfits, what to expect during our session, a timeline for receiving images after the session, and more. If this sounds like something you’d love, but don’t have time or energy to create on your own, no problem — you can use mine. 

Three: Learn your clients’ names. 

This is simple, but it really matters! We all feel cared about when someone takes the time to learn our names, so we should do the same for our clients. And knowing the names of everyone in your family session helps you direct them in the moment and can even help kiddos stay focused! Small task with a huge reward — I promise it’s worth it. 

Four: Have a posing plan.

Is there anything worse than a lull of silence during a photography session, when a family doesn’t know what to do and you don’t know what to say? (The answer is obviously no.) Do your homework before the session to determine what poses will work best for this family! Take into account how many kids they have and how old they are — it’ll help you create poses that feel natural and look beautiful for the whole family. And speaking of kids… 

Five: Learn how to wrangle kiddos.

Parents hate feeling like their kids are out of control during a session. As a family photographer, part of your job is knowing how to keep children engaged and involved! There’s no need to be serious — make a fun game out of the shoot and you’ll get incredible candids. 

Six: Follow your booked clients on social media. 

There are so many reasons why I recommend this to every photographer I know. For starters, it is a great way to learn and remember names. It also gives you hassle-free tagging when it’s time to post! And most importantly, it’s a fantastic way to keep in touch with past clients (and hopefully turn them into repeat clients). Getting to know your clients on a personal level creates the kind of lasting relationship that will keep them booking you year after year.

Ready to give your clients the best (and least stressful) family photo session ever? Grab our Family Session Guide (& yes, we have a Maternity Session Guide too!) Be sure to check out my shop for photographers as well! We’ve got courses and templates to make your life a heck of a lot easier!