Let’s set the scene: a potential client inquires with you and you respond with your typical email—congratulations, possibly a pricing or investment guide, and a call-to-action in the form of scheduling a consultation. Two days goes by and…nothing…crickets.

So what do you do then? The same thing as the other five photographers they likely inquired with—you follow up. Possibly with a helpful resource, possibly with another call-to-action. But another two days goes by…then what?

Well, up until very recently, if I didn’t hear back from that client, that was it. I waited about a week and if I still heard nothing from them, I archived their project and simply moved on.

But not anymore.

After doing quite a bit of research on the time frame between inquiry and booking, I realized a few things:

1. I had my timeline way too spread out. Instead of waiting a week after the inquiry, I shortened that time to two days after the inquiry. Couples tend to want to make decisions quickly, and that week was allowing my competition to swoop in there and take the lead right out from under me. I thought I was just not being pushy. In reality, what I was being was slow.
2. My follow up process was good, but not great. I followed up once and then wrote them off. Perhaps if I had followed up multiple times, these leads would see that I am serious about wanting to work with them. I used to see this as being pushy or overbearing…overall just too salesy, which isn’t my personality—like at all. But I realized that I was missing opportunities to serve clients, which is what I love doing best. I was missing opportunities to give them MORE resources that would help their wedding planning process go smoothly.

So what do I do now?

I have just recently implemented a second and third follow up email that automatically goes out. Each CRM (Client Relationship Manager) is different when it comes to setting this up, but a quick search will allow you to determine the best way to implement the multiple follow-up system within your business!