One of the biggest drains on a photographer’s time is the back-and-forth correspondence that happens with clients.
There is just so much information that has to be collected and then managed – event details, invoicing, contract, album orders, and beyond.
That’s why it’s important to have strategies in place for efficiently managing this information. You need to be able to easily find what you’re looking for and minimize the amount of back-and-forth with clients.
I. Consolidate as much as possible using forms and questionnaires.
Email is a necessary but time-consuming (and annoying at times!) part of running a business, but if you make it more manageable, you’ll have more time to spend on other profitable activities. With all the information that has to be organized, it could mean a lot of emails. Or you could find a better way. Create a handful of forms or questionnaires that are used to gather most of the information you need. Your client can fill it out all at once and just send it to you, giving you all of the information in one central place. A pre-set form also ensures that you don’t forget to collect important details.
Questionnaires that are especially useful:
- Wedding Day Information
- Album Order form – with all of their choices for colors, page type, etc.
- Information for family pictures on day of wedding
You can create these forms yourself or use the easy-to-create questionnaires on ShootQ.
II. Use a central database with all critical client information.
A central system like ShootQ where each client’s information can be easily found will make it quick to find what you’re looking for. Aside from basic client information like address and contact information, this central database should also have their contract, invoices, package information and event information. Use automatic invoicing and online contracts to seamlessly collect this information and store it in a central database.
