Communication is fundamental to a successful and profitable photography business. This seems to be an obvious statement, yet many photographers (and business people in general) don't seem to realise just how important both the telephone and email are.

Your Clients are Judging You
Everytime you answer the telephone, clients are judging you.

Existing clients have expectations when they call you. They want to be recognised and continue a relationship, so you need to remember who they are.

New clients don't know you - yet. They're not sure if you're nice or horrible, reliable or scatterbrained, efficient or slack, so they will take clues from the way you answer the telephone and communicate with them.

This doesn't necessarily mean answering the phone with a set pattern. "Hello, you've called the Green Studio. This is Alex speaking. How may I help you." While this answer gives the caller lots of useful information, it may not be appropriate for the type of business you run.

Advertising photographers used to answer the phone with the word, 'Studio', which no doubt was very cool, but may have left many callers a little uncertain as to what was going on. It wasn't particularly inviting for outsiders, but then again, if you were in the club it might be what you wanted to hear.

And this is the point: the way you answer the telephone needs to be appropriate to the way you want your business to be perceived and the people you want to use it.

When dealing with the general public, as most wedding and portrait photographers do, being 'cool' is probably less important than being 'approachable and helpful'.

Take a Deep Breath
The tone of your voice is just as important as what you say - perhaps more so. If you're short with your callers because you're really busy, this sends them a clear message: don't bother me. And so they won't bother you with their next big job!

Many telephone experts recommend having a mirror near the telephone and smiling to yourself before picking up the receiver. Take a deep breath and realise that no matter how busy or how stressed you are just at the moment, when you answer the phone everything must be put aside so you can give the caller your full attention.

If you are really busy or stressed and you can't be pleasant 'just at the moment', it may be best for the call to go to message bank or an answering machine. Or you should instruct your staff to say you're in the middle of a shoot and can't be disturbed and take a message for you. Even better, train your staff to answer the phone.

Written by Peter Eastway, B.Ec., CPA, Grand Master of Photography
Publisher of Better Photography
www.betterphotography.com