How to Develop Repeat Clients as an Event Photographer
Not 10 minutes from my house is a gorgeous new wedding venue in Sandy, Utah, called Twenty & Creek. They host the most gorgeous, classy weddings, and the venue is seriously dreamy. Recently, they’ve been shifting their marketing efforts to gain more corporate clients and host events outside of the wedding industry. Their space is ideal for luncheons, private celebrations, company parties, and so much more!
I’ve been extremely fortunate to work with the team from Twenty & Creek to photograph some of their non-wedding events, and I love the variety it gives me as a photographer. Even more, I love how I’ve been able to build a relationship with the venue because it helps me better photograph both corporate events and weddings there. This relationship has made me reflect on how to build rapport with clients so they become repeat customers.
Today I’m addressing corporate clients and how to get them to hire you again and again. If you can produce consistently good results, you’ll attract repeat customers, so let’s break my system down into 3 steps!
Under promise, over deliver
Do everything in your power to go above and beyond for your client. Focus on professionalism and timeliness. Be a no-fuss vendor for the corporate client that they know they can depend on. Pay attention to detail. Be sensitive to the mood of the event that you're photographing. Deliver sneak peeks and full galleries earlier than expected and with more photos than promised.
Know your client
Understand your client’s brand and the purpose of your images (photography for future brochures, website headers, social media ads, etc.). Always include photos of "happy people being happy". Emotion breaks up the monotony of most events or corporate photos. Spend extra time photographing the details of the event, especially anything with a company logo, and ask around to learn who the most important people are so you can capture additional photos of them.
Be consistent
Photograph with a consistent style so the photos can be used across different platforms and for many years. Corporate and event photography, and even some commercial photography, is similar to stock photography. The images may be used for the next 10+ years, and they need to look timeless. That means your editing should be true-to-color, your cropping should be generic, and you’ll want to capture all of the traditional images before adding anything artistic to the gallery.
One of the easiest ways to create consistent photos is to use flash when photographing events. Flash brightens up a space and helps keep a viewer’s attention on your clients, not on the venue lighting. It’s the secret skill you can learn to differentiate yourself from other photographers! Your clients will want to hire you again and again because you’ll be able to produce bright, true-to-color images that can be used for years, no matter the time of day.
Plus, occasional flashes from a photographer add an extra level of poshness and professionalism to an event attendee’s experience. Make sure you’re confident with your equipment, and ideally, have your light stands setup before guests arrive so they don’t see any of the work that happens behind the scenes.
Keep your flash at low power and your camera settings cranked up so the space looks bright and happy. My flash is usually around 1/64th or 1/32nd power, and my ISO is around 1000–2000, depending on how much available light there is. I love using umbrellas when photographing events because they spread the light nicely over a large space and minimize shadows.
The more consistent you are, from your editing style to your speedy gallery delivery, the more likely you are to make a good impression and create relationships that produce repeat customers. I get to photograph at the amazing Twenty & Creek venue multiple times a month because they know they’ll receive a consistent product and they have a positive experience working with me.
