Quite often I get this feeling that school photo companies come off as being like a used car lot. Who has the best deal? What can you give me? Can you buff out that dent? Im sure you know what I mean. (Insert cheesy salesman now…)
I have owned my own business for a number of years. When you own your own business, you are similar to a salesman in that if you are not out there making sales, nobody is going to do it for you. So over the past 20+ years I have become a custom to what it is like representing our brand and I have learned a lot.
Two of the most important things I have learned are…
- Be Honest no matter what
- Just be yourself. Dont pretend to be someone you are not.
I remember very well being on the phone with another photographer who was big into senior photos and what telling me if I wanted to book more seniors, I needed to look and act cool. I was supposed to wear designer jeans and shirts that would supposedly make me align better with that genre of a client. So while I was on the phone I drove to Kmart and purchased some kind of a rock band tshirt and cheap designer jeans. So I did wear them, Kmart brand or not! But eventually it just didnt feel right. I was pretending to be someone I wasn’t and I didn’t like it.
For starters I was not being honest with even myself or my clients. I was being fake and my clients did not see the “real” Chad. That experience almost 20 years ago has really helped me to build the business we have now.
When we took over Photography By Mark Inc. in 2017, everyone in my family ownership agreed on both of those two items. Yes I know we need to be professional but lets also be ourselves. No one is perfect, not even a suited salesman. We are family owned and I am proud of it. Why would we want to shed a different image?
We also agreed that no matter what, we must be truthful in all that we do. That starts with each one of us, our team and to all of our schools and clients.
So why this long story? Even though it is up to me to “sell” our business, I do not pretend to be a corporate salesman. I am a blue jeans kind of guy, not a suit and tie. We do not over promise. We do not lie to our clients. We do not trash our competition. We honestly try our best at everything we do. Sure we make mistakes. But you know what? When we do, we will own up to it and get it taken care of. If we don’t, you call us.
If you ever have a question about our services, what others may have said or just want to chat, please call us.
Humbly yours,
Chad
