Do you give your clients questionnaires ?

Hi guys,

Just a thought,

do any of you give your clients any questionnaires after the wedding about your services, approach etc?

Regards

V

I don't like the idea of a questionnaire - Not long ago I sent the message below to about twelve of my previous clients and I was so heartened by their responses. It's so important to get some kind of feedback from your clients. Otherwise you're kept wondering. It's been discussed here before - I've found that most people wont let you know what they think about your work unless you ask.


Hi ***** & *******
>
> I hope you're both enjoying married life, and I also hope that the
> photos I took of your wedding serve to remind you of that very special
> day.
>
> I am in the process of promoting my wedding photography and have
> selected some photos that I took of you both as having excellent
> potential in this respect.
>
> I am seeking your permission to use these photos on both my own
> website and ******** *********** website. Prospective clients are always
> keen to view my photos and I would like to extend the bank of photos
> that I use for this purpose.
>
> I understand that many people are private in this regard and would
> prefer not to have their photos displayed on the net. Should this be
> your preference then there's no need to reply to this email.
>
> On the other hand I would be very grateful should you agree to this
> proposal. Also I am planning on including "testimonials" i.e. A short
> blurb from people expressing their satisfaction of the photos, about
> 20-30 words. (This is optional.)
>
> Should you wish to clarify any points please do contact me. Looking
> forward to your reply.
>
> Regards
>
> Damian

I have never given my clients a question/answer type sheet. 1. Most would probably not take the time to fill it out. 2. You will know if you are doing an outstanding job on a wedding by the number of people that start coming to you because the couple is going around showing all of their pictures to them.
I have to disagree with Damian about "asking" for their satisfaction to put up on the website. I think that is tacky. I think this is like saying 4 out of 5 doctors suggest using Crest toothpaste. How many doctors did they have to ask to get that number. Are you going to put every submission on your testimonial page even if they don't say you did a knockout job? NO.. Your work should stand on it's own without having to have somebody say that you do a good job. If it doesn't then you need to spend more time working on your style and your personality than asking for feedback. If clients are not happy I promise that they will let you know! Just be patient and if they are happy with your work they will let you know this as well without asking them.

I mail cleints a survey along with a self addressed stamped evelope about a month after they have pickup up there album. That way I can get an ideal as to my opportunities for enhancements. So far I would say I have gotten at least a 85% response....

Atl-Fotos wrote in post #4320550
I mail cleints a survey along with a self addressed stamped evelope about a month after they have pickup up there album. That way I can get an ideal as to my opportunities for enhancements. So far I would say I have gotten at least a 85% response....

what does your survey look like?

It is just 10 or so questions about my service, if I can use them as a reference and a comment section. My goal was to keep it as simple as possible and to have references for other clients to call (hasn't happened yet) if they wanted to actully speak with someone instead of just looking at images.

I wrote a web based survey that I send to couples after their album has been done. It takes them about 2 minutes.

I personally do not use questionnaires. The clients let me know about my work and give me enough feedback. I include a modeling release in my wedding contract, so I don't worry about using their images to advertise my work. I think only one or two couples have modified the model release cause. Most couples are more than happy for you to use them to promote your work, in my experience.

I do have testimonials on my web page for a couple of reasons. I added them in early this year. Sometimes, clients can vocalize my strengths and approach to shooting better than I can, so it conveys valuable information. Secondly, clients seem to treat it as a sort of reference. I don't think I've had anyone ask me for references in quite a while now, and I partly think that has to do with posting testimonials. And as much as clients seem to be more than happy to comment on my services, I really don't want prospective clients bothering my past clients.

I wouldn't do it. Seems forced.

I think for every wedding I've shot I've gotten extremely kind and heartfelt emails that I used as testimonials. Some told me to use it in the email and others I just asked. I haven't had a problem doing it that way.

All the following quotes are taken from TAKEYOURPIC's response, ie. the third post here. Can't quiet work out the quote thing just yet.

I photograph weddings from a "destination location" my clients would rarely communuicate with one another.

??? Isn't that what testimonials are drawn from? Asking for their satisfaction? more-like feedback. I don't really get the toothpaste/doctor bit.

Um.... no.

Well then lets just forget about testimonials altogether - even websites. Maybe my work is just not good enough - So I might have to promote it - How crazy! - having to promote my work.

I'm devastated - I might need a personal coach

Are you so certain about this? it's a promise.

Everyone has their way of promoting work and obtaining feedback - for some it may be simple - and this I am sure this varies according to location - culture - tradition - client socio-eco staus etc. I was just reponding to movie-makers question - perhaps you should do same.

Cheers

damian

I think it's good to get both feedback on your service (so you can improve) and testimonials to show prospective clients. I've been looking at doing something like a questionaire....

Testimonials help me not bother past clients with asking for references.

Damian,
The only thing that I was directing your way was the fact that I disagreed with you about asking for satisfaction feedback for your site. The rest of my post was to moviemaker. I can see by your reply that you took each thing that I said as being directed at you. I did not intend for you to take it that way. I am sorry if you did.

I do want to address a couple of things you said though. Even if you are a destination photographer your clients will talk you up. They will talk to their family, their friends, and anybody else at work that happens to see their pictures sitting out for them to see. So to think that just because your clients don't know each other they know a ton of other people who would love to book your services if they are talked up by the bride and groom. The next item is your response to your work standing on it's own merit. I have never seen your work, so this was another part of my response that was a general answer geared towards all photographers and not you directly. The last was my "promise" that if ANY client is not happy that they will let you know. I think that unhappy brides are probably one of the most vocal people on the planet. They rank just a little higher than happy brides.