You can't have ME - Trust My Staff???

I recently became baffled when a potential client contacted me to provide our services for his daughters upcoming Sweet Sixteen Celebration - which was to be held within two weeks of this phone call. Apparently his daughter had been at another party in which we had recently provided our Hot Shots Photo Favors. He could not compliment me enough for how excited he was to want to hire me for his daughters party. A word of mouth client, I thought for sure this job was in the bag!

I thanked him for his compliments and had to let him know immediately that I was already booked for the day, but had another team available for him. This did not make him happy, his immediate response was "NO - I WANT YOU!" I found myself once again thanking him for his complimentary words, however, I explained to him that the team that I would be sending out to his event, was going to provide the same top notch service he was expecting from me. I continued to explain to him that my staff is trained by me, and they know what is expected from them when they go out to a job. Sadly I did not get this job. Would you choose to hire an unknown company over one that had already proven themselves???

This got me thinking of the importance of starting to sell my services as a business, not only selling myself. My clients need to be assured that in my absence they will be guaranteed a team of professionals that will show up at their event if "I" am not available. This will be a key factor as my goal is to continue to grow my business.

Unfortunately in this business, too many people have taken this risk and unfortunately been burned by "Thinking" they hired a specific company only to find that the people who show up at their parties are not even actual staff members, but were hired for this "One job only".
This happens when contracted companies outsource services just to secure another job on the calendar when they have run out of their own staff to provide a particular service to a client. Unfortunately this reputation follows this industry due to the fact that may clients have been burned without ever seeing it coming. This type of reputation in the industry does not allow for potential clients to always "Trust" a company when they are told they cannot meet the people who will be at their event. As a professional who takes my business and my clients very seriously, I find it incredibly disturbing when I find reputable companies searching on sites like Craigs list who are actually looking to hire Photographers, DJ's, and Videographers to outsource for dates they have already booked through their own companies sometimes as little as a week away from an event. At the risk of their own contracted clients who hired them to provide a service for a "Once in a Lifetime Special Occasion", How could a company feel good about sending an unknown out to a job with their own Company name at stake?

As my business continues to grow, it has become apparent that although I have built this business from the beginning with a combination of my Outgoing Personality, and Quality Service, it is now crucial that I now not only sell the business because of who I am but need to showcase my incredible staff as well as an equal part of importance to the success of this business. I would not be where I am today without them.

This past weekend I am proud to say this task was accomplished. I had double booked an event and sent out a staff that I knew would do an amazing job! They had been working with me for over a year, and they were ready to go out on their own. I will say, however, that when I contacted the client, who I had worked for in the past, she too was "concerned and disappointed" that "I" was not going to be at her event. I did reassure her, however, that I would not have been willing to take a chance of ruining my company reputation by sending people to her event that were not capable of providing the quality service she had expected. I am happy to say that my girls did an incredible job, and my client was extremely happy. She has already booked us again, without hesitation, for another event.

I continue to learn a lot along the way as I continue to grow my business. We have come a long way since the beginning. Based on my own experience working in the Event Industry for the past ten years I believe I have seen it all. I have without a doubt learned "What Not to Do" based on my own personal experiences when hiring companies for my own events, as well as observations I have made while working with vendors in the industry on a regular basis.

As I continue to grow Customer Service will continue to be a top priority since my word of mouth business is something to be proud of and not to be taken for granted.

Training, motivating, and showcasing my incredible staff is also a key part in the continued success and growth of this business. Let's face it, I could not be doing this alone, and could not be prouder to be surrounded by my amazing staff.

My goal is to continue to provide the best Quality Service to my clients and prove to them that I would never be willing to sacrifice Quality over Quantity. I will continue to surround myself with the best staff possible, proving that when you hire a "Hot Shots Photo Favor Team" for an event....it will be a trained "Hot Shots Photo Favor Team" you will get!

When hiring Hot Shots Photo Favors for your next upcoming celebration... remember...

If you can't have "ME"...the answer is...."YES"....You can Trust MY Staff!