The success of your photography business ultimately boils down to the quality of your relationships.

People do not buy your product or service. They buy YOU first and foremost.

When they know you and trust you, and know you have a genuine interest in them, they become loyal clients and refer their family & friends.

How do you discover people to establish relationships with?

You can do this both online and offline.

To meet people online, simply Google “social networking” and explore your options.

To meet people in the real world, search for local networking organizations or ask professional friends who they would recommend. The local Chamber of Commerce is often a good place to start.

The biggest mistake people make when networking is ignoring the fact that building relationships takes time and patience. Many attend networking meetings and verbally “vomit” on the people they meet. They ramble on about their business, product or service and how everyone should jump on board and take advantage of it right away or risk losing the best offer they’ve ever had.

Has this ever happened to you? You’ve met someone who hasn’t expressed any interest in you whatsoever or asked any questions to learn more about you, but somehow know just what you need and insist they can supply it?

How do you respond to people when they treat you this way? Do you want to spend another half hour talking to them or make a quick exit?

What if, however, that person asked you about yourself and was genuinely interested in you and what you do, and only after you asked about what he does, does he provide a brief explanation without a motive to sell. Would you be inclined to continue your conversation and learn more about each other and how you might be able to help each other?

In order to build a strong social network, you must be willing to learn about others, ask questions and be willing to listen. Resist the temptation to interrupt or turn the conversation to yourself and you will be rewarded for your self-control.

As you learn about other people and what their needs are, offer resources or connections that can help. Focus on helping others and others will help you.

If you’re shy and uncomfortable in a room full of strangers, the simplest way to overcome that is to get to know them. This can seem a little daunting at first, but if you move past your fear and take the risk of approaching others, you will liberate yourself from your self-imposed prison.

The world is then your oyster.

If I could give three simple rules to build a strong social network, they would be:

1. Get out of your safe zone. Introduce yourself to people. Take risks.

2. Make it all about the other person. Ask them questions, then shut up and listen.

3. Share resources, contacts, experience; do whatever you can to help others.

Follow these three simple rules and others will reciprocate in kind. Regard networking as a marathon, not a 100-yard dash.

Something interesting happened to me today. A business told me they cared more about taking money off me than they did about me. Nothing unusual there, big businesses do this all the time; utility companies, banks, insurance companies, etc. And I would be shocked to get any other treatment from a government body such as my local council.

But this was none of those, it was a small business, just the owner and 3 members of staff, it was my dentist, Webb Dental Practice  in Dawley. Can’t get a much more personal service than that, this guy puts his fingers in my mouth. In some ways I was shocked, in others it just highlighted how easy it is to give better customer service than a competitor.

I had an appointment scheduled for last week which I ended up not being able to make but didn’t call to cancel, so I have to pay £20 for the missed appointment, pretty standard practice I think. I had another appointment scheduled for 3:50pm today. At about 9:20am the receptionist calls me to ask if they can bring the appointment forward to 10:00am. I was in the middle of something when she called, and it is about a 15 min drive to get there, so it was not ideal, but I said I might be able to make it if it helped them out.

She explained that the dentist had a long way to travel home to a rural area so she was trying to fill the gaps in his morning schedule by bringing his afternoon appointments forward, then he could leave early and avoid travelling in the snow in the rush hour. I said ok, I’ll be there for 10. The receptionist then pointed out that I had missed an appointment a few days ago and I’d need to pay the £20 before he would see me.

I thought to myself, here I am doing them a favour; maybe they will do me one in return. I explained that I understood it was my fault that I missed the last appointment, and as per their terms I owed them £20. But as I was doing them a favour, perhaps they would waive the charge this one time. The receptionist said she could not authorise that, so I said, “no problem, I’d prefer to keep my 3:50pm appointment”.

The receptionist told me I’d still have to pay the £20 either way, which I knew, but I reminded her that I was the paying customer, and I was prepared to do them a favour yet they could not do the same for me. She said she saw my point and would put this to her boss (the dentist) and call me back.

30 seconds later and she is on the phone saying the 10am slot has now been filled, there were no more appointments for today and the dentist was leaving early so was cancelling my 3:50 appointment. Now the point is, there is only one receptionist so there is no way the appointment could have been filled, and there is nothing that winds me up more than being lied to by people I give money to.

Bare in mind that I had 4 appointments scheduled to have work done, so this is not just a £12 check up, this is a dentist equivalent of a big framed print order. And me being me, (stubborn as hell) I told them they could cancel all my appointments and send me the bill for the £20. The receptionist said “ok, if that is what you want to do”, which is what I expected.

So what is the lesson here? That I’m so tight with my money that I’ll jump at any opportunity to get out of paying someone what I owe them? That might be true, but it is not the point I’m making here. There are about 10 dentists within 5 miles of my home, and one of them does not want me as a client, he just wants my money. He wants it so much he will “cut off his nose to spite his face” to get it. He blew a lifetime of money for the sake of £20. Like me, he was stubborn, but the big difference is, I was the one handing over the money. The bit that really sticks in my gut is, they called asking for a favour, but were not willing to do one in return. All they wanted to do was the bare minimum.

When the bill comes I’ll get around to paying it, once the final notice court summons threat letter arrives. Chances are it will cost them nearly £20 to collect the money. And I’ll pay by cheque to make sure he has to pay bank charges on it too.

Now to many of you I may be sounding a little petty. To some of you I probably sound a little childish. And you are right. But there are millions of people like me, who wont settle for “the bare minimum” when it comes to customer service. I don’t care that “to the letter of the law” they are in the right, I care that they don’t care. I may be a stubborn jack ass, but I’m also looking for a new dentist.

If they had gone the extra mile on this occasion, over the lifetime of our relationship this guy would have taken £100s if not £1000s from me. Instead I’ll be telling everyone I know this story, and over time it may get a little distorted.

Do you have customers like me? I’d bet that you do, and when they come to light, you will have to decide how to handle the situation. I see loads of photographers websites stating “great customer service”. The claim is meaningless. Each customer decides whether you have delivered great service, and to each customer “great service” will mean something different. It means whatever they want it to mean. Today, for me, it meant having the decency to return a favour when asking for one.