Service, Care, and Sustainability

Many successful companies understand the importance of having quality customer service, and it should be no secret that providing good service and care is important for a company to thrive. The biggest problem that a business may come across is in balancing the amount of time given into the quality as compared to doing a job faster with less care, attention to detail, or availability to the client. The lure of getting short-term gains, especially when business is busy, may cause attention to detail to suffer due temptation to rush through and get to the next client.

No matter how busy a business is - the work will eventually die down if attention to customers is not completely valued. Trust and consistency are vital to keeping a company successful amidst its competition. This may seem obvious, but with busy schedules and limited time – we may be tempted to let this area slack as much as possible due to the convenience it may provide in other areas.

The most important thing for me as a photographer in South Korea, is responding as quickly as possible to e-mails about my services. Additionally, paying attention to detail and showing a genuine care about a client’s event or session is just as important. My photography is quite consistent, and I could safely safe that the quality is quite comparable from one project to the next. If a client weren’t satisfied with the photos they received, then at least I provided them with as much care as possible and I’d be happy to work further and make any changes if necessary. If in the end, they were not still satisfied, then it would be just a matter of personal taste and opinion.

Customer service also entails being as professional as possible – especially when people are rude, annoying, or disrespectful. There’s no need to roll over for these people, but if you need to provide the service to them, because you are legally obliged or don’t want to lose your job, then simply put the emotions aside and deal with them as objectively as possible. It’s better to process those feelings later and cool down. Blowing up at someone or allowing emotions to dictate our actions shows weakness and unprofessionalism. Strength is gained through internal development. If we allow emotions or subjective opinions to bother us, then we need to do some inner work, rather than attack the other person.

For me, reputation is paramount, as an English-speaking photographer in South Korea. The community is relatively small and I’ve had many people tell me that they’ve recognized the people in my portfolio. Word-of-mouth business is the best kind of business. It’s surprising to find our which customers happen to know each other. That being said, quality shouldn’t be contingent or situational, it should be present in every business at all times.

For further reading, please check out: Use Your Resources.