041 - Policies from Pain with Kathryn Langsford

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If there is one thing all humans seek to avoid, it is pain. And yet, as business owners, we often face painful moments with clients. Moments that make us question ourselves, and our talent, and our ability to build a sustainable business. Too often, in these painful moments, we find ourselves responding from a place of fear. In order to save the sale and keep our clients happy, we roll over and give in to their demands…and then feel bitter about it. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And this starts to happen over and over and over again.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">So how do we change it? How do we use these painful moments with clients to develop effective policies, principles, and processes that protect how we do business?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In today’s podcast I talk with Kathryn Langsford about some real life examples of pain points she’s experienced in her business, and the positive changes that have come out of them. The unpleasant truth is that painful interactions with clients are inevitable. It’s just part of owning a business. But we can either let them bring us down, or allow them to help us create positive processes that benefit ourselves AND our clients moving forward. </span></p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Timestamps:</strong></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[00:59] One of the biggest pain points in the photography industry (which is the focus of today’s episode).</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[03:15] Kathryn shares some of the biggest challenges that she dealt with in the early days of her career.  </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[06:06] The fundamental goals of most photographers, and where so many of us go wrong on our journey of pursuing them. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[09:36] How Kathryn’s session fee has increased over time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">[10:23] A process that Kathryn put in place to prevent clients from coming in for s