Do You Look a New Client in the Eye?

OK, I was going to put this in the "Fun" section, but as I was about to, I realized there was an important Practice Management Lesson here.  How do you gain the trust of your new client?

Bill Zelman is a cutting-edge portrait photographer and this video shows off some of his fine work with Bill talking about how he works.  What's his secret?  "First and foremost, you have to get the trust of your [clients], you have to look them in the eye and letting them know you there to be respectful of them and their time...."

Do you look your client in the eye when you meet them?  When you client leaves the office do they know you respect them and their time?  Or do you have your head down in an intake form or a legal pad taking notes like I did as a young lawyer?  I stopped when I sat in with an older lawyer in the firm interviewing a client - the first half hour of the initial interview he didn't take a single note, he just sat looking at the client as she told her story.  Only when she was finished did he pick up a pad of paper, and only asking her if it was OK if he took some notes.

See more of Bil's work at Zelman Studios.

- Peter H. Berge

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