Hey, lady bosses! Happy Monday! So happy you’re here for episode number eighty (!!!) of the Goal Digger Podcast. This week, I paired up with the incredible, Abby _____, an incredible D.C. based photographer and communication guru.

Abby and I chatted everything from our career trajectory to being part of a husband-wife team all the way to communication strategies that ensure our clients feel satisfied, heard, and valued. Abby is a total wiz at creating an amazing customer expereience through words and I was lucky enough to pick her brain! So grab a pen and a notebook because you guys are in for a treat!

HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL HUSBAND-WIFE TEAM:

Both Abby and I are newer to having our husbands quit their day jobs and work from home, and both of us have picked up on some crucial tactics that make it all work out. The biggest thing we both spoke of was to play each other’s strengths- Abby mentioned that she was “the dreamer and the writer, and he is the implementer”. We spoke further that sometimes you have to fight outside influence to fully be your best you- in my case, Drew does a bulk of the cooking and cleaning because it works for us, and that’s perfect! To play your strengths you need to 1) Acknowledge the other one’s work 2) Communicate, communicate, communicate! and 3) Give the other one freedom to experiment and see where they feel called to do their part. Another component that both Abby and I believe in is to really be firm about our business hours- we need present husband and wife time and that is hard to do with an open laptop!

HOW TO COMMUNICATE AND WOW YOUR CLIENTS

When we first started talking about communication, the first thing Abby said was a Maya Angelou quote ““People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

and man does Abby live this day in and day out with her communication tactics. One of the biggest things she spoke of was answering her emails on a tier system: 1) Clients (try to get back to them in 24 hours) 2) Vendors that are referring or collaborating with and lastly 3) Everything else: inquiries, publicity, fan mail, etc. She says this strategy ensures that her clients are getting the best of her which is so important as a business owner. Another tactic she uses with her clients is to “over communicate” from the beginning to ensure that there is never any gray areas down the road. While she believes in sharing all the details- she makes an effort to do it in a way that is personal, genuine, and heartfelt to create trust.

HOW TO UTILIZE TEMPLATES & MANAGE EXPECTATIONS.

Not only does this save time, it creates an opportunity to ensure your clients get ALL the details. Because no matter how different your clients are as individuals, there are certain things each client needs to receive. That’s where templates come in! Many of us worry that templates could feel cold or impersonal, but that’s not necessarily true! You can trickle in details about that specific person while ensuring they are getting ALL the information they need. We spoke that even if the initial template feels very long and intense, it saves a lot of time, energy, and questions in the long run.

WOWZA, this girl is the real deal, folks! If you are needing to revamp your communication strategy, this is the episode for you. Client relations start AND end with communication and this episode ensures you will keep them coming back for more!

You can find Abby online at: Website // Instagram // Facebook //