Mastering Client Relationships in the Wedding Industry with Craig Peterman
Are you ready to discover why strong client relationships are at the heart of a successful wedding business? Today, I’m joined by Craig Peterman, a seasoned wedding photographer and videographer, who shares how building genuine connections with clients and vendors can make all the difference in our industry.
Craig brings over a decade of experience capturing weddings. We talk about how strong client relationships have shaped his career and why they are essential for long-term success. Craig dives into how the wedding landscape has changed over the years, especially with the shift to more virtual interactions post-pandemic, and how professionals can adapt to connect with today’s clients.
We explore actionable methods to build trust with clients, from asking the right questions during consultations to maintaining communication throughout the planning process. Craig emphasizes the importance of balancing professionalism and friendliness without crossing boundaries and why finding that balance comes with experience.
Craig also shares the value of creating connections that last beyond the wedding day, including ways to stay engaged with clients and become their go-to vendor for future life events. He even touches on the hot-button topic of offering referral discounts and what vendors should consider before deciding if it’s right for them.
If you're looking to deepen your client and vendor relationships and stay relevant in a changing market, Craig’s advice is not to be missed. Get practical tips and insights that you can put into practice to build stronger, lasting connections in the wedding industry.
Highlights:
- The importance of building strong relationships with clients and vendors to sustain and grow your business.
- How wedding professionals can adapt their approach to connect with Gen Z clients.
- Methods to build trust and create genuine connections with clients through strategic communication.
- The role of questionnaires and tips in enhancing client interaction and setting expectations.
- How to maintain a relationship with clients post-wedding and stay top of mind for future events.
- Insights on whether offering referral discounts is beneficial and how to navigate vendor relationships.
Do you have questions you'd like us to answer or topics you want to hear about? Drop us a message! And don’t forget to share, like, and subscribe to keep up with all our upcoming episodes. Your support helps us bring valuable tips and insights straight to your feed.
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Transcript
evin Dennis (0:1.012)
All right, folks, welcome to another episode of Mind Your Wedding Business. I'm here with the one and only Craig Peterman. He's going to be helping us work on the importance of building strong client relationships, which is something that I think we all need to have in our business, because if you don't have strong relationships, you don't have a business, All right, perfect. So Craig, tell us a little bit about yourself and how did we get to here today?
Craig Peterman (0:20.260)
That is correct. Yes, spending relationships are so important.
Craig Peterman (1:5.764)
Okay, all right.
No, I got it from here. All right. Yeah. Hi, I'm Craig Peterman. So I am a wedding photographer and videographer. I have over 10 years of experience. I've shot close to probably 500 weddings now. And kind of the series events that got me to this point is really, kind of started in high school and I really fell in love with photography at that point. And I kind of decided to study digital film production in college. And that's really, really...
kind of developed a love for storytelling, fine art and cinematic composition. Eventually I went from taking portraits and grads and families and I eventually moved into weddings. And it kind of feels like in the snap of a finger, here I am today talking to you about my history. So kind of all unraveled pretty fast and it's been a long and fun ride. can't say enough great things about what I do and how much I love it.
Kevin Dennis (2:1.890)
Yeah, I feel like if you have the wedding bug, you have the wedding bug. that's, you know, it's people either love to be in the wedding industry or hate to be in the wedding industry. Because sometimes I'll be working a wedding and someone will be complaining about weddings. And I'm like, why are you even here? Why are you even working it? anyway, it's no no bueno. Anyway. All right. So, Craig, we're here to talk about, you know, client relationships and why they're important. So why is it important to have that strong relationship with our clients?
Craig Peterman (2:16.880)
Yes!
Craig Peterman (2:20.280)
Yes, exactly.
Craig Peterman (2:31.786)
Um, well, I think it's incredibly important to have a strong relationship with clients, um, with vendors and clients and everybody really involved in the wedding planning and industries as a whole. Um, as far as having relationships with vendors, um, the most important part, I think in continuing your business and having it develop and grow into something large is, is having those vendor relationships and making sure that you're a part of the community and that you're building relationships at last. Um, not just.
for marketing means, just for as continuing to develop the community as a whole. having relationships with planners, DJs, catering, everybody, it's really important for each vendor to have that because again, it's referring each other, having a great time working weddings. There's really no downside to being friends with vendors and industry.
Um, it is important in building a web of, of vendors that refer you and then you refer back, um, is going to be really helpful in building a business. Now, having a good client relationship is also incredibly important. Um, for obvious reasons, you have to be very friendly, have to be very communicative. Um, you have to exude a high business sense. Um, you know, making sure that your client feels comfortable in booking with you. Um, you have to remember, and one of the biggest things I tell people really that asked me about this is.
Your clients have no idea who you are most of the time. They've seen you online, but they don't know you personally. They don't know you intimately. So making sure that you're going the extra mile to develop that trust and make sure that they're happy and they're getting what they need because they're putting a lot of money out there. It's incredibly important to do that. So just having relationships as a whole with everybody involved is just going to help your business and help everybody in the industry and move forward. So.
Kevin Dennis (4:25.454)
at we're dealing with here in:Craig Peterman (4:49.802)
Um, I wouldn't say it's harder. It's changed. Um, cause so, as someone told me, um, my clients aren't getting older, but I am. So it changes how I have to approach everything and how I have to, um, build relationships with clients. So I would say maybe COVID changed it slightly with more zoom calls, as opposed to in-person meetings when you, when you first initially do a consult. um, I guess the main hurdle for me personally was just trying to figure out how to connect with Gen Z now.
Kevin Dennis (4:52.951)
Okay.
Kevin Dennis (4:58.231)
Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (5:10.615)
Hmm.
Craig Peterman (5:19.782)
How do I approach them? How do I interact with them? So yeah, think that's an important thing a lot of vendors need to realize is that your clients don't get older. You do though, and you need to approach things accordingly.
Kevin Dennis (5:33.588)
Oh man, we get older. that how this works? So, uh, yeah. So it was kind of when you were saying that I just worked a wedding this last weekend and the videographer that I was working with, we were having a conversation during our dinner and, um, one of the things they used to have a storefront and then during COVID, uh, they got rid of their storefront because, uh, everything's over zoom now. So, you know, and they saved the money. So was kind of interesting, you know, how,
Craig Peterman (5:36.824)
Unfortunately, yes.
Kevin Dennis (6:2.882)
We hate that word COVID, but how it really changed what we do. all right. So, yeah. So trust is hard to build with new clients. So how would you suggest building trust throughout the initial inquiry and building trust with them throughout the whole relationship with the client?
Craig Peterman (6:8.378)
Yes.
Craig Peterman (6:26.074)
Well, building trust with the client is, you know, that kind of comes with experience. So you have to kind of feel out your clients and you know, how the consultation is going initially. What are you going to connect with them on? What are you, what are your touch points with them? What are they looking for? And you have to establish this, you know, kind of quickly when you're doing a consultation, but building, when your client finds you, you know, they already have a sense of trust in you. They like your work. They like who you are. They like what you do in the industry. They, you know, they wanted to connect.
Kevin Dennis (6:37.411)
Hmm.
Craig Peterman (6:55.534)
you. just kind of understanding what it is exactly that they liked about you, what it is that they trust in you from face value. Kind of building off of that is really important. When I do consultations, I make sure to ask lots of questions. What are they looking to get? I try not to make it one sided as like either I'm asking a bunch of questions or they're asking a bunch of questions. It's more of a conversation.
Kevin Dennis (7:12.686)
Hmm.
Craig Peterman (7:23.566)
and just kind of developing a friendship between each other. mean, I guess there's gonna be a little bit of a wall because it's a business-based transaction, but trying to at least tear down that wall slightly just to get like a connection between you two and an understanding is really important. think when you kind of level with your clients on a certain level, it kind of helps make sure that the trust is developed in that point.
I would just say just be yourself, be friendly, ask questions, communicate, and just remember that your clients are putting a lot of money out there and trusting you. Do everything you can to make sure they know that you're working hard and giving everything that you have.
Kevin Dennis (8:5.634)
Yeah, and you being a photographer, think having that trust is probably extremely important because I was at a, I forget what conference I was at, but I was at a conference and photographer was leading the class and they said that normally they spend more time with the bride than they actually groomed us on the day of the wedding. So you actually have to have that, having this relationship probably is really
strong for photographers, videographers for that because you are with them for so long.
Craig Peterman (8:38.830)
Oh, absolutely. And you play a huge part in the wedding itself. You're almost like a pseudo crisis manager, a pseudo planner, making sure everything goes along. So, yeah, it's incredibly important to understand your clients is who they are as people and what they like and dislike and make sure that you accommodate them in every way you can.
Kevin Dennis (8:45.613)
No.
Kevin Dennis (9:0.776)
Yeah, yeah, great. Alright, so what methods do you suggest using to create genuine connections with your clients?
Craig Peterman (9:11.329)
So creating connections with your clients, the methods that I would recommend is, I have a lot of questionnaires that I send my clients. It's not like a ton of questionnaires where it's just getting annoying at some point, but there is a lot of good questionnaires that I send. And I feel like that's a good way to pull out information from them without it feeling too overbearing on them, like a consultation or something like that. Questionnaires, I think really helped me kind of connect with my clients. And then also,
Kevin Dennis (9:20.412)
Oh.
Kevin Dennis (9:30.861)
Mmm.
Craig Peterman (9:40.292)
letting them know tips and things that I would recommend is a good way to connect with them. Cause it kind of gets the conversation rolling, so to speak. So if I give a tip and you know, something that I think looks great, they can come back with, Oh, I think this looks great too. Or here's some inspiration on what I would want to do. So I think just kind of communicating is going to be your key factor in developing that connection of course. And I think
A lot of vendors sometimes just will book the client and then forget about it. Wedding day comes in 24 hours ahead of it. You're kind of starting to plan and prepare for it, which I think is a bad way to do it. I think you should be preparing a lot more ahead of time and then also communicate with clients throughout the whole planning process.
Kevin Dennis (:How many so throughout the price you mentioned, you know, connecting with them through the process like how much is enough and how much is too much, you know, or not enough, you know, like, what's the happy medium in there?
Craig Peterman (:Uh, yeah, I mean, you don't want to be annoying to your clients, of course, but, um, but yeah, I think, of course this comes with experience too, but I feel like three questionnaires for me personally is a nice medium. And then just making sure that, um, it's very open that you can call or text me or set up a consultation with me is very appropriate anytime that they want. Um, I usually will recommend doing a consultation, uh, like my zoom, um, about a week out just to kind of get on the same page.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Craig Peterman (:But yeah, you have to be very cognizant that your couple has got so many moving parts and they're trying to plan it and they're trying to get everything together. You don't want to be overbearing, but you want to let them know at the same time that you're there and available and if they need anything at all that you're there. So yeah, think again, it's just going to come with experience, but just trying to find that medium where you're not being annoying, but you're not communicating enough.
Kevin Dennis (:I like that. I'm sure for every discipline, it's going to be a little bit different throughout there. I like that you mentioned that giving them tips and it's almost like you're educating them throughout the process. That sounds like a great way to go. You mentioned your questionnaires. Can you give our audience a little bit of an example of questions to ask clients to get that conversation going?
Craig Peterman (12:1.038)
Yeah. Um, well, again, it's going to be different for every vendor, but my particular questions for photography and videography kind of based around the basics. mean, of course you want to get all the basics, everything that is pertinent to their wedding and what you need personally for, for a good, smooth, um, journey with them together. So, um, as far as like specific questions, I kind of get into more of like, what do they like aesthetically? Is there any inspiration photos that they like? Um, anything that they've seen online or on tick tock?
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Craig Peterman (:anything that they personally love. Because the more information I can pull from them, the better equipped I'll be to give them something that they'll love. So just trying to get that information out through a series of questions, based on your mastery in the wedding industry is going to help you give them the best experience possible. And especially with Gen Z too. So they're very social media based, of course.
So trying to figure out what their interests are on social media is going to also help you with their experience as you with you as a vendor as well.
Kevin Dennis (13:7.328)
Yeah, good ideas. All right, so boundaries. So I'm sure having this relationship, you got to have some kind of boundaries with your clients. So how do you hold boundaries while still connecting with them?
Craig Peterman (:Well, of course, I'm not trying to, I'm very aware of the client vendor relationship. So I'm trying to skirt that line of like being a friend without being a friend, because I don't want to get it, like make it into like some sort of weird thing where like I'm trying to be their friend in some way. But I don't want them to feel like I dislike them, you know, in some fashion. So I think it's important to have a boundary where
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Craig Peterman (:you only contact them on certain hours or you're available to them for certain hours or you're available to them for what they need within the mastery of what you do in, you know, wedding, uh, the wedding industry as a whole. like if you're a DJ, you're not trying to plan their wedding, but of course you can give the advice on what you think would work best while you're there. So, um, just having a boundary of what you're trying, what you're offering them, what's part of your contract when you're available.
And then just having, you know, a friendly relationship without it trying to be too much and too much of a friend, you know, trying to be too much with them is what I'm trying to say. So yeah, just trying to figure out those is going to come with experience as well. But yeah, that'll help you with the boundaries as well.
Kevin Dennis (:Does, now just out of curiosity, because we're kind of going through this at work right now, a lot of our clients want to talk via text. so how do you feel about having that relationship over text? And what we've done is we found that there's a voice over IP service that we can actually text with clients, but it's not through our personal phone. So do you have any thoughts about that?
Craig Peterman (:Oh, I love it when clients text me. That's my quickest form of communication. So I'm very open. I tell every client, hey, if you have any questions, feel free to text me. That is going to be my quickest way to communicate with you. I'll get back right away in that form. So yeah, I have no problems with that at all. I think it's a great way to communicate, especially for Gen Z, millennials, Gen X, everybody. It's just an easy way for us to connect.
You also have a boundary there. So if something goes wrong, can always block the person. it's not, it's not, you're not giving them your home address or something like that. But yeah, I'm all for texting. think that's a great way to communicate.
Kevin Dennis (:Nah.
Kevin Dennis (:blocking of someone. I was going to say, I hope that's all the way at the extreme. All right, so as you go through the process, photographers, videographers, you guys have to still continue to have a relationship with them when the wedding or the event is over. So how would you suggest continuing a relationship with the clients to stay top of mind?
Craig Peterman (:That's an extreme case.
Craig Peterman (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (16:7.144)
with them like after the wedding's over.
Craig Peterman (:Yeah, I mean, well, we still communicate for photographers and videographers. We still communicate pretty regularly after the wedding. Once the gallery is delivered or the video is delivered, I usually will let them know like, hey, thank you so much for booking with me. Did everything come out okay? Unless they let me know that they loved it. I usually will also one year their first one year anniversary. I'll put something on social media to congratulate them just to kind of develop the relationship further.
Kevin Dennis (:No.
Craig Peterman (:But I think that's another thing a lot of vendors will miss sometimes is once the wedding's over they think the relationship is over. If you maintain a very small connection with them, there's a good chance that they will refer you to their friends and family. So just having a little bit of a connection and you don't have to go overboard with it would be great just to make sure that they're available. And again, this is going to be different from every vendor.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Craig Peterman (17:6.742)
know, DJ might get booked for a family event or a photographer might get booked for family photos or a new baby or something like that. So there is a lot of value in maintaining a little bit of a relationship.
Kevin Dennis (17:9.742)
Hmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, even I would think florists and like caterers, there's opportunities down the road because they're going to have, there's other life events that happen throughout the process. And if you're their one person, man, you can really go for it. really, a photographer friend of mine here that's local, you constantly see him posting photos of doing photos with the kids. They have kids and then they do family photos and there's a family that he's
you know, continue to photograph 15 years after their wedding, you know, which is crazy to me. And that's that to me is a strong relationship. All right. Yeah. So, all right. So now what are your thoughts on wedding professionals offering like referral discounts, you know, to try to, you know, sweeten the pot to get in with other vendors or, you know, or, you know, maybe referrals for, you know, your clients referring, you know, it's always this hot
Hot take is the best way I always say when we anything we mentioned discounts.
Craig Peterman (:Yeah, yeah, this I mean, this is hot button issue, I'm sure I so I'm a part of WIPA and emerge and you these are vendor connecting sites and things like that. So it is a topic we discussed pretty frequently. So should you offer discounts? Should you offer kickbacks for referrals? I'd say it's not a one size fits all answer, but I'd say it's kind of on par for what you're going to see a lot of times.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah.
Craig Peterman (:You know, planners are usually expecting some sort of, um, reward, you know, for offering clients to you, especially the high end ones. Um, but I will say though, there is a lot of value in making friends and connecting with every vendor, uh, and not just offering discounts and referrals off the bat, because I think that's a little bit of a sticky issue. Um, so just being friendly, connecting with other vendors, like for me, I try to make friends with the DJ. I try to make friends with the planner, the venues.
Um, just on a personal level. And if we vibe a lot, you know, what's the harm in referring each other? So, um, again, it's, it's not a one size fits all. If you feel like it's going to help your business by say, offering a planner or a venue, a percentage of what you charge to them, uh, for referring you clients and it's going to build your business. What's the harm in that everybody, everybody benefits from this. Um, you know, the venue benefits, you benefit the client benefits. So.
Again, it's totally what you think is going to help you. And everybody does a little different.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, and I don't think there's a right answer to that or a wrong answer. know, like everyone, it's going to be different for every market out there. You know, like everybody's market is different, you know, because some markets, it's normal to do that, you know, kind of stuff. And then some markets, it's not, you know. So I think it's going to be different for everyone out there. So, all right. And you mentioned kind of venues and, you know,
Craig Peterman (:Yeah.
Kevin Dennis (:also, you know, like other vendors and I know we're talking about clients, but how do you have connecting with them to get on their like preferred vendor list or any of that, you know, like building those strong relationships that way.
Craig Peterman (:With venues, mean, it's going to be again, it's going to be different for every venue, but in your market as well. So the way I kind of connect with venues is I will offer my services to them. Do you have anybody that you refer to clients? May I give you business cards to give to clients? Because when they're doing tours and they're talking to couples, a lot of venues will have like a business card area or they'll have a list of preferred vendors that they
Kevin Dennis (:Hmm.
Craig Peterman (21:9.508)
they like to work at their venues. Some venues even have places to hang pictures for photographers or, you know, just, you know, that's more of a photography based thing. But yeah, I think just, just trying to maintain a relationship, letting them know that you're available if they need to refer to clients. Cause at least for me, when I get a couple, I have a list of referrals that I sent for vendors that I personally like. So I feel it's probably going to be the same for venues. have
Kevin Dennis (:Oh.
Craig Peterman (:couples asking them, who do you recommend? Who would work here? So yeah, I think it's just good to communicate with them, see what they need, see if they have anybody they're referring, and see if there's any way you guys can work together on that.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah. And then you also mentioned Emerge and WIPA. Is that a good place? Going to these networking events, is that a good place to meet other people and to develop your relationships?
Craig Peterman (22:2.436)
Yeah!
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. I mean, that's exactly what they're for is to meet other vendors in the wedding industry. So yeah, that's a great place. WIPA, Emerge, Engage. There's, think MBA is another one. So yeah, these are, these are the sole purpose of these is just to meet other vendors, connect with them and build a web of referrals. So they're usually regional based like by state or region.
Kevin Dennis (:Mm-hmm.
Craig Peterman (:So you can connect with other vendors in your region and kind of develop relationships in that manner. And that's especially effective if you don't do a ton of weddings and you don't have the opportunity to meet a lot of people, or if you're trying to break into the high-end luxury market, this is where you're going to want to go. It's going to help you engage with the high-end vendors.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Good, good ideas. All right. So as we're getting, you kind of coming to the end, what are, did I not ask you anything, any tips or anything that you want to give out there for building strong client relationships?
Craig Peterman (23:5.811)
Um, no, I don't think there's anything that you missed, but, um, I would say that.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, sure. So, Craig, any tips or anything you want to leave us with? Maybe I forgot to ask you something, but we all want to have strong client relationships. Anything you can leave us with.
Craig Peterman (:Yeah, of course. So when you develop client relationships and vendor relationships, it's important to get yourself out there. Get yourself connected through all the social media platforms for vendor relationships and attending industry events, engaging with other vendors online, engaging with your couples online, using Instagram. My God, there's so many places we can get our work out there and show what we do. know, TikTok, social media, Instagram, Facebook, everywhere.
Kevin Dennis (24:0.077)
Hmm.
Craig Peterman (:Just getting yourself out there and not hunkering down and focusing on your work so much. I know it's difficult. I personally am not a big fan of trying to get myself out there too much, but I know it's incredibly important to develop me in my business and developing the relationships with my clients and also other vendors as well. So that'd be my biggest tip. Try to be an extrovert in the way that you communicate and the way you get yourself out there.
Kevin Dennis (:Yeah, good tip. I am an introvert, believe it or not, when I go to those networking events. So I always need to have a friend with me. But it's always a struggle for those of us that are introverts to get out there and really get out there and start networking. really is a struggle. anyway. All right. So Craig.
Craig Peterman (25:6.444)
Yes it is.
Kevin Dennis (:I always ask everybody that's on the podcast, what is your favorite part of a wedding? And it could have changed over the years, but right now, what is your favorite part of a wedding?
Craig Peterman (:Oh, my favorite part of weddings. So for me personally, and this is industry specific, I would say is the pure creativity that I have at weddings. Of course, meeting people and their cultures and just meeting all kinds of people and seeing what they do and how they have fun is great. I get to party for a living, but for industry specific things for photography, just the pure creativity that I have, being able to see their day, capture it, make it into a story.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Kevin Dennis (:Mmm.
Craig Peterman (:do unique things to help them see their vision come to life. That's just the fun of it. I think it's just an amazing industry. Everybody has fun. You see people on their best day ever. I how many jobs can you say that you have that to offer? So I would say there's nothing, there's never been a wedding and I've hated, I've loved every single one.
Kevin Dennis (:That's amazing. All right. So Craig, how can we connect with you?
Craig Peterman (:Yeah, so you can find me on my website, which is www.petermanphotovideo.com. You can also follow me on Instagram or socials at Peterman Photo and Video. Yeah, and just check me out. If you have any questions, let me know. can email me or spill out contact form.
Kevin Dennis (:All right, and folks will put links to all his social media and website and everything in our show notes. So you'll be able to access them through there as well. all right, Craig, it was a pleasure having you on the podcast. Thank you so much for being a guest on Mind Your Wedding Business and look forward to having you back someday.
Craig Peterman (:Thank you so much, it was a pleasure.
Kevin Dennis (:All right, take care, guys.
