Recorded: Welcome to The ReWork with Allison Tyler Jones, a podcast dedicated to inspiring portrait photographers to uniquely brand, profitably price, and confidently sell their best work. Allison has been doing just that for the last 15 years, and she’s proven that it’s possible to create unforgettable art, and run a portrait business that supports your family and your dreams. All it takes is a little rework. Episodes will include interviews with experts from in and outside of the photo industry, many workshops and behind the scenes secrets that Allison uses in her portrait studio every single day. She will challenge your thinking and inspire your confidence to create a profitable, sustainable portrait business you love, through continually refining and reworking your business. Let’s do the rework.
Allison Tyler Jones: Hi, friends, and welcome back to the last episode of season two of The ReWork. We’re about to head into summer break, but we’ll be back in the fall. And today’s guest is Ms. Kaitlyn Beagley, Allison Tyler Jones’ Photography’s Client Coordinator extraordinaire, and we’re going to talk about a wide-ranging variety of the ways that we surprise and delight our clients, and make them feel special. You’re going to find so many good ideas, along with some fun links that you can click on that will take you to some of our treasures and gifts that were deemed to clients’ kids after sessions. Let’s do it.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, for our last episode of the ReWork of season two, I have brought in none other than Kaitlyn Beagley, the ATJ Photos Client Coordinator extraordinaire. Hi, Kaitlyn.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Hello. Thanks for having me on again.
Allison Tyler Jones: So glad that you’re here. So tell me how long…. You started in 2021, right? With the studio?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Mm-hmm. Right before the busy season hit.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right before the busy season. Okay. So you’ve been through two busy seasons with us. So before you become a totally trained, long-term employee, while you’re still newish, I wanted to have this interview because I wanted to talk with you about what it’s been like coming into Alison Tyler Jones Photography and becoming the client coordinator, and being trained into that, and what that has felt like. Because, to give history, you were previously a client.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes.
Allison Tyler Jones: Daughter.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Still are.
Allison Tyler Jones: And still are. Yes. Perfect. And so you came in from the client side, you’ve been photographed with your family, you’ve been photographed as a senior, a high school senior, so then you came into the business and were thrown to the wolves as we are one to do. So talk to me about… I just would like to hear from your perspective as an employee, when you came in, what were your expectations? What did you think was going to happen, and then what was different about that?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, so when I was brought on, I had known kind of how the process had went, because I had come home from school, and one day, poof, there’s wall art hanging above my bed. I’m like, “What the heck is going on?” So I kind of had a general idea of how the process went, but it wasn’t until I was working here that I realized there’s so much more that goes into the process. And so I had only ever come for the shoot, and that was it. But now I learned that there’s a whole consultation where there’s a lot of things discussed, and then the shoot, and then the view and order, and then there’s so much that goes on behind the scenes that no one has a clue. Even clients still don’t have an idea of what goes on, because we’re doing so much in the background. So there’s a lot of things like that, different ways to surprise and delight our clients that I’m always trying to work on, but yeah, there’s a lot of little different things like that.
Allison Tyler Jones: A lot of time between that picture magically appearing on the wall above your bed.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes.
Allison Tyler Jones: Your bedroom. I think I was the one that stood on the bed to hang that picture, actually, now that I-
Kaitlyn Beagley: Oh, that’s fun.
Allison Tyler Jones: Because Lauren, my installer, was going to break your bed. So let’s talk about just the training. As you came in and you were… We said, “Okay, Kaitlyn, you’re going to now be in charge of clients,” we trained you in… And we have a previous podcast episode of this, about that first phone call. Was there any part of that that was kind of scary for you, that you felt kind of nervous saying to clients?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, it was… One thing that I’ve never done was reaching out to clients who’d come in. And so it was like, “Hey, reminder, get back in.” I had previously worked for a dentist, and so it was easy for me to be like, “Hey, you’re due for your cleaning.” Everyone knows with your insurance, you get two free cleanings. And so it was like they would get it, usually didn’t care, and knew that they needed to do it.
Kaitlyn Beagley: It was different, because for family portraits, a lot of people are like, “Oh yeah, I need to do it.” It’s different. And so now it’s like, “Hey, you need to get in. Your kids, your grandkids, they’re getting older. You’ve got to get in and capture this, otherwise you’re losing time. You won’t have these captured on your walls.”
Kaitlyn Beagley: And so that’s been interesting for me, calling them, “Hey, Jack is getting bigger. We’ve got to get him in. He’s lost his front tooth? Oh my gosh, we have got to get this kid in before he loses the rest of them.” And so that’s been interesting, calling them and telling them, “Hey, we’re the experts, and so we think we know what…” Well, we know what is best. And so if they’re missing time, that needs get done, different moments need to be captured, we’ve got to get that in. Get that taken care of.
Allison Tyler Jones: So that was definitely throwing you in the deep end to have you… Instead of just… Because we didn’t say, “Okay, answer the phone,” and whatever. It was also like, “Okay, now it’s time to call and remind our existing clients, let’s get you booked for the fall.” So when you did that, did you feel like there was anything that was hard for you to overcome talking to them?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, there’s… Things to overcome, I don’t really think there was anything super tricky. I think the hardest part is most of the clients are like, “Oh, what’s open on the weekend?” And it’s like, “Oh, hold on. The weekends are a little bit different. They work different than our weekday sessions because the session fees are different.” So that was a little different. And I think they don’t realize weekends, there’s so much to do on the weekends. We all know, we have a million errands to run on the weekends. So adding one more thing in is hard. And so during the weekday, it’s nice because they get home, they do it, and it’s done. And so I don’t think they realize how valuable their weekends are to them.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right. And I think the first thing people… Most clients, the first thing they’re going to ask is, “Oh, we need to do it on a weekend.” And then one of the things that we’ll say that I think that I’ve heard you say is, “Most of our clients have found that the weekends, it’s so busy with sports, and family commitments, and things going on, so the weekends can get really crazy, so we recommend either a day out of school on the weekday where you can pull them out of school, or if there’s a day where they get out early, or a day that they’re off school, let’s see what’s available.” Because we’re calling them so far in advance, months in advance, so that they can look at their kids’ schedule and see when they can come in… They can come in earlier or whatever.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah. And one thing that I’ve gone ahead and done, and I’m working on it actually right now, is I’m pulling up the school calendars for this next year for most of the schools where our clients’ kids are going, and I’m pulling those up and putting them onto our Google calendar. So then that way, when I’m scheduling, I can toggle that calendar on and see, “Oh, this kid goes to a ABC Preschool. ABC Preschool has half days on Wednesdays.” Then that way I’m like, “Oh, doesn’t Jack have a half day on Wednesdays? Would that work?” Then the mom’s not, “Okay, let me pull up the school’s calendar.” “Hold on, I’ve got it for you. Let me just pull it up real quick.”
Allison Tyler Jones: Right. No-
Kaitlyn Beagley: I’ve got it dialed.
Allison Tyler Jones: It’s just so awesome. Yeah, that’s so awesome because if they’re on the phone, usually they’re in their car or whatever and they are driving.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes.
Allison Tyler Jones: Look at the calendar on their phone and talk to you, and hanging up on you, that’s such a nice way to provide next level service. I love that. And that’s one thing that I’ve really noticed, as you’ve come in, we have definitely a standard of how we want our clients to be treated, but you’ve taken that and just gone to the next level. So what are some of those things that you’ve done to spoil, and like you say, surprise and delight our clients? What are some of the things that you’ve done over these last couple of years that you’ve been working with us?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Our most recent thing is we’ve been working on sending little texts out to our clients, we’ve been starting this year, but letting them know, “Hey, your portraits just went over to the framer. They look good. They’re super cute. Can’t wait for you to see them. Then let’s talk install date,” type of thing. And so then that way they kind of have a little more of a timeline where things are going, and so that’s been nice.
Allison Tyler Jones: So updating the client through the production process?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes.
Allison Tyler Jones: Historically, they would have the view and order, they would place their order, and then we’d say however many weeks it was going to be, and then we’d call them to schedule their install. So now you’re texting, not emailing, texting them, and saying, maybe with a picture, maybe not, but, “Hey, everything just went to the framer. We’re so excited. It’s looking so good.” Or, “It just came back from the framer.” Just kind of giving them a little in between thing, so that you can keep the excitement going.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. So that’s going, and that’s been fun. Something we’re working on putting into the works is, we are writing thank you notes after the view and order appointment. So as soon as they have placed their order, I’ve got a little note that I will slip in the mail the next day, after the order’s been confirmed and the card’s been ran and it’s in production, Susie is working on it, then I’ll drop a little thank you note in there, and let them know, “Hey, thanks for your order. We appreciate it. We really do.”
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, I love that. And we’ve tried this in the past and failed miserably, because it always came down to me, somebody putting thank you notes on my desk or whatever, and so I just, as the client coordinator, turned it over to you, and now it’s getting done, which is amazing.
Kaitlyn Beagley: It’s going to happen, yes. We’re in the works.
Allison Tyler Jones: I love it. Okay, what else? Talk about just some of the things that you do to get their studio ready for clients before they come in for say, either a consultation or a shoot.
Kaitlyn Beagley: So when clients pull up to our studio, we have a VIP parking sign that sits out there, and it says, “Welcome,” and I’ll either do their first name and last name, or if it’s for a view and order appointment, or if it’s a shoot, then it’ll say, “The Beagley Family,” then that way they know, park here. And so we’ve kind of been telling them, “Hey, we’re on the east side of the building,” but now they can see, “Oh, we’re on the east side, and you’ve got our name on the plaque right on the sign,” which is super fun. And people talk about it all the time. They walk in, “Thanks for our parking. I didn’t know parking was hard to find.” Because it’s awesome. They love it.
Kaitlyn Beagley: So that’s been fun, and then they’ll walk in the door, and I’ve got our signature HQ, our headquarters scent is going throughout the studio, I’ve got cold water, still or sparkling, sitting right here on this tray, so when they walk in, “Hey, do you want water? What can I get, still or sparkling?” They’ve got two options for that. Or there’s always a little diet coke in the back. If they want, I can go run and grab that. And then helping them in, making sure how many clothes, if they need help from the car, I’m up and I’m helping grab the stuff, we’re making sure it’s all in the studio ready to go, it’s hanging up, it’s on the rack, but yeah, that’s kind of what we’ve got going.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, and you have this really cool handwriting, and so these little chalkboards. So talk about that.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. So I have these little chalkboards, it’s probably the size of the paper, eight and a half by 11 chalkboard, and it sits on this little easel right when they walk in, and I do some calligraphy on that, and so that sits there when they walk in. So they see their name a couple of times walking in. So it just feels very special for them, which is really cool.
Allison Tyler Jones: Sometimes you’ll put only the kids’ names on it, or-
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes.
Kaitlyn Beagley: If it’s a shoot with just the kids, the parents get their names on it other times. So just the kids for the shoot, that’s fun.
Allison Tyler Jones: But the parents love that. They love to see the kids’ names and watch the kids’ faces light up and all of that.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. And the parents are all about… See that little… People are out there taking pictures with our VIP parking sign, they’re taking pictures with the chalkboard sign, people think it’s awesome. It is so customized for them. It’s not just, “Welcome to the studio,” it’s, “Welcome the Jones Family,” and here’s Alison and Ivan. It is boom, right there for them. So they love it.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, I think that’s a really good point, is that we’re always trying to make it not about us. We want the experience with us to be amazing and great, but it’s really all about them. So it’s about getting them excited that they have a special place to park, their name is up, and they’re being treated as though they were royalty or a famous person.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. And so I think that people do feel… They feel great when they leave here, which is awesome, because half of it is they’re wearing cute clothes, and they’re having a fun time with their family, but we’re in here like, “Dang, you look cute. I love that outfit. That looks awesome on you. Oh my gosh, Jack, your hair looks cool.” You tell them all the things. And so we’re boosting how they feel. We’re building their confidence. And that’s awesome too, is they’re also leaving with that out the door.
Allison Tyler Jones: Right. Well, because the mom has worried about it for weeks, gathered all the clothes, probably had to wrestle the kids to get them down there, and then to know that the clothes do look great, that everything is going to be great, and we’re going to take it from here. Okay, so you and I are both oldest children, have done a ton of babysitting…
Kaitlyn Beagley: Oh yes.
Allison Tyler Jones: I’ve raised a bunch of kids. You’ve helped raise a bunch.
Kaitlyn Beagley: I babysit every night, yeah.
Allison Tyler Jones: Have your own someday. Let’s talk a little bit about the actual shoot itself, and how you help… Because as the client coordinator, you also do help assist with shoots. So what do you see your job as in helping maintain the positive energy, but also if things get a little out of control, like if kids are getting naughty and out of control? I don’t know what you’re going to answer to this. I’m a little bit afraid of the answer.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Well, sometimes if there’s some kids being naughty, we’ll get in there. We’ve got music usually going on in the background, and lately we’ve been trying to figure out what clients’ favorite music… What their kids’ favorite music is. So we’ve been… Yesterday we were having a shoot, and the music is going in the back, and this one little kid, sweet as can be, but was just not wanting to dance. Everyone else is dancing, and he’s just standing there pouting.
Kaitlyn Beagley: So we’re all out there, I’m in the back just trying to dance, and I’m like, “Okay, I don’t know, come on, break up.” And he kind of did break up a smidge, not a ton, but sometimes just trying to show them, “Yeah, dancing is fun. It’s not just for kids.” Sometimes multiple adult eyes peering over them cannot be great. And so we’re in there with it, and okay, he’ll loosen up a little bit.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Another thing is, if someone’s being a little naughty, I’ve always got some Smarties in my pocket, pretty much in every shoot, no matter the age of the kid. But then that way I’ll be like, “Hey, you’re doing great. You’ve earned this.” And so then if they ask for another one, I’m like, “Oh, but you’ve got to smile or dance.” I make them work for those Smarties. So that is something that I have to incentivize. We’ve also got this little dog toy. It’s a pig. And so if it’s a younger kid, a baby, we’ve got that. And that sometimes can break a little bit of ice. Sometimes it scares them, because it’s a loud one. It’s a little dog toy pig. That’s awesome. Yeah, that’s some of the ways.
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, thing that I love too, is that one of the things that… If you get kids that are misbehaving or don’t want to cooperate or whatever, sometimes that triggers like a, “Okay, I’m going to show this kid who’s boss,” or, “I’m going to get frustrated.” Or whatever. And if we just remember that we’re only there for a short period of time, we’re not going to discipline anybody, we’re not going to change anybody’s parenting style or whatever, that really the main thing is for them to have a positive experience and have a good time, and just keep that energy up. And I look at it, whether you’re talking to a 14-year-old or a 4-year-old, that it’s just about distract. It’s almost like a toddler. With two or three year olds, you can’t discipline them, you can’t reason with them. You just have to, “Oh, look over here, something shiny. Oh, look over here.”
Allison Tyler Jones: So it’s constantly like… Drake Buse says, engaging their mind, having something for them to think about, “Oh, let’s talk about this,” if something isn’t working, if there’s a setup, or a pose, or something you’re trying to get them to do that they’re not having, then we just have to shift and switch. And what I’ve noticed with you and Stacy, if it’s a bigger family, I might have two assistants. Stacy usually will gravitate toward the more quiet kid that’s maybe a little bit more shy, and then you’ll be over… I’m usually with the super naughty, and then you’ll be over with whoever, like you said, just pulling a candy out of your pocket and like, “Hey, come over here.” And just throwing them back in and keeping the energy up. I think that’s something that’s really helpful.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, I think a dance party. Good song, never kills anyone.
Allison Tyler Jones: Dance party at the end never fails. Okay. What else? Other things that when you’re dealing with clients, when you’re thinking about, how can we spoil? What are some of the things that you are thinking about when you think of that? What are you always trying to… What’s the next thing?
Kaitlyn Beagley: The next thing for us?
Allison Tyler Jones: Well, because you’ve done lots of… When you started, we had one row of candy.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. Let’s talk about the candy. Yeah, now we have two rows of candy.
Allison Tyler Jones: We have two full shelves… Well actually it’s more
Kaitlyn Beagley: It looks… It’s good. There’s four shelves.
Allison Tyler Jones: There’s four shelves.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, you’re right.
Allison Tyler Jones: And they’re double stacked. So probably even more. And then our secret hiding place-
Kaitlyn Beagley: Our secret treasure box.
Allison Tyler Jones: … of treasure.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Which is-
Allison Tyler Jones: The Amazon list of, find what’s cool with young kids now. Because you have so many cousins that have little kids that you watch. So you know all the cool things. So what are some of the cool things that you’ve added to the stash lately?
Kaitlyn Beagley: Lately, the coolest thing that you actually found was the Squishmallows. Those have been in, and clients have been loving those. They’re super cute. And another thing we’ve added lately were some zipper bracelets. Those have been fun to add into the mix.
Allison Tyler Jones: We’ll link those on the show notes. The zipper bracelets and the Squishmallows.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. The zipper bracelets, I’ll go over babysitting, the girls have them stacked on their wrist, and so it’s fun. So those are fun, because they’re bright colors. People… The girls, little girls, love those. We’ve got some fun slime in the mix right now. And yo yo’s.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yes. Stickers, the water bottle stickers.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Oh, those are hot. Yes. Water bottle stickers are fun.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. So we have different ones. We have some that are a little bit more expensive, down to… Where they can get a lot, then also full size candy bars, Kit Kats, Snickers…
Kaitlyn Beagley: We’ve even got some Mentos and Zotz up there. The adults love the Zotz. They’re like, “Oh my gosh I loved these when I was a kid.”
Allison Tyler Jones:
Yeah, Zotz and Pop Rocks… Right, they’ll go retro for the parents’ favorite candy so they can tell their kids about it. And then the Mentos is so that the kids can later make a bomb with the Diet Coke. Not responsible for that. But the boys know what that is. So they’re like, “Oh, I want the Mentos.”
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yes. And yesterday, those kids were all about, “Oh my gosh, mom, can we go get a Coke on the way home?” We’ve also got dog treats. You got to get something for the dogs. So Milk-Bones are up there, we’ve got Play-Doh too. So there’s a good variety of chocolates, to sweets, to sours, to some toys, little toys, up there. But yeah, there’s like a mix. We’ve got a good variety. It would be hard to expand to a third row. We could do it, if we-
Allison Tyler Jones: We’re going to do it. Now you just set the challenge. So we’re absolutely going to do it.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Lots more candy.
Allison Tyler Jones: So I love that. I think that’s going to give our listeners a lot of good ideas for maybe this summer. As we take our break, they can look into fun things to spoil their clients with, to come back in the fall for the busy season with maybe some new treats and things. Before we leave, though, I wanted you to maybe talk about a little bit about, as you’ve now been with the studio for a couple of years, you worked in a dentist’s office before, you’ve worked in other jobs before, but what do you feel that you’ve learned the most working for ATJ Photo? As far as clients. Again, I have no idea what you’re going to answer. I’m a little nervous.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Well, we’re all busy. We are all running a million miles an hour. And so one thing that I’ve learned is it’s okay to reach out to them a couple of times. Because I know my life has been crazy, I’m running at a million miles an hour, you are too, we’re both moving, we’re both… I’m in school, we’ve got jobs plural, we’ve got all the things going on, and so it is hard for us to sometimes focus on something. So it’s okay to double text. My friends have to do it to me. I’m sorry, I get it. So it’s okay to tell your client, remind them, “Hey, your kids, we do them every year, we’re doing it this year. Come on.” So you can remind them. And don’t feel bad about it.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. I love that. I think that’s such a good point to end on, because I think when you’re the maybe solopreneur, you’re making your own calls, booking your own clients, sometimes we feel like, “Oh my gosh, I’m bugging them, I’m going to be trying to be salesy,” whatever. But really, your clients, especially your existing clients, they’ve already proven that they love you and they want to work with you. And so they just want to be reminded, “Hey, it’s time again.” And they can always say no.
Allison Tyler Jones: But how we are now, like you said, everybody is so distracted by everything, and their kids are messing around with their phones, they’re looking at the texts, they’re removing their notifications, so even if they did get it, they probably didn’t read it, because their kid swiped their phone or whatever. And so I think that overcommunicate, meaning remind, nag, is not a bad thing anymore. You can’t overcommunicate. And then overcommunicate in spelling it out. So for example, you will text them the day before and let them know, “Okay, I have you down for 11:00 AM tomorrow, please let me know if this does not match your calendar.” And if you’re not hearing from them, then that next morning, you’ll say, “Okay, I have you down for 11:00.” You’ll reach out again.
Kaitlyn Beagley: “See you today. Can’t wait to see you.”
Allison Tyler Jones: “See you today. See you at 11:00. Let me know if this doesn’t match your calendar.” Because they are so swamped, and we’ve saved a lot of problems that way, of somebody saying, “Oh no, I have it down as 2:00 PM.” And then we’re like, “Shoot, we’ve got to figure something out.” We don’t have them not showing up at 11:00, and then showing up at 2:00 when we’re busy with another client. So I think that’s one thing to take into the summer as you go and look at your processes in your business is, how can I set up… Even if you are a solopreneur and you have CRM software that you can do automatic reminders, that’s a great thing. Set that-
Kaitlyn Beagley: Awesome tool.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah. To remind and overcommunicate. And spoil the heck out of them. And make everything fun. Fun and clear.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Yeah, I was just going to say, make your texts fun. It doesn’t need to be like, “Hi, Allison, we need to get your kids in.” “Hi Allison, hope you have a great summer. How are the kids? Do you have any fun trips planned? Can’t wait to hear about it. Let’s get you guys in, in August, when you’re tan. What about X or X?” You don’t have to make it very strictly business. You talk to them. Our clients are our friends, so we can talk to them. We’re not just there for one reason. You give book recommendations, we’re referring people all the time to each other. And so it’s fun that we don’t have to just talk about portraits.
Allison Tyler Jones: Yeah, it doesn’t have to be-
Kaitlyn Beagley: Make it fun.
Allison Tyler Jones: … corporate. Yeah, I love it. Well, you’re the best. You’ve taken us to a new level. Appreciate you so much, and thank you for all of these ideas. And hopefully it’s not too hot this summer.
Kaitlyn Beagley: Oh, I hope so. I hope it’s not hot.
Allison Tyler Jones: All right. Have a good summer everybody. We’ll see you in the fall.
Allison Tyler Jones: The entire reason I started this podcast is because I am convinced, I have the best job in the world. Being a portrait photographer fulfills so many needs. It’s just meaningful. I get to be with amazing clients and their darling kids, and it’s just so rewarding in so many ways. And I know that there are so many talented, amazing photographers out there that could be making a better living for their family if they just tweaked a few things in their business.
Allison Tyler Jones: So, if you know somebody who’s struggling, or that this podcast could help, please share it with them. Wherever you listen to your podcast, hit that little share link, and send it to them, because we want everybody to do better. And if you have a minute and you can give us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you’re listening to your podcasts, it makes a huge difference in getting us exposure so that more and more photographers can learn how to have better businesses. So share and review if you have a minute. I’d so appreciate it. Thank you so much for being here.
Recorded: You can find more great resources from Allison at DoTheReWork.com, and on Instagram @do.the.rework.
