Customer Service

Customer service is key to a successful person, company or brand.

Ever since the start of our business I've been reading tons of marketing and business books. Tons of them. The last few have really made an impact. First, because they were just phenomenal books. Second, because I've started to see a theme through books of this nature - customer service.

In my latest read, QBQ: The Question Behind the Question, there's a great illustration about customer service at a restaurant where the waiter goes out of his way to serve the customer (also the author of the book).

Yesterday, I had my great customer service experience. I'm a pretty loyal customer when I find something I love, like Clinique cosmetics and skin care. I'll shop there until they no longer exist or no longer carry the flagship product I fell in love with - unless they slip in the service department.

So when I went in to refill several products I'm nearly out of I anticipated the same great care and personal attention I've always received. Now let me set the scene...

I was excited because I had a return at this department store which also has a Clinique counter (I'm a huge fan of two birds, one stone). I asked the girl behind the counter if I could make my return with her, to which she directed me to the next department over.

Upon completing my return I went back to Clinique. The girl was there waiting and ready to help me. I gave her my three item list and asked if they were running any specials (they often have give aways). She informed me it had just ended yesterday. I mentioned that was a bummer because I had been in the store yesterday but ran out of time to stop by (all true - it was why I was back returning jeans that didn't quite fit).

While she was getting my products I noticed a huge garbage bag of the free give aways sitting next to the register. When she returned to let me know one was out of stock and another wasn't available in the size I requested, I said, "Okay. I noticed you have a ton of give aways left over - since you don't have all that I came in for - would you let me have one anyway?"

The girl hestitated, but said she'd have to call her manager.

Upon returning with my total and a sad expression, she let me know her manager got angry at her for asking. I couldn't believe it. A great opportunity to make a customer extremely happy, from what could have been a disappointing experience, and the manger passes!

Locking that little experience away in my mind I said with a smile, "Well, thank you for asking. Your manager isn't very good at customer service, huh?"

When she returned with my receipt, the girl slipped one of the give away bags into my shopping bag. I thanked her, told her she deserved a raise and her manager's job - she thanked me with a smile.

This sales girl gets it.

Now I'm off to let corporate know what a fabulous employee they have. :)



Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Tanner Family Portraits

Today was such a fun portrait session! Our amazing realtor, Jack Tanner, and his family took me up on our Fall Special to raise money for the Kenya mission next year.

Meeting the other half of his family (his lovely wife and beautiful son) was such a joy! Their joy and contentment as a family was so visible during the shoot - they made my job easy to capture them as they really are.

Thanks for a wonderful morning Tanner family!

Enjoy the sneak peak at my favorites:















Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

iMix: My New Favorite Artist

Check this girl out - she's amazing! Just discovered her on last weekend's SNL.

Adele has a deep soulful voice with current themes to her songs. Reminiscent of some of the great female vocalists of the 60's.

Enjoy!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

We're Home & Skinny Jeans

Whew...what a week.

For those that weren't aware last week Matt and I went down to Ensenada, MX for training with Mexico Outreach with Azusa Pacific University.

It was an intense week of training, discussion and traveling. We learned so much about ministering cross-culturally. We even made a few new friends while we were there.

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In other news...

Our main email is back up and running. You can now contact us (again) at info (@) clsphotography.com.

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Last update for today...

My "skinny" jeans have returned. No, I don't wear the skin tight ankle hugging style (although this pair got awfully close). On a whim last night before heading out to dinner with my family I dared to try on an old, super comfy pair of ripped up and worn out jeans. To my surprise they fit! They're a little tighter than when I started with them a few years ago, but the point is my butt fit in them and they zipped right up!

It was a nice reprieve from my current struggle to stay healthy. :)

Have a wonderful day everyone!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Email Issues

UPDATE:

One of our email addresses is currently in repair (info (@) clsphotography.com). Please contact us at the following phone and/or email address, for the time being:

christine (@) clsphotography.com
(888) 810-4322

Also, I will be out of town today through the weekend - returning all messages Monday, October 20.

Thank you for your patience!

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Faith In Action - Long Beach Marathon

Today was the second annual Faith In Action Sunday for my church, The River, in Long Beach. FIA Sunday is a day where we close the church doors in the morning and go out to serve our community, being the hands and feet of the church (in the larger sense).

The project this year was to partner with the Long Beach Marathon which was sponsoring the Long Beach Rescue Mission - to provide additional housing for women and children.

I got to participate by photographing some of the marathon happenings with our fabulous volunteers. Here's a sneak peak (more pics to come via the Picasa link below):


5-K runner Virgil strikes a pose, demonstrating sweet victory!





Medal awarder Terri prepares to give a very tired marathon runner his prize after completing the grueling 26 mile course.

Excited to have endured the race, this competitor embraces Terri as she prepares to give him his medal. He was so relieved and excited to have finished. You could see it was a personal victory for him.

From FIA - LB Marathon - 2008

Volunteer, David, congratulated winners at the finish line. Way to go David!


Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Housing: Pt. 1

Okay, so I figure it's time to let all of you in on what's up in my life right now.

My husband, Matt, and I are in the beginning (ever slowly moving to the middle) stages of trying to buy a house. But this is not any old "buy a house" saga, it's more complicated than that. Let me fill you in from the beginning.

When we first met Matt was on track to becoming a fire fighter - until he landed his dream job in ministry as a Youth Pastor here in Long Beach at The River Church (that's where I snatched him up). At the time I somehow, God only knows, ran across a down-payment program opportunity for fire fighters.

Well, as time went by (along with the fire fighting prospects) I kept my eye on that program from the City of Long Beach, as they also offered a similar program for LB residents.

Fast forward a few years to only a few months back. My loving husband - after hearing the desperation in my voice from doing laundry at a laundromat one more time - started his own little search into housing programs (being a youth pastor is rewarding, albeit not supremely well paid).

In his search he stumbles across the same program, calls and finds out it's being changed to a HUGE assistance program. We're talking silent second mortgage (meaning you only pay on part of the home purchase price for the first 30 years) huge. This changes everything.

So now, we're hooked up with a fabulous realtor, Jack Tanner, who's helping us find the house of our dreams. We're in the process of getting officially pre-qualified for our loans and are doing a second viewing of a home Saturday.

Pray for us - we've got big decisions to make. Part of it is also deciding whether or not to use the program to buy a house, or to get into a condo by our own means.

Got an opinion? Leave me a comment. I'd love to know what the more experienced think about all this. :)

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Van & Heang Received Editor's Pick!

So this morning after finally learning about Google Alerts (I was wondering how people were so well informed) I started browsing what came up when I Googled "CLS Photography." Well, after the expected website and blog references to my sites, I saw one from The Knot.

Intrigued to say the least I quickly discovered that one of my couples from this summer, Van & Heang, won Editor's Pick for their wedding.

Congratulations! You had a fabulous wedding with so many personal touches and lovely details that deserve this recognition.

If you want to read the rest of the story on The Knot, click here.


Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

Zynette's Portraits

Saturday I had a great time photographing an old high school acquaintance, Zynette, in Long Beach's Shoreline Village.

After seeing my work from last year with another former classmate, Sarah, Zynette contacted me to help her capture this special time in her life, having completed her MA degree and recently becoming a U.S. citizen! Congrats girl! That's a lot of hard work and you have only excelled at the things you've committed your mind to completing.

I must say, Zynette has been one of the most daring people I've photographed. She was willing to try just about anything - from jumping and basic acrobatics in front of the melodrama theater with a few of the actors standing out front to trying on hats at The Village Hat Shop (who graciously allowed us to use their store, and hats, for some of the photographs).

Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith

We GotVMail

Yea! We gotVmail.

It's finally come to the point that my trusty old cell phone (well, not so old - I'm blessed with an iPhone - I love all things Apple) isn't enough to handle our business phone needs. So at the recommendation of photographer Mike Colon, we signed up and setup shop with a great company: gotVmail.com.

This fabulous not so little phone system lets you signup for an 800, 888, 877, or 866 number then uses a forwarding system to route your calls. So while I'll be able to take calls via my cell phone, they'll be routed through the system so I can have a day off. :) This is possible through call screening and operating hours functions within the internet based phone system.

Ahh, I can feel the freedom already.

If anyone has any questions about the system don't hesitate to give me a ring (or send me an email - I still love email). It's a great and inexpensive investment into your company's future - with room for expansion along the way. Their minutes based system gives great options for any sized business.

So, check it out - give us a ring on our new system and let us know what you think! We, of course, think we have everything all setup, but you know how that goes - there's always something. So let us know if you find a glitch or encounter anything great or not so great about our new system.

Christine Lee Smith Photography can now be reached by phone at: 888.810.4322.



Blessings,
Christine Lee Smith