Building loyalty in your industry

Photo: cookingblogs.tomotiki.com

Yesterday I read a beautiful story  about Frank Sinatra on CNN. It is about the people who were truly loyal to him – even when he was considered a ‘has-been’.  The article talks about the owners of Sinatra’s favorite restaurant in New York, Patsy’s.  Sinatra’s fame and fortune was no more in the early 1950′s. People who previously fell over their feet to be his friends have now all disappeared.

His favourite restaurant has always been Patsy’s where the owners and staff treated him with respect and care. They were always compassionate towards him, even when he was a nobody. They even went as far as to open their restaurant on Thanksgiving so that Sinatra would have somewhere to spend his holiday. They weren’t planning on being open that Thanksgiving but they went above and beyond the call of service to provide Frank Sinatra with a place he could call home, they invited family members and made it very special for him. It was only years later that Sinatra became aware of his friends’ generosity.

Photo: www.nynatives.com

Sinatra remained loyal to Patsy’s, even when he made his huge comeback in the late 50s.  He could’ve gone to any restaurant in the world, but he kept going to Patsy’s because of their loyalty to him.

This story made me think about how we build loyalty in our industry.  We not only service our clients, but also our colleagues.

I have experienced both sides of the industry – some people guarding their “secrets” very closely, and others that love to share everything they know. Luckily my experience has mostly been with the latter group of photographers. It is a fact of life that people who share and give to others have a greater amount of reciprocity in their own lives. They ooze success and they don’t keep it to themselves. You can spot them easily, they are the ones at meet-ups who everyone wants to chat to. I will refrain from naming them here but look out for more interviews and sharing of information by these professionals on the blog in months to come.

By being willing to share and interact, we service and support other wedding professionals and soon we will see loyalty in the relationships we build.

If we want other professionals to be loyal to us, we need to show loyalty first.

Do you go above and beyond for others in the industry? How do build loyalty with your colleagues?