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Archive 2016 · In person image delivery / sales

  
 
Chris Cooke
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · In person image delivery / sales


For 2017 I am looking to mix things up with the business side of things for me. I want to make things more of an experience for my clients and not so "hands off" when it comes to everything after the wedding. Before the wedding I like to communicate a lot and really get to know my clients but after the big day its very impersonal. Usually a download and a visit or two on my album proofing site but thats it.

I recently was presented with an opportunity to share an office space which would allow me to meet with my clients, present images on a flat panel screen and have lots of room for samples and such to try and upsell them. I know in person sales is big with portraits, I have done in home sales with senior portraits before and it really seems to work well even though I am NOT a sales person. I am really able to get the client to purchase more than expected and in my mind it creates more of a sales centered experience which can be very good if done right.

My question is are there many wedding photogs doing this? If so how does it work out for you? How to you set expectations to the clients that they HAVE to come to the office to pick up thier photos and such. I am worried that with how digital everything thing is now and its how I have operated for the past 10+ years that newer clients might not think they want to go somewhere to pick up their photos. My idea is to set up a time with the clients when the images are ready, present them with a 100 image slide show of my favorites. Give them their USB in a nice box, and then show them sample albums, wall portraits, etc that they can buy. Clients who have an album included in their wedding package will pick their images and album options at this session and if the client didnt get an album already they will have the option to at this time. As well as any other add on products. Not only does it "force" the client to not dawdle with image selections and such but it helps me keep up with timelines and delivery dates since I know exactly when things will be ready to be designed/ordered/etc. I see this really helping post wedding income, budgeting, and keeping clients happy.

Anyone do this? Advice?




Dec 14, 2016 at 04:13 PM
t4haughton
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · In person image delivery / sales


I think there's a couple of hang-ups I have with the IPS idea. This has come up in a few groups I'm in on Facebook, but here's my thoughts on selling prints:

The reason it worked with film photographers is that the photographer controlled the one and only original master (the negative). It was rare for photographers to sell the negatives outright because it meant they literally lost their master copy.

With digital, the fundamental shift of unlimited master copies changes the power balance. Wedding couples know that they can have a copy and the photographer can keep a copy too. At this point, virtually all wedding couples expect digital delivery and I think they are right to do so.

The problem lies in the fact that if the client has (delivered JPGs) they hold the original master and can now make their own copies. Despite how photographers want to spin it, Clients can make great prints at their local Costco or any number of places online. Additionally, sites like Pixieset let you set up completely automated orders from "pro" labs to guarantee the highest quality.

Even couples that value great photography and don't mind spending thousands of dollars on a photographer, cannot appreciate the value of a print. That's because to them it is just paper. And it is - because digital. There is nothing unique or special about a print because they are just physical copies of the original art (delivered JPG).

I think there is a small margin that couples will pay for convenience or to ensure that they're getting the highest quality. But gone are the days of $100 8x10s. My clients have college degrees and Google. They know that the paper only costs a few bucks, and they know they already paid the photographer to create "the art."

So I don't think there's a way to sell prints at big markups anymore UNLESS you're willing to withhold the original master (digital JPGs). And I think most couples will find another photographer that offers digital delivery.

Now, with other types of photography (Portraits, Babies, Seniors) maybe people are more willing to accept not having digital files and know that they're showing up for the session for no other reason than to create prints for their walls. With weddings most couples just know they need to have their day documented, and want to have the digitals for flexibility down the road.

Because I believe in prints and I want my couples to have prints, I try to make it as easy and affordable as possible. They get a USB Drive with a copyright release in the box, plus all clients can order via Pixieset directly from WHCC. I set those prices only slightly higher than my cost. Couples know that's the best quality they can get and because they're priced reasonably they order a lot of prints. But the few bucks I make there is just to pay for cost of running Pixieset. Every time they order a print I have no other cost beyond the paper.

So my pricing is based on the principle that I charge to CREATE the photographs. The resulting "art" is the delivered JPG. I am not in the business of reselling paper.

I do think there's an opportunity for Album/Book sales. Even with the digitals, my clients are not trained photo editors, and they cannot order a book with RedTree on their own. So I think it's fair and appropriate to charge for the book because creating it requires additional work and is a unique product.

Any questions?



Dec 15, 2016 at 06:55 PM
glort
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · In person image delivery / sales



Here's where I upset a bunch of people again......

I find this thing about people not having time to come and see shooters to see their work, make a booking, look at or pic up pics and all that "no time" thing a complete and utter load of bullshit!

I understand some photographers believe it and their customers tell them that but I also believe that is because it's the niche they have pigeon holed themselves into by convincing themselves of this. They have time to do all the other things that physically require their presence with planning the day. They have time to go out and socialise endlessly, But, supposedly there is no time to go see a photographer to create the most important memories of their lives?
BULLSHIT!

They don't have time because they take the "easy" way out the photographer has given them. I know this because I am guilty of doing it myself.
Years ago it was not uncommon for me to be doing album plans till midnight or after. They all told me the only possible time they could come in was after work. they worked through the day, had things to do on the weekends, no other possible time.
Then a mate told me he got the same thing, refused to do them at night and only did them 9-3 Mon-fri.

He said the reason they don't have any other time is because you don't say NO.
And he was dead right. I'd say NO to Nights and hear the same excuses. No other possible time they could come in. They work 1000 hours 8 days a week, live 200 miles away, never at home at the same time..... and so it went.
Right up until they figured I wasn't going to bend. Next thing they'd ring back. They had a day off then, they could manage this morning, that afternoon, they had 50 sick days so would take one of them.... All the sudden they DID find or make the time to come in and they were never unhappy about it or resented it.

Sometimes I'd sus them out and find they got a day off a fortnight or were in a position they could go out any time they liked really or were in sales and on the road so could do it then.
It was a valuable lesson and one I have never forgot.
The world is not anything like a lot of shooters make out. People are busy because they make themselves busy. They ALWAYS have time for what they want to do, it's just a matter of priority's. I'm sure I'll get a load of retorts on this but the fall back is look at your own circumstance. EVERYONE is busy these days, even me when I sit at home on my arse half the time but to say people have no time is to make out they go from work to home only long enough to eat and sleep and go back to work and do nothing else.

Makes you wonder how the Fk they ever got time to organise a wedding, get married and have a honeymoon doesn't it? Does Mary have time to go out shopping with her friends and have coffee? Does she go to the hairdresser or beautician or does her beautician work online and she just downloads a haircut and a facial because she hasn't got time to go in for it. Does Fred go out with the boys playing gold or drinking or playing with his quad copter or whatever he does? You bet your backside he has time for that!
People make time for what they want. To propose otherwise is ludicrous.

There is an old adage about perception being reality. If you think no one has a second to spare anymore, that's exactly what you will find every time. If you think that they can make time for what they want, then that's exactly what you will find every time as well as I have for the better part of 20 years now.
And saying " My clients would whinge"
Is not proof you are right, it's proof you haven't had the stones to say no.

If you are too chicken to be in control and know when to say NO to your clients, they will lead you round by the nose with all sorts of excuses so things are convenient for them and stuff you and your life as long as they are happy.
If you are happy to be like that, fine. If not, well you might have to make a realisation, grow a pair and try it till you get enough absolute rejects where people start sending in friends or relatives to pick up the pictures PROVING that they actually don't have the time after all. Not going to happen.

I'm always floored with this download mentality. I truly cannot fathom it.
Photographers bust a gut and go to ridiculous lengths to produce what they think are the best pictures possible, they go out of their way to interact with clients online and then at the end of it all it's "You can download your pics from here and we are done".
Seriously, if you can sell that idea ( buggered if I could!) you can get them to come in to see you.

Now, the REASON they have to come see you is a different thing.
If you think you are going to be able to upsell prints and wall hangings when your package is Digital files, I think you better be more accomplished at sales than I am. By a long way. That's a stretch and would have to be initiated at the first contact not when they come to get the pics.
The seed and expectation would have to be planted at the very start, not at the very end. Just not going to work any other way.

If you are doing albums, then no problem in the world. This is what I do and I wouldn't have the first clue how to do it online or what is available and I have zero inclination or interest to learn. They still come in to pick up their digital images, I just don't bother trying to upsell on those packages. If I couldn't sell them on a print/ album coverage at the start, I'm not going to try to sell them prints now.
I probably could, but I'm too lazy for the returns I perceive I'd get.

For albums they have ALWAYS had to come into the studio to do the plan. Never been a problem coming in, only WHEN. I say no to nights now and there is ALWAYS time through the day. And that's another misnomer I find to the "no time" story.
20 years ago not that many people had days off. They were there every day, every month till holidays came around. Now the bare Minimum is a day a month and usually a day a fortnight. And if they can't do that, there is always a sick day they can and do take.

I don't see the coming in as the problem but I would say you are horribly misguided if you think you are going to get them in and start selling people who have digital coverage's on albums when they come back at the end.
You need to do that at the other end of the deal, the very beginning.
You would also need to be planting the seed for a brag book for the mums, a slide show that they can put on faceboob, their phones a wall print or whatever.
You would want to be at the brides parents house shooting her and saying " That spot on the wall would be a great place to hang a wall print as a thank you for Mum and Dad and you could piss off that ghastly old painting they have there now".
THAT'S when you sell add on's, not hit them out of the blue with it right when they thing they have paid for all your services.

These sales at very least need to started right at the beginning and then re enforced through the process.
I sell my albums with a base coverage they pay for up front and then add on's later which is my real earner. They are totally on spec so I need to do a good job of the pics AND selling them. In actual fact all I do is let them buy what they want but I have to prepare them for it.

I tell them at the start, this is the base coverage, you WILL add more in. And I tell them multiple times on the day... "Don't spend all your money on the honeymoon because these shots are awesome and you are going to want to buy them all".

They tell me they hear what I'm saying but take it with a grain of salt but then when they come back and see the pics and it does cost them a load extra because they can't refuse the pictures, they laugh and think well he did tell us, repeatedly!
NEVER has someone not added into their albums. Had a few over 20 plus years that only added in a couple of hundred bucks worth but for the rest, that is where my money is really made.

Telling them over and over is SO important. When I started out I would tell them but skirt over it. When they came back and picked the shots they wanted that amounted to 2-3 times the initial coverage, they had a freak out. Now, they laugh.
What can they say? I told them in front of the whole bridal party and parents at least 5 times on the day. Now when it comes true by THEIR choice, it's exactly what I told them up front.

I still think the personal touch is massively important these days. While shooters are hell bent on social media, I think many are completely dismissive or ignorant to the power of Word of mouth. they shit bricks they might get a bad review on line but fail to appreciate the power Of their Client Mary telling all teh girls at work how they found their shooter to be. I literally photographed half the local police force from 4 stations some years back. They would come to me without looking at anyone else because I did joes wedding after he was referred by jane who knew Pete from teh other station whos wedding I did 2 years ago. Goes on and on.

The more Personal contact is avoided by businesses like shooters, the more valuable it becomes to those that that still are old fashioned or whatever way the others want to dismiss it to the clients. Sure, some want to do it online and can't be bothered to even talk to their shooter but that's a LONG way from everyone.
You need to decide what your business model is however.

You can never be everything to everybody but do you want to set yourself up as someone who gives REAL customer service or are you happy to do everything online and only ever see the clients on the day. Not saying there is anything wrong with that, just saying its a choice of your market you want to work with and you'll not be able to please everyone.

Getting them in, great. Selling prints and albums, great. Trying to sell them prints and albums right at the end, not a hope in hell.
For that to work you have to start right at the first contact and reiterate it from there.

You have some decisions to make !




Dec 15, 2016 at 08:21 PM
t4haughton
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · In person image delivery / sales


Smart Albums makes the album ordering/proofing process so easy. Clients can flip through the book, see the spreads with numbered images and leave feedback about any changes they want to see. Then when you open the app the changes are listed right there. Check them off and reupload. It's stupid simple and clients under 40 expect that.

Don't get me wrong, I love having couples over and showing photos and the initial album pre-design, but half of my couples live outside of Chicago so it's not even an option for them. The internet is a thing.



Dec 15, 2016 at 09:42 PM
InSanE
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · In person image delivery / sales


Book or album, I see its common to call printed books albums. So how do you know in English what someone is referring to?


Dec 16, 2016 at 03:33 AM
IrishDino
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · In person image delivery / sales


The only way I can sell it to the clients I have is that prints & canvas orders get free retouching. These are priced accordingly.

If there's no value add, they'll just cross shop my prices vs. Costco. I know that hurts some people's feelings, but that's the way things work now.



Dec 16, 2016 at 08:08 AM





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