|
glort Offline [X]
|
jecottrell wrote:
Glort,
Can you educate the folks that are interested about this? No need to waste time on the youngsters with short attention spans that know everything already...But I'd be more than willing invest the couple of minutes to read what you have to say.
Thanks
What the ignorant whom write this stuff off as being unnecessary would not realize is, It's a basic of all Business. It has been around for ages and will continue to do so. I have a couple of Friends that literally do Million dollar deals ( and a LOT more) and they use this stuff as the corner stone of what they do. ALL business that have a clue and aren't playing amateur hour do.
It's hard to give a 2 or 20 min read on how to qualify. Much like it's difficult to tell people how to take wedding pics in the same time. They are both learned and built up skills that integrate in an entire process.
For me, it starts with the initial consultation. I ask questions about the venue and every other thing to do with the wedding. I get an idea of their spending capability from things like the dress, flowers, cake, cars..... etc.
If it's a designer dress, expensive cars,300 people at the upmarket reception venue, they are not poor.
Where they heard of you can also be a good indicator. if it's word of mouth, you can almost gaurantee they have a real good idea of where you are at. Before I see anyone I TELL them what their all up spend is likely to be. I then ask if that is within their budget. This is called the Getting the Yes Close. I'll go over it more than once during the process so they can't come back and say we can't afford you at the last minute because they have told me Multiple times they can.
I also ask things like is photography a priority to them or just something they want to have to keep mum and Dad happy? I'll ask if they have seen or are going to see any other shooters and if so whom? I know from the other vultures and their price points what these peoples budgets are going to be as well. I'll ask if mum and dad are giving them a hand with paying for different things or are they footing the bills themselves? A fair few of my clients have mum and dad pay for the pics which is handy to know. If they later say they can't afford me after telling me mm and dad are paying for it and I'm in their budget...... Well lets just say no one has tried that.
A lot of it is about getting the clients to tell you something you can feed back to them and giving them a price and flat out asking before you go any further if that is in their price range is a big one.
In MY repeated experience, people that come to me have fairly balanced Budgets. They don't have designer dresses and upmarket venues with a craigs list shooter. I'm sure some do by the people that come to me with the upmarket venue want decent pics and will spend proportional. The exception to that as I have come across a pleasing number of times is they will ct back on other tings that are one offs like flowers, dress, cake etc to give them a bigger photo budget. But I would have found that out about any couple that came to see me as well.
Obviously you can't build rapport and qualify like this if you just send out price lists which is why I don't even HAVE a price list, even for myself. Until I know I'm in their Budget through a conversation on the phone, I don't go any further. Whats the point?
Some may say you can tell them about all your years of experience and the value of your gear and the time in post and.... WTF ever else and get them up to your price level. If you can do that, Good luck to you. I certainly can't and I doubt there are many that could in this market. Not to say though if they tell you $1000 the real price they have in mind isn't 1200. No one gives their final figure straight off, even us shooters when we are the client.
Now this isn't a mathematical formula that gets a decisive answer every time but It sure as hell will give you a bloody good clue and weed out the great majority of wood Ducks. I actually can't remember the last time anyone that came to see me said they couldn't afford me or would need a discount etc. They don't get that far. I qualify budget before I see them on the phone or by email. If they wanted a Video guy I'd already know that and would have discussed it.
At length!
My Close for the Booking interview would go something like this....
Now I have covered everything you wanted to ask and you have all your answers? Yes
It seems fred and Mary you are pretty happy with the style of shots I do? yes
And you liked that Idea with fred Running butt naked through the park with the formal shots Mary? Yes, loved that.
Instead of a wall portrait you'd prefer the slide show? Yes.
And the quote I have given you with what we went over is within your budget? yep, that's fine.
Ok then, well it seems we are on the same page and everything is good, I think this is going to be a beautiful wedding. Would you like me to put you down for the date so it's locked in and you have got your photographer?
Then I shut up. First one to talk at this stage loses.
50% will say yes right then and there so you ask for the deposit and that's it.
For the other 50% that say they would like to think about it, I'll ask was there anything specifically they wanted to think about or anything I didn't cover? They will say no so I'll then come back and say, " would you like me to put a hold on it for a few days in case I get any other interest in that day and I will get back to you next week and you can have a chat in the mean time and let me know. "
No one has ever said they weren't interested at this point.
I'll wait about 3 days if the 50% of those haven't got back to me next morning then ring and say I had another enquiry, I know I said I'd give them a bit more time but was jst wondering if tey had made a decision yet and would prefer to make other arrangements so I can make an appointment to see these other people or would tey like some more time?
I'll get a LOT of people saying they do want me and to book them in, they hadn't had time to let me know and the rest will say they have decided to go elsewhere. I have a 79-84% closure rate on the people I see so this does work and works very well for me.
Qualifying and all of sales is a process and it needs to be part of a system just like shooting a wedding. There probably isn't a lot in what I have said for you because it's even hard to articulate how to qualify other than to say ask questions in a subtle way that tell you what you want to know and can use further down the line.
I do remember one Couple coming in to me and discounting in a way..... Gave them a whole 50% off.... and they didn't even ask!!
The girl worked in a bridal shop and knew me. She warned me the husband to be was a tight arse and the only thing he would spend money on was his car.
She warned me he would complain about price. Sure enough, they walk in, his arse no sooner hits the couch and he's telling me I better not be charging $2000 like that other tosser they saw at the bridal fair next to where the mrs to be was exhibiting the other week. Thats ridiculous, he ain't paying that for some Pictures, rather get his brother to take them and just pay for the film...... Yada yada.
Thank you for that heads up mate! You just told me everything I need to know to book you in and win you over without a wimper. Served yourself up on a platter!
I halved my coverage. Everything. Price AND inclusions. I make my money on the back end after the wedding when I have something to upsell them. They have no emotional involvement before that so all I need to do is sell them on the potential and that's it. And that is what I did, half price, half inclusions and went on and on about how they would spend heaps more because I was going to take the best pics I could so they would want all of them and they would spend a fortune. Instead of 20 Sides in my base album I gave them 10 and halved everything else except time.
Guy laughed and said that's all he would be spending, that was more than enough for some pictures, but book them in. Said she wanted me and seemed I wasn't as stupid as what the other guy wanted so they would go with me. Again I warned them before the wedding they would spend more, warned them on the day repeatedly, told him when they came back in to do the album plan.
We went through the pics and HE was the one telling her they couldn't NOT have that one, look at it.... She was like you know this is adding up? He said well We aren't going to leave it here are we?
Finish the album plan and I'm getting worried he is going to freak. It's Big.
I say would you like to know the damage? He says hold on, fishes his car keys out is pocket and throws them on the table. He says you better take my car and just refund me whats left after you sell it and deduct the album cost.
The mrs and I look at each other in stunned amazement. Thought I'd win him over but that was way beyond hope let alone expectation!
And that was it. Told them I couldn't start the album until it was paid for, he said get started on it tomorrow and you can come get the money from the shop day after tomorrow or I'll drop it in Monday night.
That guy and I became good friends and were still friends till a couple of years back when they moved interstate. Our Kids were born a couple of weeks apart, eldest and youngest and spent a lot of time playing together as kids and teenagers. We formed a small business together some years later and did well out of it.
Thing is, going by the comments here, a LOT of indignat's would have blown the guy off. He'd have upset their tender egos or whatever it is and they would not have given him the time of day. Now I'll admit, he was a one off in 30 years HOWEVER, That guy and his net worth to me was freaking HUGE. No one in his family or his friends had anyone else but me do their weddings. He was a dominant kind of gy and while he complained a lot, if he recommended someone, people listened. He sent customers from his shop and I got loads from the bridal shop where his wife worked. The lifetime value of that guy to me was probably in excess of $75K.
And had I listened to his "Not going to pay that for Pictures" and not read between the lines and used my knowledge in sales to turn him round, suffice to say it could have demonstrably impacted quite a few years of my bottom line.
You never know how people are going to turn out or what their over all vale you to you could be unless you take the time to find out in a proper, business like manner.
These days there is a LOT of information on the net for sales, marketing and general business.
You can just google something like "sales lead qualification" and you'll get a much better idea of it and how to do it than I have been able to give here.
It's an investment of your time to learn this that you will never regret, I'll guarantee that.
Now I'll sit back and watch the comments from those so hell bent on displaying their ignorance on this and leaving no question as to how little they actually know about any sort of business principals!
Always good for a laugh.... or a huge facepalm!
|
Mar 24, 2017 at 05:25 AM |
| |
|
|