I think the advice given here has been great! As a photographer that runs a studio with 5 other shooters I think the first meeting is very important! Just by knowing your craft, listening with concern, giving advice or insight, and just being you will always win them over! If they are in your studio for a consult then they already know what your stuff is going to look like, they are there to meet YOU! Who are YOU as a person, friend, photographer. They really have already made the decision that they like your work when they have taken time out of there busy schedule to come and talk with you. So close the deal on personality. They love your work now show them they will love you too!

oh.... just to let you know too... this really works every time! I booked 3 weddings alone today!

Wow - great thread. All very valid points from all contributors. I know from reading this, the one that hit home with me is the STFU statement. I find sometimes I do talk too much because I'm an extrovert and it's just my personality. I have a client meeting Sunday and I'm going to apply pretty much everything I've read here today. Thank you all...

I had my first TRUE meeting last night (I consider it a true meeting because I didn't know this couple before hand) and I think it went really well. I used many of the strategies talked about here and I think I was definitely able to connect with the them. I am confident I will get their business.

This thread is great.

I'm putting it to use this weekend! The two couples are pretty much decided on me (my interpretation, maybe I'm just excited?). This is just the final step of meeting in person and them being able to see albums, canvases, large prints, etc. to see what package they'd like.

I just got sample canvases and am really stoked about them, so hopefully they pay off.

My last meeting I booked a $2,000 wedding (a lot for me) without showing a single wedding image.

You know how I did it? I spoke with them, gained trust, and became a friend within the first 5 minutes. I'm genuinely interested in couples and the love between them, it interests me. They picked up on it. Midway through our meeting, when it came time to talk about business, I picked up my camera and said, "let's go outside - a free engagement shoot on me". Already trusting me, they did, I showed them the images on the back of the LCD, and whammy, $1,000 retainer and an overly excited couple.

Did very well today. Meeting lasted about two hours (I guess that's a good thing). Talked a lot about weddings in general. The bride went from a $600 budget to secretly wanting full day coverage to openly admitting needing full day coverage to seriously considering an album. Showing albums = gold.

David Ziser over at DigitalProTalk.com has done a series of posts on the business side of photography especially wedding photography. I recommend everyone to read and watch the posts and use his 30+ years of experience to your benefit.

ARDENT wrote:
Let me start by prefacing that I have done a search and read the threads where others have asked this question before. VERY helpful... I am always so impressed with the high level of professionals we have here at Fred Miranda and thought while I was researching a revamp on my initial client meetings I would ask for some suggestions. I have been photographing weddings as a primary for about 2 years now. I am finally feeling as if my work is very "technically sound" and shifting my focus to more creativity, angles, lighting etc that support my vision and current pricing.

Here are some suggestions I have already gathered:

-Don’t overpitch it, STFU analogy… esp when their looking at my photos.
-2 minute drill – Don’t even bring out products till you’ve talked about them for 2 minutes
-Nicer paper for the package pricing and testimonials
-Bring samples of the things you sell
-How they met, what kind of mood or feeling are the looking for in their images, Find out their “vision”
-ask them if they have any more questions. If they don't, I ASK THEM IF THEY WOULD LIKE ME TO GO AHEAD AND BOOK THEIR DATE
-1/3 as deposit to possibly combat the ecomony without having to give on pricing

Can anyone else share some additional information that might help me convert more of these meetings to bookings. Right now I wing it, I feel like my personality shines through and my photos are good but there is just something missing. Thanks ahead of time for any help on this...


Lots of great suggestions so far, though after reading your first post one thing popped into my mind.

What isn't working for you so far? What is your booking rate? That is, how many meetings do you have on average for each booking? 3 to 1? 5 to 1?

That info will be helpful in figuring out exactly how much you need to change. Like some others here I've been successful in sales for over a decade and one thing I see in several industries are people who change their methods too radically when things really weren't that bad to begin with....if that makes sense.

80/20 rule? This is a must. Come up with a list of open-ended questions and memorize them. Get the couple talking, first and foremost. Ask them what their expectations are for the meeting? Ask them how their ideal photographer will fit into their wedding day, etc... Getting them to speak will automatically make them more comfortable with you.

Control your nerves. People feel it, sense it, and it adds to their own discomfort. When you are around someone who is nervous and trying to sell you something, what is your immediate perception? This is one of the #1 deal killers in all walks of sales IMO, and it's avoidable in many cases.

Now, saying to control your nerves sounds stupid, right? Well, it's easier to do than most people think. For starters, don't drink 5 diet cokes a few hours before the meeting. Lay off the breakfast pastry & Venti coffee from Starbucks. Stay away from processed foods & heavy amounts of sugar. You can find a lot of information online, but basically the wrong foods can contribute strongly to your feelings of nervousness. Some people can overcome it, but others have a harder time. In my day job I not only meet with individuals and groups of people in private meetings, I often give speeches in front of organizations and groups. After seeing me speak several years ago (in college), an older man who knew his *stuff,* told me that people who are nervous in front of an audience either don't know what they are talking about, aren't prepared physically to speak, or both.

In other words, if you know your stuff (you sound like you do), then you can control everything else and overcome it. Sounds cheesy, but it's true.


Lots of great advice on this thread!

thanks to this thread, i have a running count of 3 weddings for 09. chyea!

Sergio Mottola wrote:
thanks to this thread, i have a running count of 3 weddings for 09. chyea!

About time brother! I dig your style...

-tmiller

So was it a turnaround for your Sergio? What I mean is, was there a large difference in meeting quality/length, etc.?

Both meetings I had this weekend lasted over an hour and a half and were very casual, positive, and friendly. People love to talk!

good point on the Dale Carnagie book.. I read it then took the coarse way back in 1976.. when i graduated from the coarse they affered me to be one of the instructors.. i was flattered, still am, i ask alot of people if they have ever heard of this.. alot of people have'nt.. An excellent outlook to the ways of human relations when running ANY business.. Does you a world of good. After I graduated I gave a lecture for the Fla. Schoolastic Press Association on photographic composition at FIU. in front of 300 people.. the book and coarse opens you up and hones your skills and CONFIDENCE,, highly recommended.. thank you to the Grays. BRUCE

Clothing is not optional.

PS - A real tip is selling starts during the emails. The couple needs to love you, your work, and know you care about their wedding well before the meeting. Rarely do I go to a meeting without them bringing their chequebook - we meet to show that my prints look like they do on a monitor, that my contract is fine, and that I'm a real person.

jeremy_clay wrote:
PS - A real tip is selling starts during the emails. The couple needs to love you, your work, and know you care about their wedding well before the meeting. Rarely do I go to a meeting without them bringing their chequebook - we meet to show that my prints look like they do on a monitor, that my contract is fine, and that I'm a real person.

+ 1. Same here. Sometimes the meeting is more for ME to qualify a client before I allow them to book me.

-tmiller

on these two meetings today we just clicked a lot better, and neither of them asked to see any more work or anything. they just wanted to meet me, not see if i'm good enough or anything. we just had a good time. meetings were about 1hr each. so thats 4/6 success for me.

I bring an album with me on my meetings. my PROBLEM however is I don't know enough to be QUIET while they are looking at this. I bet they don't even hear what I'm saying lol. Good tip on not bombarding them.

This is where I talk about MOMENTS at a wedding. Not about the picture, but about the story behind it. Look through your albums ahead of time and really reacquaint yourself with what happened that day that may have been sweet, funny or momentous. I've found that clients get the sense that I was really paying attention to the wedding and totally getting the emotion of it. When they point at a key picture that they love, I'm QUICK to say, "Oh, that's such a great story!" Of course, limit that.

The other thing that I would add is to not try to bend away from your preferences in order to book a sale. I did this early on and really got myself in several pickles. This doesn't mean that you act like some snob that won't lower themselves to shooting anything other than one certain type of image. But it DOES say, "Hey... we're not for EVERYONE... but if you like what you see, then I'm your girl".

I consistently say to almost every bride who comes in that there are enough weddings to go around. I'm not here to shoot everything that comes across my plate. I may NOT be who they're looking for... typically, when I begin this line of thought, the ones who are in LOVE with my style, will INSIST that I'm exactly what they want. This is who you want to have book you. Don't forget that.

I don't take the stance that I'm trying to GET them to hire me. I take the stance that I'm presenting what I do... how I do it... and why... and if it matches them, we could be a match made in heaven. But I do it with kindness, TONS of humor and a good dose of humility.

I'm also with Hoffer... I talk about the bride (color scheme, location, number of bridesmaids, nerves, the groom...) long before we point out the product. There are quiet girls that answer with one word and it doesn't take long to cover all of the ground... and there are talkers who could go on for DAYS. Either way, we feel them out.

Ok ladies and gentleman after readin everyone's responses to this post I went on another meeting this past Sunday. I started selling in the email, chatted for 40 minutes on the phone then met with her for another 40 onto to find.... AN EMAIL IN MY INBOX SAYING SHE WOULD LIKE TO BOOK.

This is exactly the kind fo advice and insight I was looking for. Thank you all for being so willing to help someone else in the industry. I hope that I can be of some help to you someday.

Go forth and book weddings...!

ARDENT wrote:
Ok ladies and gentleman after readin everyone's responses to this post I went on another meeting this past Sunday. I started selling in the email, chatted for 40 minutes on the phone then met with her for another 40 onto to find.... AN EMAIL IN MY INBOX SAYING SHE WOULD LIKE TO BOOK.

This is exactly the kind fo advice and insight I was looking for. Thank you all for being so willing to help someone else in the industry. I hope that I can be of some help to you someday.

Go forth and book weddings...!

10% plz.

Well I booked her for my highest package 400 bucks!!!! YAY 40 bucks for you!

Totally kidding... It did feel much smoother using the techniques I learned though. Less businessy and more personal...

I kind of have the opposite trouble. I've never met with a bride that didn't book! I'm sure that will happen sooner or later, but for the moment, I'm batting a thousand. I think my work is acceptable, and my website and prices are reasonable. I get a reasonable number of inquiries, but often fail to get them to a meeting. I try to be personable and real. I try not to be too pushy, but I'm losing them somewhere. I believe I need a strategy change, but I can't see where. Do you have a scripted response to email inquiries?

Something about me or my approach isn't working, and unfortunately, I can't see it!!

David

BTW, this is an amazingly helpful thread!!! This is almost sticky worthy!

I do have a scripted response. I can post it here... One thing I also did that the bride loved was leave her with my 6 best photos. I printed them myself on very high quality thick paper with my watermark. Her fiance couldnt be there and I know how not into details grooms are... the last thing they want is to peruse my website. So I gave her a working portfolio to take home with her.

"Congratulations on your engagement! I received your information from wedding wire due to my company being able to offer a lot of the things you were looking for. Do you have a date or location yet?. I am including pricing and testimonial information with this email but I would love to set up a meeting to show you more of my portfolio and discuss what I have to offer… see if we are a good fit.

There are some things that make me different from other photographers. I like to highlight these things, so that when you’re making this very important decision you will know what I bring to the table. First off I started my career in photojournalism. This has really trained me to have a photojournalistic eye, seeing things differently and enabling me to capture the story behind the weddings I cover. I like to include 2 photographers in each of my packages WITHOUT charging you extra. I feel this extra coverage brings another dimension to your photos allowing a completely different perspective and doubling the amount of memories you will have from the wedding. In processing your photos I will provide you a color copy, a black and white version as well as many artistic and creative representations. I upload all photos to an online gallery allowing to you begin previewing them as soon as 1 day after the wedding. Ardent brides are also given personal reproduction rights allowing them to have their photos printed wherever they would like, whenever they would like. I keep my pricing affordable by not charging you to do what you can do yourself (printing photos).

I have extensive experience shooting weddings. Although my online portfolio is comprised of my best images I do have hundreds of other images available for you to view. I also would invite you if you have not done so to visit my blog at http://ardentphotographyincblog.blogspot.com. I like to get to know all of my clients and many have told them that through my blog they have learned a lot about me as a photographer. I currently work with the best Nikon digital equipment available on the market today and have a backup for every piece of equipment I own. I absolutely love what I do and I feel very fortunate the able to photograph people in love for a living.

I have some time available the next two weekends. August and September are actually my busiest months. Let me know when might work for you and we can iron out all the details. Good luck with your wedding plans!

Stephanie Osborne
Ardent Photography
http://ardentphotographyinc.com"

Thats about how it normally is worded...

I have to second the suggestion on reading the Dale Carnegie book. That book is a treasure chest with mounds of priceless information on how to win people.

This IS a great thread. Shall we stick it or compile a list of "tips" to be stuck? I think either way the subject is worthy of a sticky. Thoughts please.
Steve