NoBs Digital Dogbowl

Supercharge Your Goals and Selling Strategies

Your business is very personal. So is your life. Everything in it is a reflection of an idea, or series of ideas that started in that ginormous computer you have betwixt your ears- your brain. It all starts there. Problem is, we're human, so, like most humans, we procrastinate- or, we lean on rationale (excuses) and put off creating our own vision.

Listen, I'm here to tell it to you straight: Know what you want out of life, and this includes your photography business. Get that vision in your head, and I guarantee this much: you will achieve it. I promise. Then why don't most of us (the stats are appalling on this topic... very few people take this responsibility very serious, giving it nothing more than a cursory thought) achieve our dreams?

This leads me to more specific issues, namely marketing and selling. To really get a handle on marketing and selling, one needs to have a big picture, a mountain to climb, so you know which way is up. Marketing, of which selling is the legs that give it movement, is really an off-shoot of where we want to go and achieve with our photography business. If you want to do, and feel that pre-portrait consultations are important to you, then that would be a reflection of your ambitions. In other words, if you were a high-volume studio, and consultations were an illogical fit, then why do them? They don't match. If you wanted to take the time, effort, and talent to do a first rate portrait, and yet your pricing was low quality, then, again, it doesn't fit. If you had high ambitions, wanted to create high priced images (therefore, portrait consultations were key), and yet your work is crap, again, it's called an incongruity. It's all gotta fit! Flow. At least if you know where you stand, you'll know where to go. Getting somewhere starts from knowing where you're starting. Ask any sailor.

But this stuff doesn't just happen. It's all part of getting your vision down. It's a huge responsibility, and sometimes painful. It's much easier to fluff off and take the path of least resistance. Successful people have goals, desires, ambitions, drive, and hunger.

On a more practical note, here's what we've done in our studio (and this is in flux too, constantly evolving and being modified, which is another success factor in and of itself- resiliency). When we get a call for a session, the caller for the most part has an idea of who we are. We built up some strong branding over the years within our community. So, the client is somewhat pre-qualified. If they weren't, we simply need to ask a lot of questions, which is a great thing, since that is an essential part of selling, which involves a much neglected skill-listening. Clients will tell you all you need to know to sell them. Even if they appear to be price shopping, it's your duty to do your due diligence and go on discovery with them. What's important to them is not really price. If that were true, then we'd all be driving cheap cars, never eating out, and buying anything much beyond the bare necessities. People want to feel you care about what they truly desire, and that you will deliver the goods. They want images they will love and be proud of. Simple. Take them there. Don't get caught up in details about packages, frames, albums, etc. Talk about their family and what's important to them. They may want the factual stuff but lead them back to the feel good stuff. Establish trust, and this is easy unless you don't ask questions, then you've failed to do your due diligence. See?

Master this and you've mastered the art of selling. Is selling critical? Zig Ziglar was famous for his quote: "Shy salespeople have skinny kids." Running a successful photography studio not only entails creating great images. You must know how to sell them at the highest profit continuously and repeatedly.

Let me give you a practical tip on closing the reprint sale, something that I used to do in my studio before my wife took over the sales (and lets me do what I do best- shooting and marketing- I still have to sell myself and the whole experience in front of the camera). After the client sees their images, projected BIG (I used to use an opaque proof projector before the days of big screen tvs and video projectors), we would narrow down the selection of images to their absolute favorites. Now, don't forget, before they even had their session done we had done a clothing/session consultation. We'd discuss, not push the issue, but give advice on hanging wall portraits. I'd use the rule of thumb: "If you're considering a wall portrait, look at the wall you want to decorate, and measure it. The wall portrait should be about half that width." This was good decor advice, but the real reason I wanted to mention it was to plant the seeds. This was and is an excellent involvement technique. So, back to the future. They've had a consultation, session, and preview viewing and narrowed down to their favs. Now, I would ask them to list all the requirements they needed. What would they buy, ignoring any size limits or packages. This is a freestyle thing. I told them I would look at their final list and do my best to fit it into a package. Once they did that, I'd total it up, and do some simple math (take off 15%) and write out their investment. This worked just about every time. They felt they had a special deal, when in fact all my packages were based on that math. It's the process, see? Step by step, you take them along on a journey. It's the same thing when selling wedding packages. Get them involved, ask many questions, use stories, listen, and finally ask for the sale. Easy.

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