Testing waters for in-person ordering sessions.

urbanaries

I am mostly happy with my wedding packages (get your $ upfront!) but am struggling with (and been shying away from even shooting) portrait sessions b/c of the notorious online ordering ghost town. Before I cut out portraits entirely from my reportoire, I decided to test out a friend (who's hiring me for her daughter's senior portraits) with an in-person ordering session. The assumption is that this session is one week after the shoot, and the first time they will see the images.

Wanted to share my thoughts on how I might conduct this pilot and see if you guys had anything to contribute (or want me to test out!). I know you won't disappoint. :deal

1. I am working on turning my dining room (which is currently at the front of my house, right by the door so you don't have to traipse thru my home to get to it) into a sales room. I will rework the room so there are groupings of large prints, canvases and standouts so that we can refer visually to what sizes look like on a wall.

2. I'll put together a slideshow of images to display on my new monitor (22-24") for them to see at the first time.

3. I'll also print up a nice set of proofs (logoe'd) with borders. This way we can use the proofs as a "deck of cards" to narrow down selections offline.

4. I'll put together a few "collections" for them to choose from. They will be a mixture of wall prints, desk prints, canvases/standouts and wallets (digital watermarked files for myspace??), grouped and discounted. Of course they can order a'la carte, but I think the power of suggestion might help boost my sales. I'm planning to offer incentives for ordering a collection. The cheaper one(s) get to keep the proofs for free, and the more expensive collections get those and a coffee table book. Eh?

5. My biggest question is how to work in the timing/deadline for ordering, and how does that fit in with the online gallery. Obviously I want to put it up (after the ordering session), but how do I gently pressure them to order at the session? Do I charge them for proofs if they want to take them home and "think it over"? Do I give them a big discount for ordering then and there?

Any suggestions on how to present the collections, the proofs, the sales "pitch" are greatly welcome.

mercphoto

Amy and I hired a photographer to take some photographs of us after we got engaged, and the photographer did basically what you are saying. We came back after roughly a week. First time we saw the images. She had a slide show going on a 27" television. Note the resolution isn't all that great (TV's are only 480 horizontal lines, and even hi-def is only 720 or 1080 depending on the set --- most computer monitors have far more resolution), but what is important is that we got a good sense of the feel of the image. Did we like the composition, the impact, how did the image make us feel?

We made a quick pass of the images we did not like and tossed them. Then we went back what we kept and started deciding which ones we wanted to buy, and in what sizes. We already had a pretty good idea of what we wanted (some for parents, some for siblings, some for ourselves), it was just a matter of picking them out.

This process isn't all that different from the process you get at JC Penny portrait studio, except that it happens the same day, rather than a week later. We paid that day for what we bought, and then came back again to accept delivery of the prints in her presence.

In all honesty, if we had the chance to order over the web I don't think it would have been as nice, nor do I think we would have bought as much.

cmorganphotography

The deck of cards proof approach doens't set you back too much either. A little bit of PS time for the borders and it's around 20 for a 100 4x6 prints from sm.:D

mercphoto

urbanaries wrote:

5. My biggest question is how to work in the timing/deadline for ordering, and how does that fit in with the online gallery. Obviously I want to put it up (after the ordering session), but how do I gently pressure them to order at the session? Do I charge them for proofs if they want to take them home and "think it over"? Do I give them a big discount for ordering then and there?

Any suggestions on how to present the collections, the proofs, the sales "pitch" are greatly welcome.

Got me. But I do know that that is more important to success, in any business, than just about anything else. Read up books on sales techniques, there's plenty out there.

As a young engineer I used to believe the mantra that build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door. That, and the best product wins in the market. You soon realize there's a reason why the engineers at a company usually make less than the sales and marketing people... Same with photography. You obviously need to be good, but you don't need to be kick-$ss. Look at the prices this guy gets for photographing cars: http://www.rollingsculpture.com/default.asp. His photography is definitely good, but its not fantastic by any stretch. But much better automotive photographers than him make far less money. Gotta be a reason...

Sam

OK, here's me thoughts on this. Have a print credit built into your original price. I like your idea about the presentation, and presentation environment.

When they show up for the photo presentation they will be prepared to make a purchasing decision. After all they have a print credit to use.

The personal presentation allows you the opportunity to wow them with more great photos than the print credit will cover, hence additional sales.

Let us know ho wthis works for you.

Sam

RustingInPeace

The Real Question Is...
The real question is how much do you want to make / need to make on a session? That is the most important thing to know. From there, you have a lot of sales options to hit that number. I prefer the package sales option myself, and I get my money upfront (just like shooting a wedding).

Once I decided how much I needed / wanted to make, everything else was pretty easy. I made my base portrait package reflect the very least I was willing to accept. I just had to accept that there are people who are not willing to pay that amount. Most importantly, I am willing to let those people go.

I do personally meet with my most of my clients to do a print selection for what they want printed as part of the package. I do it in person because this is the best time to up-sell them to a better package! There is simply no substitute to person-to-person sales!

You need to put that person to a decision right then! If they walk out your door with just the base package, you have about a 20% chance of them buying anything else. This is also a great time to work them for referrals. I start asking them at our initial meeting, at the shoot, at the post shoot meeting, and at the point of delivery.

ChatKat

Show Big and Sell Big!
Lynne:

You will sell what you show to clients. If you show them 4x6 that's what will sell. I don't sell anything smaller than 8x10 unless they buy a minimum of prints. I sell the small prints the same price as an 8x10. The work to finish them is exactly the same. My labor is built into the print price. Wallets only get sold with my logo on them and are included in a package with a minimum order as well. My sitting fee includes one 8x10. Never give any digital files with portraits. My ideal clients don't go to JC Penney or Walmart.

I am using a projector and screen at the moment and showing my images approximately 24 x 36 on a slideshow.

I also just ordered a set of canvas images that show the same image 8x10 11x14 16x20 and 24x30 called a Huffnagel Wall.

None are going on SmugMug for ordering until they have met the miimum order.

AFBlue

On a "first things first" note, will your city/county business licensing folks allow a home-based business to have customers come to your non-business zoned residential area (home) to buy your product? My county (in Georgia)would not allow you to do what you want to do from your residence.

urbanaries

mercphoto wrote:

Amy and I hired a photographer to take some photographs of us after we got engaged, and the photographer did basically what you are saying. ......

In all honesty, if we had the chance to order over the web I don't think it would have been as nice, nor do I think we would have bought as much.

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond, Bill! Your feedback is very encouraging. I will definitely keep your suggestions in mind. Thanks again!

urbanaries

cmorganphotography wrote:

The deck of cards proof approach doens't set you back too much either. A little bit of PS time for the borders and it's around 20 for a 100 4x6 prints from sm.:D

I rarely put more than 50 proofs in a gallery, so it will be even less! I am really excited about doing the proofs! Thanks for commenting.

urbanaries

mercphoto wrote:

Got me. But I do know that that is more important to success, in any business, than just about anything else. Read up books on sales techniques, there's plenty out there.

As a young engineer I used to believe the mantra that build a better mouse trap and the world will beat a path to your door. ...

In my head I know that the Field of Dreams concept of marketing doesn't work (if you build it they will come) but I didn't fully extend that concept beyond securing clients and to the product side. I hope I can share some success stories, without the need for James Earl Jones even!

urbanaries

Sam wrote:

OK, here's me thoughts on this. Have a print credit built into your original price. I like your idea about the presentation, and presentation environment.

When they show up for the photo presentation they will be prepared to make a purchasing decision. After all they have a print credit to use.

The personal presentation allows you the opportunity to wow them with more great photos than the print credit will cover, hence additional sales.

Let us know ho wthis works for you.

Sam

I think this is a fantastic idea. They will be itching to spend that money, which may prevent the window shopping mindset of some of my clients! rock on! will share how it goes! thanks Sam!

RustingInPeace

urbanaries wrote:

I rarely put more than 50 proofs in a gallery, so it will be even less! I am really excited about doing the proofs! Thanks for commenting.

Also Kubota Tools has an automated script for just this situation. Pretty cheap too.

urbanaries

AFBlue wrote:

On a "first things first" note, will your city/county business licensing folks allow a home-based business to have customers come to your non-business zoned residential area (home) to buy your product? My county (in Georgia)would not allow you to do what you want to do from your residence.

Thank you for bringing this up, very good question! Have you looked into the the home based business exceptions that might exist in your area for home zoning vs. commercial? In Indianapolis, the city planners cited specifically doctors, lawyers, groomers, artists, photographers and many other professions who are allowed to conduct business from their home regardless of zoning category given certain restrictions (less than 1/3 of home sq footage, no inventory stored besides samples, etc). You might check into it!

urbanaries

Update
First ordering session went very well yesterday! Took about two hours.

They saw the pictures for the first time in a slideshow made from Memories on TV and royalty free music from Stock20 (highly recommended!). The proof set was truly indispensable at narrowing choices and trying different ways for wall arrangements. I let them take the proof set home for free if they placed their order that day, otherwise an order deposit was needed for them to take them home, and they would need to either purhcase the set or return them. That worked beautifully! They placed a very satisfactory order and had great things to say about the process. It was neat to see how they reacted and evaluated the photos vs. when online, I have no idea what they like or how to help with suggestions.

thenimirra

congratulations! this was a great thread to read and get information from. I plan to change my presentation as well. thanks for sharing.