Raising Prices Creating More Business?

dawssvt

I participated in a bridal fair in the middle of January. When the show slowed down at the end of the day, I had the chance to go and talk to some other photographers. There was around 15 photographers at the show and only maybe 5 who really presented their product well, so those are the photographers who I talked to.

When talking to the most expensive photographer there, she told me this story...

"When we were starting out, our middle package was $1,500 and business was "ok". We decided to raise our prices and our middle package was now $2,500; business got better. Then we raised our prices again where our middle package was $4,000 and business EXPLODED."

I was floored by what she had said and it got me to think. At the show, my packages were starting at $795 and it was pretty basic package; 5 hours, high res photos on a DVD, online viewing gallery. She looked at my booth and said, you should NOT be able to get THIS for 800 bucks. I had just quoted several hundred brides my prices throughout the day, so I didn't want to raise my prices right away. It's been around a month and I decided to raise my prices nearly doubling all my old rates.

So, my question... Have you found that raising prices increased business for you? I know if you don't have a product that will sell, you shouldn't. I'm pretty confident in the product that I produce, especially in comparison to the other top end photographers in my area, so I think this price increase may be a good idea. Thoughts on this?

My website is listed in my signature if you want to check it out.

Surfdog

Nice work in your website galleries, Dawson. I'm really glad you posted this thread and I am anxious to see the feedback you get. I have the same question about how raising prices will affect business. I get alot of clients because I am less expensive than other area photographers, however the remarks I get from my other photographer friends would indicate that raising prices would not cause business to slow, but rather the clientele would simply change. The PPA magazine preaches this as well. It is just difficult to take that leap of faith, when the practical side of you thinks that higher prices in the current economy would cause folks to go elsewhere. I will be watching this thread closely.

dawssvt

Surfdog wrote:

Nice work in your website galleries, Dawson. I'm really glad you posted this thread and I am anxious to see the feedback you get. I have the same question about how raising prices will affect business. I get alot of clients because I am less expensive than other area photographers, however the remarks I get from my other photographer friends would indicate that raising prices would not cause business to slow, but rather the clientele would simply change. The PPA magazine preaches this as well. It is just difficult to take that leap of faith, when the practical side of you thinks that higher prices in the current economy would cause folks to go elsewhere. I will be watching this thread closely.

I'm getting married in July, so right now as a bachelor, I have a little time to experiment before I have to really start making money. I had several clients at the bridal show come to my booth, go look at other photographers, and then return to my booth to tell me I wasn't charging enough. The way the photographer who told that story said it to me is this, "People just want to spend money on their wedding day. Often times expenses are not cut because its usually a once in a lifetime event." I feel that by raising my prices I will get better client-el - people who are WANTING to spend money on a good photographer, not the couple who is looking for the best bang for their buck.

mmmatt

I have done price increases roughly every quarter and I although have increased my bookings some it hasn't been an explosion. I attribute that increase mostly to my growing portfolio and word of mouth advertising. I have without doubt gotten a much classier clientele and better looking brides by increasing my pricing. This again helps my portfolio and moves me into more affluent circles with my word of mouth advertising.

I am about mid range for what is available in my area and from what I see in my price range, I both include more and provide better final results. Certainly that is all opinion, and mine at that, but as things grow for me I am encouraged I am right. Most photographers above my price range are larger studios that hire a multitude of photographers and I push the personal service, "guy with his name on the door from start to finish" type thing and in most cases people want that. Although some certainly want a pretty showroom or a more famous name, and they don't even contact me I guess.

matt

Test-Pilot

Same thing happened to me.
It seems that in my area, people attach "quality" to a high price-tag. Some clients didn't even look at my work first!

Conversely, when my prices were significantly lower, I guess people thought that I was "just starting out", and less experienced. I found myself having to talk people into hiring me. Higher prices sell themselves.

Mishka

I don't think it's a simple correlation of raising prices=more business, but there is some connection. I think as your product improves, your prices should match this. The increase in price will attract clientele who place a higher value on their wedding photography. At the same time, your advertising strategy will have to adapt to reach your ideal market. What worked for reaching brides at the $1500 level probably won't work at the $4500 level.

My story is that I've continued to raise my prices and continued to grow my business every year. The difficult part is finding the right equilibrium more than anything. Just my thoughts...

zoomer

If your quality is where it needs to be to compete with the best photographers in your area then that is probably true.
Every time we have raised our prices we have gotten busier.

This last time I was a afraid I was goint too far....but I booked right up for the year...I should have gone higher.

Agnieszka

I didn't have a chance to go to your website & check out your work. But in general I'd say this is a question Boone exept you should answer. No noob is worth $4000+. You have to compare your work & what's included in your packages with other photographers on the market / in your area.
No, just doubling your pricing will not increase the #of visitors your website will get. Yes, I got more bookings to longer I'm doing it but I'd say that has more something to do with satisfied customers that will refer me to their friends + the work I show on my website & my advertising rather than me charging more money. Yes, you'll look more professional if you don't offer too low prices, but you need to be worth the money.

Again, I haven't checked out your work, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm just speaking out loud what came in my mind when I read your question.

dawssvt

mmmatt wrote:

I have done price increases roughly every quarter and I although have increased my bookings some it hasn't been an explosion. I attribute that increase mostly to my growing portfolio and word of mouth advertising. I have without doubt gotten a much classier clientele and better looking brides by increasing my pricing. This again helps my portfolio and moves me into more affluent circles with my word of mouth advertising.

I am about mid range for what is available in my area and from what I see in my price range, I both include more and provide better final results. Certainly that is all opinion, and mine at that, but as things grow for me I am encouraged I am right. Most photographers above my price range are larger studios that hire a multitude of photographers and I push the personal service, "guy with his name on the door from start to finish" type thing and in most cases people want that. Although some certainly want a pretty showroom or a more famous name, and they don't even contact me I guess.

matt

A better client base is something I'm really look for. I've found that most of my brides are just looking for a deal, which they would get from me. They would not be as impressed with my work as I feel is deserved. Thanks for your comment!

Test-Pilot wrote:

Same thing happened to me.
It seems that in my area, people attach "quality" to a high price-tag. Some clients didn't even look at my work first!

Conversely, when my prices were significantly lower, I guess people thought that I was "just starting out", and less experienced. I found myself having to talk people into hiring me. Higher prices sell themselves.

May I ask what your old prices where and what you changed them to?

zoomer wrote:

If your quality is where it needs to be to compete with the best photographers in your area then that is probably true.
Every time we have raised our prices we have gotten busier.

This last time I was a afraid I was goint too far....but I booked right up for the year...I should have gone higher.

Agnieszka wrote:

I didn't have a chance to go to your website & check out your work. But in general I'd say this is a question Boone exept you should answer. No noob is worth $4000+. You have to compare your work & what's included in your packages with other photographers on the market / in your area.
No, just doubling your pricing will not increase the #of visitors your website will get. Yes, I got more bookings to longer I'm doing it but I'd say that has more something to do with satisfied customers that will refer me to their friends + the work I show on my website & my advertising rather than me charging more money. Yes, you'll look more professional if you don't offer too low prices, but you need to be worth the money.

Again, I haven't checked out your work, so take this with a grain of salt. I'm just speaking out loud what came in my mind when I read your question.

That is one thing that I evaluated - my work in comparison to both the low end photographers and high end photographers of my area. I feel that my work is closer to the high end photographers, but my prices were closer to the low end photographers. Check out my website and let me know what you you think!

Glort wrote:

Raising your prices will bring in more business if you have undervalued your work to begin with.

If your work and more importantly presentation and marketing isn't up to scratch, it may have the opposite effect.
Pricing is an overall part of the marketing mix. It all needs to be balanced.

Marketing mix... Takes me back to my undergraduate level marketing classes. I feel that I've definitely undervalued my work especially in comparison to the other photographers offered in my area.

dawssvt

Glort wrote:

It seems to me that you are a lot smarter than the average bear in that you are looking at a variety of things to set your prices and basing decisions on more than just what the guy down the road or someone from the other side of the country charges.

If your work is on par with the other shooters in your area, you will get a lot further ahead by putting 90% of your time into improving your marketing and 10% into improving your photography than the other way around which is what most people do.

You can have crap presentation and great work and low prices nor any other mismatched combination. It all has gel so when people hear your prices they have a matching impression in their mind of your work, when they see your work they have an expectation of what you charge and when they see your brochure or studio they have an accurate idea of what your work and prices are like. If they don't all match then the marketing process gets a big wobble and you'll be fighting to keep it on track.

The other thing to your great credit is you are flexible and willing to change and try new ideas. That will also put you country miles ahead of most of your competition.

Good luck with it all.

Do you really think it's a 90/10 split? Maybe you were exaggerating a little, but I do agree that marketing is key in this business. I'm so thankful that I got my undergrad in business and I'm currently working on my MBA. Thanks for your comment. I will definitely keep these things in mind when setting my prices. I think you are spot on when saying the quality of the work needs to match the price or people get thrown off.