Average time to book a wedding gig?

KinkajouKinkajou Registered Users Posts: 1,240 Major grins
edited June 10, 2011 in Weddings
Two questions:

1. Of the people who contact you, what percent actually book you?

2. From the time of first contact, how long does it usually take for a potential client to sign the contract and send the retainer?

Thanks!
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  • tenoverthenosetenoverthenose Registered Users Posts: 815 Major grins
    edited June 8, 2011
    1. Of the contacts that I get where people are serious (not feeling out price) I book just over 75%. I hate to say it, but I can normally tell within 30 seconds of talking with someone that they are not serious.

    2. Normally within a week everything is locked down. This is one reason I love ShootQ - I can email a contract, have it signed & returned with a deposit in minutes.
    www.patrickpike.com | twitter | facebook
  • KinkajouKinkajou Registered Users Posts: 1,240 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    tenoverthenose wrote: »
    1. Of the contacts that I get where people are serious (not feeling out price) I book just over 75%. I hate to say it, but I can normally tell within 30 seconds of talking with someone that they are not serious.

    2. Normally within a week everything is locked down. This is one reason I love ShootQ - I can email a contract, have it signed & returned with a deposit in minutes.

    Huh. So then I guess I'm also asking out of all of those that contact you, how many are serious and how many are feeling out prices?

    ShootQ... off to go do some research...
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  • ssimmonsphotossimmonsphoto Registered Users Posts: 424 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    Kinkajou wrote: »
    Huh. So then I guess I'm also asking out of all of those that contact you, how many are serious and how many are feeling out prices?

    ShootQ... off to go do some research...
    I book 19-20 per year. I probably have an additional 4 that contact me, but never respond or move forward with someone else (but I book someone in place of their date after that decision has been made). Then I have another 10-15 who contact me, but are looking at a date that is already booked by someone else, so I refer them off through my QClub on Shoot Q or via email to other non-ShootQ vendors.

    I get 95% of my clients through referrals from other clients. So, by the time they are booking me, their decision is already made and they just want to make it official. I would say that 95% of the gigs I book are done so within one week of the first contact. The remainder sometimes take a couple weeks because I don't push them until I have someone else interested in the same date. I also have a lot of clients from out of state and sometimes I have to wait to meet them before their family will shell out the money to book. Others from out of state I book and then might not even meet before the day off because of the distance (it is happening a couple times this season).

    As for ShootQ.... I've written a novel about it on dgrin. If I find my post, I'll link you to it. I feel like I'm the queen of trying different studio managers and changing my mind.
    Website (hosted by Zenfolio after 6.5 years with SmugMug) | Blog (hosted by Zenfolio) | Tave User
  • wave01wave01 Registered Users Posts: 204 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    I know when booked our daughters wedding she got married in Atlanta. We had to flew out from the UK to help with the arrangements, we saw 2 photographers and we knew while talking to the 2nd that he was the one and booked him there and then
  • tenoverthenosetenoverthenose Registered Users Posts: 815 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    Kinkajou wrote: »
    Huh. So then I guess I'm also asking out of all of those that contact you, how many are serious and how many are feeling out prices?

    I'd say 1/3 of contacts I get are not serious. When I talk about a serious client, I mean someone that has actually looked through my work, read a few blog posts, spoken to a past client, referred by another vendor, etc. If someone does all of that and then contacts me I will probably get the job. If someone isn't serious enough to invest the time to do that, they are not the right client for me. They will not want to hire me, and I probably won't want to work with them.

    I want to work with clients that are excited to work with me, someone that will love my work and tell everyone else about it, not just someone that stumbles across a photographer with a date open in the calendar.
    www.patrickpike.com | twitter | facebook
  • AgnieszkaAgnieszka Registered Users, Retired Mod Posts: 3,263 Major grins
    edited June 9, 2011
    tenoverthenose wrote: »
    I'd say 1/3 of contacts I get are not serious. When I talk about a serious client, I mean someone that has actually looked through my work...

    1/3?? uhm wow .... My brides usually know my work pretty well, even the guys usually do (which I think is quite impressive thumb.gif) Of the brides that actually come and see me, I book about 95% :D A third of them book me on spot, the other ones usually reply within a week. If I don't hear from them for 2 days after my thank-you-for-coming email, they're usually out of the picture.

    I gotta also say, that I'm quite picky when it comes to my couples, if I don't get the right vibe at the meeting or in the email, I'll say no to weddings, no matter how much $$ it would be ... after all, *I* have to feel like I can make them happy with my photos also ... I out in a lot of personal investment into my work, and I'm really only happy with the final product when they're happy ... thumb.gif
    Angie blog | website | facebook page | google+
  • tenoverthenosetenoverthenose Registered Users Posts: 815 Major grins
    edited June 10, 2011
    Agnieszka wrote: »
    I gotta also say, that I'm quite picky when it comes to my couples, if I don't get the right vibe at the meeting or in the email, I'll say no to weddings, no matter how much $$ it would be ... after all, *I* have to feel like I can make them happy with my photos also ... I out in a lot of personal investment into my work, and I'm really only happy with the final product when they're happy ... thumb.gif

    That's the best move you could ever make.

    In regards to my 1/3 - the fact is that my name is out on a lot of referral lists, and quite frankly I'm the most expensive photographer in my area. So a lot of people get a referral list and send out mass emails or phone calls to "recommended vendors" asking for more information (remember, 90% of my weddings are destination weddings). Many call or email me without ever even visiting my website. They are often just in the early stages of planning a wedding and seeing who is available.

    Of course, when someone's first question is "How much do you charge?" I pretty much can rule them out.
    www.patrickpike.com | twitter | facebook
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