seminar schedule 2010!
Take your business to the next level with our latest series of seminars - designed to give portrait & wedding photographers proven strategies to boost studio bookings and sales.
sell without selling out and the need for leads will give you new confidence in your marketing strategies, booking and viewing process. Refer a friend for a $100 credit towards any Instinctive Desires product or service. (Make sure they give us your name when they book!). Venues in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Christchurch, for full seminar dates and times click here
set for success - a 2 day intensive workshop to build success for your business covering your sales & marketing, business management, database administration and much more. Gain new confidence in your ability to create profit! Workshops in beautiful settings in Byron Bay, Yarra Valley and Auckland - for full listing click here
For telephone bookings and enquiries call 03 9533 7227.
power tip – closing the sale
What does closing a sale mean? To close a sale is to reach the point in negotiations when market value has been agreed. The market value is the price which the purchaser is prepared to pay and the seller is prepared to accept.
Whether you are closing a portrait or wedding proof viewing or an interview to book a wedding you should be aware of the stage at which you are ready to close the sale. As a quick reminder of the Emotional Sales process, this is the point at which you have built desire by asking optional questions to identify their emotional needs and then educated them as to how you will fulfil those emotional needs. Before I move on to the procedure of closing a sale – let’s look at steps to close the sale:-
1. Prepare yourself – when you reach the point at which you are ready to close the sale, take a moment to clear your mind. Put on a smile which not only conveys confidence but helps you to feel more confident.
2. Give 100% - don’t allow yourself to be distracted and don’t take shortcuts. Each step of the closing process has a clear objective. Make sure you treat each client as if they are your most valued client.
3. Address their concerns – If you hear an objection – don’t avoid it! (Refresh yourself with the Dealing with Objections Power Tip). Take the time to think about what was said and respond directly to the issue. Be sure to avoid an argument – “I understand your concern about . . . “. To every disadvantage there is an advantage and it is vitally important to address their concerns.
4. Confirm everything – If you have taken the time to write everything down – you can easily run through the list and confirm what has been agreed prior to negotiating. Inattention to detail or wrongly written orders will cost the company and the salesperson plenty of money, time and unnecessary stress.
5. Ask for a decision – Never hesitate at the point in the sale when you need them to make the decision. Hesitation is an indication of doubt. Be confident in your products and prices.
6. Know your product range – Be sure you have all the prices at your fingertips – too often a sale is lost because of the time taken to finalise the price. If you sell it you should know what it costs! Work out an average framing price from your most common orders and stick to it. Similarly with albums – know how much it will cost to add extra pages.
7. Tell them they are not alone! – Appeal to both their emotion and their logic by telling them what your other clients have purchased. You can do this in a number of ways, and be aware of the positive benefits of making them feel that they are part of a group.
8. Keep your eye on the ball – The most successful people in the world don’t ‘rest on their laurels’. Track your sales averages and set yourself higher targets. Look out for new ideas and strategies and incorporate them into your process. Learn from your mistakes.
9. Put yourself in their shoes – If you have never had a session or don’t have your own portrait, then you can’t really empathise with the client’s experience. Being able to talk about your own experiences will get you closer to them
Next steps . . . Review the stages of your sales process and identify the point at which you are ready to close the sale. Ask yourself if you are happy with the way you are closing your sales at the moment and see if you can identify areas to improve on. Review your list of common objections and see if it needs to be updated. Keep tracking and increasing those sales averages. And smile!
Power tip – it’s time to take control!
How well do you know your business?
This week I want to ask you about your figures. We all aim to be more proactive and less reactive. One of the best ways to do that is to have at your fingertips information that allows you to ‘see’ a picture of your business. Can you identify the points at which you need to hire more staff? Expand beyond your current premises? Increase your prices? Boost your advertising?
Whatever your business, you need to track your business statistics and understand what those figures are telling you. At very least you should know:-
Business Reports
Monthly running costs
Monthly outgoings including staff costs
Income actual and projected
Cash flow
Profit margins on every product or service that you sell
Profit and loss figures monthly and annual
Plotting these figures month by month and comparing with past performance will help you to identify areas requiring attention – to plan special promotions for quiet times, schedule additional staff for busy times. Allocate time every week to strategise and use your financial statistics to help you do this.
Sales Reports
Your booking targets
Number of prospects required to achieve your booking targets
Your sales targets
Number of bookings required to achieve your sales targets
Your average sales figures
These figures need to be monitored weekly in order to assist management and staff with their targets. If these targets are not being met then you are in a position to address the relevant issues. You can provide additional training as required, and schedule it before the drop in bookings affects your overall income strategy.
At Instinctive Desires we take these foundations very seriously. Accurately maintained business and sales reports will provide the blueprint to determine the potential and future direction of your business. To maximise on your marketing and subsequent sales performance you need to understand where you are at any given moment! It’s time to take control!
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Power tip – do you really need to spend $$$?
5 steps to low cost marketing 
It is a fact that it’s hard to pin down the exact return from your advertising dollars. We also know that when you stop spending those dollars, the business drops. So how can you keep your marketing working for you without spending big bucks?
There are lots of positive ways to generate new business effectively without spending big $$$$ on a major campaign. Whatever the size of your business, and regardless of whether you are a wedding or portrait studio let’s look at what you can do every day to boost your business.
identify your customers
How old are they? What do they look like? What are their interests? Where else do they shop? What are their emotional needs? Once you have a picture of your customer, you can target them more effectively. Singles and young couples can be offered a Valentines Special; families can be targeted for Watch Me Grow programmes.
maximise on your existing customers
Are you making the most from your existing customers? Does your database allow you to search for customers who you want to target for a particular promotion? These people are your best ambassadors and you already know what their interests are. Simply by implementing some of the following suggestions – you are guaranteed to increase your repeat business.
- keep in regular contact - decide how you want to keep your business fresh in their minds. Send a birthday card or an anniversary card with an incentive to revisit or refer you. You only need to contact them once or twice a year to get effective results.
- target your customers with seasonal promotions - devise promotions that appeal to target groups and market to that specific group. Remember to appeal to the emotional – Mothers Day – cherished; Valentines –romantic; Melbourne Cup – fashionable; Family – devoted;
- personalise your correspondence You will get a much greater response if you make the effort to personalise your letters. Start with Dear Mary, refer to the contact – “it was a pleasure meeting you at last year’s bridal fair”, where possible mention other family members and always personally sign your letters.
- follow up – don’t expect your clients to make the first move! Call them about a week after sending out the letter, or about a week before the end of the promotion if you have a ‘book by’ incentive offer.
- set up a referral programme whereby your clients will be rewarded for referring new customers - we all know that nothing beats a personal reference, so give them incentive to recommend you.
- establish yourself as their family photographer who they will always call upon when special occasions arise.
next steps . . .
Revise your customer database and aim to contact each client at least once a year. Even if you only send 10 letters a week you will soon be seeing definite results. Produce a voucher or leaflet that they can pass on to friends.
Power tip – answering the ‘how much?’ question
objection dealing with the price question
Last week we covered some basics of using the telephone. Whether you are calling them or they are calling you, it is very important to generate an emotional response from your prospects and clients. So, how do you answer the “How much? question?”
People buy photography on an emotional basis. As an opening question, “How much?” is a logical reaction. It shows a lack of education for your products and services. Think about it! As a photographer, if you were enquiring about a photographic shoot, what would be your first question? The chances are you would ask about the photography style, details about what would be involved or the product range before you resorted to price.
The How Much Question? How often have you been asked ”How much are your 8x10”s?” You may give your price …let’s say $100. But, do you really charge $100 for every 8x10” that you sell?
Does it cost the same for an 8x10” print in a wedding album, a framed 8x10” from a family portrait session or fifty 8x10”s in a portrait album? In reality the price is dependant on variables such as quantity, product range, finishes etc. Your response can therefore begin …. “that depends”.
It is now important to educate your prospects on the goods and services you offer. Even better, educate them emotionally. The easiest way to turn it into an emotional journey is to ask optional questions.
What is an optional question? (That isn’t one!)
An optional question is where you provide two or more possible answers (options). The aim is:-
- to prevent a negative response
- to help educate them as to the products and services you offer
- to help educate you as to your client’s emotional needs
You can build their desire by asking optional questions and then educate them as to the appropriate pricing. The price question can best be dealt with by referring to averages. Every client is different, some may spend less and others more.
Remember, if you have built their desire and understand their emotional needs, they won’t be judging you by your prices alone.
Next steps . . . Try to avoid ‘negotiating’ before you have ‘built desire’. Write a list of optional questions that you can ask your prospects and keep it close at hand. Work out your average prices for the different business types that you offer – weddings, family portraits, baby portraits etc. Get into the habit of asking your client (using their name of course) as many questions as you can to establish what their desires are.
Power tip – how to increase your telephone bookings
7 steps to increasing your telephone bookings
Do you think that your camera is your most important business tool? What about your telephone? It is the next best thing to face to face contact with your prospects. Before we look at how to increase your business by using the telephone once again, let me stress that people buy emotionally. Buyers are more likely to purchase a product or service if an emotional reaction is created. Each customer is unique and has unique wants and needs. If you take the time to identify what these needs are, your success rate will improve dramatically.
when the phone rings or when you make the call
Regardless of whether they call you or you call them there are several golden rules to telephone etiquette.
Can you and your staff answer yes to all the following? Do you always:-
1. sound cheerful when you answer the phone – first impressions really do count.
2. give 100% attention to the call – the caller will know if you are distracted or not paying attention.
3. treat each prospect as if they were your best customer – don’t assume otherwise even when the final negotiation has been completed – they may become your best advocate and refer your best customer to you in the future.
4. ask for their name and use it.
5. repeat their answers to your questions as it will show that you are listening.
6. ask them where they heard about you and what it was that appealed to them.
7. follow up on answer phone messages promptly – if you leave it you lose it!
If you answered yes to all of those questions, you already present your business well.
But, how do you deal with the question – “How much?”
Many people have never experienced a professional photographic session before whether it is for their wedding or a portrait session. Therefore they are likely to ask “How much does it cost?” Sound familiar? This is a logical question and it is your job to turn it into an emotional journey.
Now that you have devoted 100% of your attention to possibly your best customer, you need to put yourself in her shoes. Next, we’ll look at how to answer the “how much?” question from an emotional perspective, build desire and effectively increase the number of bookings.
next steps . . .
Revise your studio telephone etiquette. Think about your telephone ‘turn offs’ – being put on hold, talking to someone who sounds uninterested in you, leaving messages that don’t get returned . . . Listen to your current answer phone message – does it generate the right first impression? Hang a sign next to your telephone “Smile! This person has just won the lottery and wants you to photograph them”.
Power tip – how to read your webstats
Once again, I'm delighted to present guest Power Tip contributor Melissa Norfolk.
How To Read Your Website Stats!
Wow, the graph that you just printed out with your website statistics for the previous month looks nice, and some of the numbers are very impressive, but do you really understand what the terminology means and which figures are the most important on your statistics report. Or perhaps you are saying “what are website statistics?” and have never actually printed them out! First of all we will look at the terminology used in web statistic reports.
Unique Visitors - Is a single individual person that views your website within a specified time period such as a day or a month. Each person visiting your site is counted only once, no matter how many times they visit your website
Number of visits – This is the number of times that your site has been visited. When you compare it with the number of unique visitors, this gives you an idea of the number of people who are returning to your site.
Page - This is a single page of your website, it may be your home (index) page, contact us page, about us or another page within your website.
Hits - a hit is a request made to the server where your website is hosted. Each file that is requested is counted as a hit. For example your home page may be a single .html page with 5 images on it. The number of hits recorded will be 6, as your .html page is one file and each image is also counted as a file. Therefore looking at how many hits that your website has received is not a very good statistical indicator.
Bandwidth – this is the amount of data (measured in megabytes) transferred from your hosts server to an internet user’s computer. E.g. Someone views your home page and on it is text and images that add up to say 2mb, if 50 people view this page then the amount of data transfer would be 100mb. Your web host will specify the amount of bandwidth (data transfer) that your hosting plan includes each month. If you exceed this you will be charged for additional bandwidth. If you have a large site with lots of traffic, keep an eye on this statistic.
Visits Duration – This statistic shows how long people are spending at your site. If they are not staying long you may need to review your content or add an attractor to have them stay longer and view more of your site.
Pages viewed or Pages URL – This statistic shows how many people are visiting each page. You may find you have even traffic visiting each page on your site or maybe that the majority of people are only visiting your home page and not going any further.
Referrers or referring URLS – is the website address where a visitor was before they came to your site. This gives you some idea of the websites or search engines that are referring traffic to your site and is also useful when considering your marketing plan. E.g. you may get some good traffic via Yellow Pages Online, so it may be worthwhile considering including extra in your marketing budget for a slightly higher profile advert.
Search Key phrases and keywords – These are the words and phrases that people are using to find businesses like yours. It is important to take notice of this as it may be good to weave more of the popular words into your content.
Ok – so now you have an idea of the terminology used in your statistic reports, which are the more important stats that you should take notice of.
The statistics that you need to take the most notice of are:
- Unique visitors
- Pages visited
- Referring URLs
- Key phrases and keywords
Understanding your website statistics is important and you do need to keep an eye on them. They can help you direct your marketing plan, alert you to which pages on your website are more popular and which ones need attention, where your traffic is coming from, which keywords people are using from your content and if you need to consider re-writing your content to include more keywords and key phrases.
If you are not sure how to access your website statistics contact your web host or web designer and find out today.
Internet expert, Melissa Norfolk, speaks to business, school and community groups about online marketing, email newsletters, effective use of the internet, finding what you need online and internet safety.
Power tip – never assume
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ASSUME?
I have had several photographers speak to me recently about clients they treat differently to others because they have made an assumption that that client will not buy. The reasons can be varied – they are travelling too far, they don’t look like they’ve got money, they have come through this promotion and are time wasters . . . the list goes on.
I have been a salesperson for longer that I would like to admit, and I still find myself surprised when the dust settles and the order is finalised.
Has this ever happened to you v1 - Sometimes you get great purchase intentions from a client, you check the suburb they live in, the clothes they are wearing, they ask for extra set ups during their shoot and you think great – this should be a big sale. It can be disappointing when they end up with a low $value order.
Has this ever happened to you v2 – The clients turn up insisting that they only want one image, they haven’t brought a change of clothes and don’t seem to have put much effort into the clothes they have brought. They start the viewing reminding you they only want one image. At the end of the day, their order comes to over $2,000 and what’s more they are happy!
· Never assume how much the client will pay
· Treat every client to exactly the same customer service, from the initial booking right through to your after sale follow up process.
· Regardless of your feelings about the client, or comments from other staff who are working with them, don’t be tempted to short cut the session or miss steps in your viewing process.
· If you are trying out a new marketing technique or promotion idea and the first few customers purchase minimally, don’t assume that everyone will follow the same pattern.
· Remember to work on the notion of the ‘average sale’ – one large order can lift your average significantly.
As photography is such an emotional product, you can’t be sure of the outcome of any session. If you make the assumption that the client will not spend well, the chances are they won’t! However, if you assume that everyone has the potential to spend big, you are likely to increase your average sale.
What is important is to ensure that you give everybody the same purchasing options and follow exactly the same procedure. Only in this way can you be sure that you are maximising with every client. Then when you get an unexpected low sale you can reassure yourself that you did everything right. It will increase your chances of getting an unexpectedly high sale too. Missing steps in your process can only lead to regret.
Allow yourself to be surprised by reminding yourself before every sale that it is impossible to know for sure what the clients will purchase.
Power tip – do you know when to stop?
Would you describe yourself as a perfectionist?
It is a trait common amongst photographers who take enormous pride in their art. There is a great deal to be said for not compromising on quality but having said that there is a point at which you need to ACT!
How many of you have projects on the go which are almost, but not quite completed? Think of your last advert or display album. How long did it take from concept to fulfilment?
This is another area that can dramatically affect your ability to work effectively in your business. Having been through the process of producing a small mountain of marketing material, several websites, a book, a CD and a DVD, I am fully aware of the amount of work involved in producing something that you believe effectively represents your business.
However, it is easy to get so bogged down in the minutiae that you forget the big picture. Remember to remind yourself of your business plan and direction.
If it is work for a client yes it needs to be perfect, but remember that people buy emotionally – it is the overall effect of the image that matters not the tiny millimetre of break up in the far right hand corner. No-one will be more critical of your work than yourself, but if you wish your business to be successful, you need to be aware of the number of hours you spend to get the work to your satisfaction. Give yourself an hourly rate and ask yourself if the image justifies that amount.
If the work is for advertising purposes, be aware that the image reproduction in a non photographic format (magazine, newspaper, printed material) will not require the same level of detail. Focus instead on the message.
Photography websites often fail to engage the viewer due to long loading times, insufficient motivation to act, difficulty in finding information. If you are not selling directly from your site, your phone number should be on every page – how else are you going to get their business? I have rarely found that email correspondence has the same rate of success as direct voice contact, although this may change from one business model to another.
Exhibition materials and display works should effectively represent the work of your studio and the finished product the client could expect to hang in their own home. You want to make an impact by all means, but again, be aware that the impact is emotional and clients are unlikely to scrutinise every inch of the canvas or album.
next steps - pull out all those unfinished projects and ask yourself whether you are preventing yourself from succeeding for unjustifiable reasons. Resist the temptation to review, revise, redo and take some positive action to complete!