You have a nice pre-shoot consult, a great session, get some great photos, edit down to you favorites and make moving presentation and the client gets a brain freeze.
"I like so many. I can't decide."
How does everyone handle the ordering session? Make them decide there or give them time to think (and possibly forget)? I'd love some advice.
Hey Bill!!
I think MOST photographers struggle with this. The Ordering Appointment and how you guide it is crucial to the success of your sale and the success of your client getting really excited about what they're buying!
For starters - tell me what happens at your Ordering Appointments?
- what all are you showing them?
- what happens after they see everything?
- how does it end?
Thank you for posting such a great question!!
Allison :)
Allison, First I want to express my thanks for your generous support for all of her in the trenches. Be assured yu are making a difference.
Here is my ordering session:
A slide show with ProSelect set to music that fits the images.
Then a review of the individual photos, narrowing down the field to the ones the client likes best. (smile or neutral, no frowns, though).
Next, create some layouts for print collections (I am still learning the ropes of showing, the images portrayed on their walls)
This is where I get stuck. I don't know how to close. They don't want to decide right there. I let them go to think it over, then it is tough to get them back.
In the words of Homer, "D'Oh!"
Hi Allison and Jeff, I saw you in Boston a bit ago and thought you were fabulous. I just got off my duff to register here at lbobi.
The "one thing" I am working on is moving to the Ordering Appointment so I am anxiously awaiting your reactions to Bill's post above, plus I am wondering if you (or Jeff?) could tell us a bit about what projection equipment you use -- it seems you can spend $600 or $6000 on a projector...what is your experience?
Please forgive me - my response time is bad!!!! I'll get better I promise.
Bill - the first problem I see is that you are trying to do too much in front of them and it overwhelms the appointment.
Remember there is a feature in ProSelect where you can press the down arrow key during the slide show everytime they say "awe I love that one" and it will place those into your yes folder.
You need to place images into your product templates before this appointment ever starts. Ours are done a few days before.
If you spend so much time going "yes? no? maybe?" then they wont have anything left in them to make decisions on what to do with the "yeses. "
Plus if you get them to pick favorites before you have a basic idea of what they want to do with them images, then they usually say "no" to the ones needed to make a grouping work. Some times you want to keep a frowning one just for that reason.
There's a wall of canvases in our studio and one of my favorite images is of the youngest child crying... If that had not been shown in that product, then the idea that it's ok to leave it as a "yes" would never been accepted.
If you can take their images and place them into products and then ask them what they would like to focus on - this product, this product or this product? Then you are helping them more than you realize. They're going to end up with something instead of a bunch of loose prints and have to figure out what to do with them later.
Go through the slide show
Show the products
Ask out of those - which idea do they like the most
Then go back and make sure that the images you placed in that product (before the appointment) match up with what is in their "yes" folder since you sorted that when they watched the slideshow.
Tell if any of these ideas help!!!!
JERI: I'm going to get Jeff to answer the projector question for you!
Thank you so much for making lbobi a place where creative people can get answers!!
The Queen of lbobi
Allison :)
Brilliant! I get it. I'll do it.
Cheers!
Bill
This may be a silly question, but when you say "Show the products," what exactly do you mean? I've only conducted three in-house ordering appointments, but I don't have any projection equipment. I've been showing them proofs and having them pick their favorites (which I realize now is a "no no"). Are you suggesting we show a grouping of canvases, a group of mounted prints, and an album (based on what products we want to sell)?
Wow, what a lightbulb moment! Thanks Allison! Edobsonphoto- I could be wrong, but I believe what they are talking about in "showing the products" is similar to what you suggested- design a few product options such as a few gallery wrap wall groupings, maybe some stand-outs or float wraps, or a few prints that seem to go together in a frame/other, so that clients will be inspired to buy more than just prints, and you are suggesting what to buy so they don't have to spend so much energy trying to figure it out on their own. By designing these products I think they are talking about designing a few wall-comps (take pics of client's home and put the photos/products on the pic where it would look nice in their house in photoshop). If you are looking for a projector- we ordered ours in the B&H re-furbished dept and only paid about $300!! I couldn't believe it, and it is very good quality. B&H is the place to go. They deliver if you don't live in NYC.
Also, something we do is end the session by letting the client know that if make an order for a certain amount at that moment, or put down a deposit for a certain amount at the ordering session- then we give them a complementary high-res CD of the photos (which we start the ordering session with anyway). Just a little freebie to motivate them to order right away.
I have a question, though for Allison & Jeff... how long does it take you to design possible products before the ordering session? Are you talking about editing the photos & designing some ideas (seems like that would take awhile and would push the Ordering Session further away from the photo session), or just using the proofs to design a "rough copy" of the images? This has always been a struggle for us- to edit the proofs before the Ordering Appt or not to edit?
Scott Bourne had a really good answer on this in a recent podcast. "It depends".
The point that Scott (and Skip Cohen, I think) were making is that how much work goes into editing the proofs depends on the level of clientele. Scott's words were to the effect of, if it's a Sears portrait, then slap the proofs on the screen and let the client choose, then edit the chosen. If you're servicing a high-end client who wears Louboutin and considers Gucci to be everyday bags, then everything should be edited before showing them to the client.
Personally, I have high-end tastes, but not the budget (time or money). I prefer to edit as much as possible those images that made my cut, and then really apply the charm to the ones chosen. So, I'm not putting raw untouched images out there (as far as portraits go), but not spending too much time on images that aren't chosen.
As I grow and work with more people, though, I find myself leaning to the full edits, although choosing fewer images overall to present. Even if the customer doesn't choose those images, I can still use them myself. Plus, when I present images to the client, the images are ready to go as is (which was another of Scott's points--it's like he read my mind! ;) ). My personal challenges are 1) ensuring I get the best shot in camera that I can possibly get and 2) reducing the amount of time it takes me to edit photographs while still achieving the high standards I set for myself.
That's why this year is mostly just a practice year for me...
I have four parts to my photography sessions. Each part really lends it's self to the next. In my first session, I do a consultation. In this consultation, I get an idea of how the client would like to use their photos... Album, wall art, electronic frame, family gifts, etc. This step actually helps in the last step: Space design. I've already got them excited about how they are going to enjoy their new art. If it's framed photos that they want, discuss the space they have in mind and create a layout with ones that they have already been drawn to. If it's an album, compilate the ones that really complement each other and create a few layouts for them. All of these suggestions can be done and shown from the computer. It really helps them to make a decision as well as contributing to your customer service.