Photographyblog, Annabel Williams, Potrait Selling

Every photographer should spend a dedicated amount of time monitoring and evaluating the efficiency of each area of his or her business. Running a photography business is about more than just taking pictures. Each department needs to have as much TLC as the photographic product. The sales department is often one of the more neglected areas, coming at the end of the process and sometimes being the bit that photographers feel the most uncomfortable about!

When monitoring the effectiveness of this you need to go back through the journey that each client takes through your business. This journey allows you several opportunities to prepare the clients for the sale experience and thus also prepare them for a realistic spend.

Your marketing activity should ensure that you have the right target market clients coming through the business, but from the very first point of contact they need to know an estimation of what they are likely to spend. In fairness most clients won't have a definite idea of what they want as a final finished product so it is up to you to educate them, start to get them thinking about the physical product that they want from the shoot whether it is a collection of pictures in an album, or framed pictures and canvasses for the wall. Introduce the price points for these options –'Most of my clients spend anywhere between £xxx and £yyy' Framed pictures start from £xxx upwards, collections of images in albums start from £xxx.

At this stage this is enough information for them to start to feel comfortable with, anyone unwilling or unable to spend this much will be filtered out here. Following the initial call, send out your printed material with a covering letter, this letter should support and reinforce the message you were giving out over the phone, confirming all details and again have a simple reference to prices and the sales process you will be taking the clients through so they have a thorough understanding of both the method you will be adopting for the sale and the price points of the various products available.

The next stage which offers you an opportunity to pre-sell is the photographic experience itself, throughout the shoot you can mention products and prices if the opportunity arises, if not there is always the valuable time at the end of the shoot. Don't rush away, an extra 15 minutes over coffee at this time will give you the best opportunity to prepare the client, they have had a great time with you so far and are now quite relaxed. Take some products with you, keep them in the car and as you are chatting start to prepare them for the next stage.

Explaining that they will see their images as an AV presentation, that you will take them through a process that really helps them to decide which they want and how they want them, introduce the option of an album and if they are unsure about what today's albums are like, say you just happen to have one in the car and get it to show them! Openly discuss the options available as you really want to encourage them to think about where they might want to hang a finished frame, this will help make further decisions easier such as size and type of frame or finish.

By the time you are in the actual sales scenario almost 90% of the work should be done and you're job is then to help them select the best possible images in the most ideal form of presentation for their needs.

It is crucial that you have great sales samples, as it is a well-known fact that people buy what they see. If you want to sell a multi acrylic block with 9 images on then you need to have a multi acrylic block with 9 images on to show. With collections of pictures in albums, always show a storybook layout, for an on-location lifestyle shoot you should aim for between 60-90 images, to really show the potential of the album as a sales tool.

Another idea worth considering is to have the sales samples priced up, create some beautiful 'price tags' which are neatly suspended from the back of the frame or in the back of the album on ribbon so that clients who may be seeing these samples at the consultation stage or at the photo shoot itself, become comfortable and familiar with prices.

Biography

http://www.annabelwilliams.com

Annabel Williams' reputation as both a world class photographer and an outstanding tutor is recognised across the globe. Her warm enthusiasm, coupled with an incredibly intuitive approach, is and always has been the driving force behind her very personal and unique style of innovative yet contemporary award winning portraiture.

She brings to her work an imagination and insight which is rare among even the finest professionals, all of which has contributed to her outstanding performance in her genre and it is these qualities which command Annabel so much respect from her peers.

No stranger to both TV and the press, Annabel is also the author of several books on her subject. Her passionate viewpoint engages everyone in a highly enthusiastic exchange of ideas and creativity.

Alongside her business partner Catherine Connor, Annabel also runs Contemporary Photographic Training (CPT) – a dedicated training centre in the Lake District, which runs a comprehensive range of workshops and seminars from ‘getting started’ right through to the prestigious ‘Bespoke Programme’ for aspiring professionals.

All images in this article © Annabel Williams