I recently switched from online proofing galleries to in person sales (IPS). What a change it is!
First, a little background.
Why Did I Make the Switch? I was exhausting myself by shooting so many boudoir sessions – I tripled the goal I set for myself in 2016 as far as the number of shoots. I was thrilled with the success but was burnt out! I wanted a way to 1) shoot less but make the same (or more) money; 2) invest more in my clients. I’m a luxury photographer – no one NEEDS boudoir photos – but as I was switching up my print collections, I knew I needed to go above and beyond for my clients with in person consultations. I HAD to be able to help them through the ordering process.
What Did I Do to Prepare for the Switch? I did a ton of preparation for this switch – changing my boutique boudoir collections, reading up on sales sessions, CreativeLive classes, and mentoring sessions with Heather. All of these steps were essential in effectively making this switch. Afterwards, I felt ready to go, ready to take my client experience to the next level and ready to achieve more than I ever thought I could.
Some of the other Flourish Academy Contributors will be sharing their in person sales techniques with you in a future post, but I wanted to share with you the 3 things I learned after making the switch to IPS.
1) People Will Come Back to View Photos.
If you’re like me, you told yourself that people won’t want to come back to view their photos. This is a lie – a big fat lie. I will tell you that NOT ONE client has not booked with me because they have to come back to view their images. And, I have a lot of clients that come from far away for their shoot, so we schedule a Skype call for their viewing & ordering appointment. Clients will follow your rules – you have to set those rules and FOLLOW them!
2) Larger Time Investment in Each Client.
You will invest more time into each and every client. This means, for me, that I can’t shoot as much as I used to because I won’t have time to handle the sales sessions and fulfill the orders. You will spend much more time preparing for each sales session, and you now do all the ordering – that is an investment in your time. Side note: Make sure your pricing reflects the increase in time you will spend on each session – time is money!
3) Change in Money Flow.
I was used to money always coming in from client payments. I’d finish a session, send a gallery, get a payment. Then a few days later, another gallery goes out, more money. With IPS, I get an influx of payments on my sales session days – it’s not a continual flow (aside from session fee payments) of payments coming thru. This was something that took me a while to get used to but I’ve settled into this new flow.
I’ve heard all the pros of switching to IPS and I was a skeptic, but I have to say that I’m seeing the results I had anticipated! This is encouraging. I’ll share more with you throughout the year on my move to IPS.
Great article! Which creative live class did you watch?