Client Proofing - Projection vs. Printed vs. Web?

[smokinphoto]

If you’re an ethical and honest businessperson, trust me when I say that showing and selling your photos is far less stressful than most beginning professional photographers believe it to be.
You don’t have to dress things up or make your art out to be something it’s not; you don’t have to hard sell or upsell or practice salesman chicanery; you don’t have to do anything that makes you squirm in your seat or leaves you reaching for the Pepto-Bismol.
Your goal when proofing photos for clients and “selling” them files, prints, and products, is simple and noble: do everything within your power to help your client get the most long-term enjoyment possible while staying within their budget.
You don’t have to try and convince your client to buy something they don’t want, but you do want to expose them to options they may not have considered.

 

[smokinphoto]

Here is a interesting article just on this subject , which talks about it at a great length. Hope you find this useful.

Your first photo proofing and sales session – Your First Customer Series, Part 9 | The Part Time Photographer

 

[Christie Photo]

I'm not a portrait-heavy studio these days, but I can tell you what I've realized.

I was younger and more ambitious... I need to rekindle.

We always showed paper proofs. I taught my sales people the importance of building enthusiasm at every opportunity, from the initial call to book, to the clothing consult, to the day of the session, when delivering previews (we sent them home for a week), on the day of ordering, right on through to delivery. It's crucial to keep this process flowing.

These days, I don't do much portraiture. About a year after switching to digital, I went with online proofing. Just proofing... no online sales. I IMMEDIATELY saw a problem. The orders came slower... sometimes MUCH slower.

With paper previews, we always required them back within a week. This was explained to the client when they came in. We also took a $100 deposit when the previews left the studio. This kept the flow going and the enthusiasm high.

So while I save on printing these days, I know it's costing me on orders. I can't tell you exactly how much. I do so little portraiture, I just don't concern myself with it. But I can assure you the orders are smaller. There has been at least one occasion when no order came at all and I just locked the web gallery after 3 or 4 weeks, never hearing from the client again.

Also, I think I lost one of my best marketing tools... that proof book. It went everywhere... to school, to work, to the relatives. Good advertising. And I used to offer it for sale, starting at $80 and discounting it further and further with ascending print order totals until it was free at the $300 mark.

Let me know if you have any questions.

-Pete


BTW... that proof book was an 8-open Art Leather folio with 8 4x5 proofs. I doubt I could get by with showing 8 proofs these days.

 

[c.cloudwalker]

BTW... that proof book was an 8-open Art Leather folio with 8 4x5 proofs. I doubt I could get by with showing 8 proofs these days.

I just had to lol at that. How true. Today's retail photogs have created a hell for themselves. When I did weddings, I averaged 2-300 hundred proofs with 300 being quite rare and I didn't spend much time on those. The films were sent to a lab, I got them back a few days later, the customers picked up the proofs along with a mock up of what album I suggested with B&W copies done on a copy machine.

All told, I never spend more than 2 days on a wedding including the event itself.

Anyway, to get back to the OP's question and playing devil's advocate, how can you say for sure that the decline in orders is due to the online proofing. How can you tell it is not just the economy?

I tend to agree with you but it is not so easily quantifiable as the OP seems to want it to be.

 

[Christie Photo]

..how can you say for sure that the decline in orders is due to the online proofing. How can you tell it is not just the economy?

Is was so very obvious. Instantaneous. And it began before the real financial crap hit the fan.

So now I'm considering an entirely different approach for me... here in my studio.

I worked for another photographer 1978–1983. During the last year there, we began showing wedding proofs via slide show. We did it right too, with two projectors and a dissolve unit all set to music. That first one was a lot of work. And the initial investment in equipment was considerable. Pro labs had just started offering proofing on 35mm slides, so that part was easy. Each slide came numbered to match each neg. Even though most weddings totalled only 180 proofs or so, it required some thought and organization, alternating between the slide trays, programing the unit with a proper delay and saving the whole thing to cassette tape.

The reasoning was: gather all the principal family at once, make them comfortable... a bit of wine... whatever. Make the whole thing an experience. Adding music is always powerful. The impact was amazing. And... once that image faded into the next, it was gone. No paper proof to buy. So if they wanted to have it, they had to order a print. We saw a 20% increase on the first wedding. Plus, it was a huge image builder. No other studio was doing this, using state-of-the-art equipment.

Recently (27 years later), I was chatting with that photographer. He continues to show proofs this way. Of course the slides are gone, but the concept is the same. He didn't really say, but I got the idea that this is the only way he shows proofs. It makes a lot of sense.

So now, I'm considering a large, flat-panel monitor or a projector for proofing. I think I want to show the image actual size. I gotta tell ya, an 8x10 looks pretty puny after seeing a 20x24 or 24x30.

And yes.... I would be there to help my client with their order. I can't imagine not. In my mind, it's a level of service I must provide. There are always so many questions when taking an order. I feel I would be abandoning the clients if they had to order online.

-Pete

 

[James Taylor]

Here is a interesting article just on this subject , which talks about it at a great length. Hope you find this useful.

Your first photo proofing and sales session – Your First Customer Series, Part 9 | The Part Time Photographer

Thank you smokinphoto for the quote from my blog and the link! I appreciate your readership.

To talk on your original question njw1224, I'll be honest in saying I don't know the exact amount my sales went up when I moved from web-only proofing to studio proofing - it was a gradual shift and I still do web proofing for certain clients, in certain situations.

I don't think it's entirely correct to say in-person proofing is far and away better than web proofing in all circumstances. Online galleries are a tool, just as a projection screen and projector are, or a laptop for mobile proofing.

Did my per-client averages go up when I went from web-only to in-person? For most clients, unequivocally yes.

One could argue the why's all day: yes, you have a better opportunity to "sell" and build rapport, to take charge of the customer experience, to build excitement; yes, you can display images wall-sized instead of low-res on your client's uncalibrated monitor; yes, you can make suggestions and guide their sales experience.

The latter I think is where the real value lies in in-person proofing. Every interaction with a client is a touchpoint, an opportunity to make your client's experience with your business a more enjoyable and memorable one. In-person proofing, in a big home studio with projected images and wine or in a Starbucks on your MacBook Pro, gives you the opportunity to build rapport and continue to serve your client's best interests.

In a "sales" session, you're not trying to "sell" a client anything, you're trying to help them - you're still the expert, their guide. Expose them to wall hangings, albums, wall clings, gallery wraps, and other products they may not have known about. Ask questions, find out if they have company over much, what room they host visitors in, where they have open wall space for possible wall art or groupings, if the photos are to send to grandparents, if they want lots of digital files to post to Facebook... It's hard to serve your clients' needs through a web gallery where you have no opportunity to explore those needs.

My standard rule is I proof in person. If a client wants web proofs, I ask a retainer for about half what my client average is, which they get back fully in file/print credits.

Your business factors are, as always, time and money. I don't think in-person proofing leads to a 2x or 3x time commitment per client unless you make it that way. Except with the rare chatterbox, my sales sessions last around 45 minutes.

Do I get an extra 45 minutes worth of money out of my client for having done an in-person sales session? In my market with my clients, I certainly do.

But equally if not more important, I have an extra 45 minutes with my client to serve their needs, make a good impression, and give them more remark-able reasons to become repeat clients and to refer their friends. That is worth far more over time than the cash in hand from that one sale.

My advice would always be to test the waters, try in-person proofing for a few months, see how it goes. Pay attention to your numbers - your time invested and the extra money you make. Only then will you know if it's a better option for your client base.