How do you talk about yourself?

[paigew]

Do you have cards? Mine have photos on them. I would just say..."oh I do photography too, check out my site!"... hand them your card and let your images speak for themselves.

 

[waday]

You don't have to say, "I'm better than this person because I have X and Y experience and I take better photographs". You just have to say, "I have X and Y experience". Couple that statement with your portfolio, and you're done.

The problem with comparing yourself to the competition is that you're planting their name in the client's mind. You may be trying to say "I'm so much better than this other guy," but the customer hears "hey, here's another name we hadn't heard of before." You want their focus to be on YOU.

The only time you would want to mention someone else is when you've determined that - for whatever reason - you are unable and/or unwilling to take on the project. Maybe it requires skill or equipment you don't have and cannot easily obtain. Maybe it's just not the type of business you're taking on at the moment. Even here, though, you're maximizing your favorable exposure. "I can't help you with this, but here's someone who can. In the meantime, keep me in mind if you have a project I can help you with."

Not sure why I was quoted, unless you agree? Nevertheless, why give that person the referral right off the bat? Maybe get their contact information and provide them with the referral later? That way, you can always "check up" with them later and try another sales pitch.

 

[unpopular]

How do I talk about myself?

Constantly.

 

[W.Y.Photo]

That's my whole point of phrasing it like that in this context. To point out that it isn't good practice to do something like that. I don't actually do that.

Well, that's good to know but, as long as you're talking about your competition, you aren't selling yourself. Sell yourself first and only, then your product - only - and then any other reason someone would have for doing business with you, not your competition. Forget the competition. As far as you're concerned, there are no other photographers being interviewed. Some prospective clients might take your words regarding the competition in a manner you do not intend. Some might not have seriously thought of someone else until you bring up the idea.

Sell yourself.

Learn to how to read how people take in information. There are many books written on the subject of selling to a personality type. Learn body language. How someone speaks, their choice of words, how they look up, down or right at you tells you how they want information fed back to them. How they sit or stand all reflects their personality type and you need to know what they are saying when they aren't consciously saying it. It's not being unfair to have knowledge of your client and their motivations in order to assist your client. Selling to your clients "needs and wants" as they have expressed them to you is what you do as a salesperson.

If you are uncomfortable selling yourself and your product, get a job on an assembly line. If you feel sales is a dirty business, get a job as a court stenographer. We all sell ourselves everyday of our life. Take a course in sales. Read a few books on sales. Be a professional.

I've spent decades in high end electronics sales and 95% of the people I've worked with were professional sales people who felt their job was to assist the client. So do your job by selling a benefit to the client and you'll be ahead of the game. But learn how to sell.

There's a process to sales that follows a simple plan of one after the other stages. If you skip one, then you've probably lost the sale because you aren't paying attention to the client. Sales is largely listening. You are going to say mostly the same thing to every client day in and day out. Prepare your words in advance. Know how to say the same thing in different words. How to place your client's desires into your answers. You simply need to know what they say so you can respond in a manner appropriate to their wishes.

If someone says they've had a bad experience with another photographer, don't run down your competition even at the prompting of the client. You don't know what the other situation was, who was right and who was wrong, you only know how you intend to go about the upcoming situation. Stay with selling yourself and being attentive to what problems your clients claims to have had with another business person and explain how you will solve their previous problems.

IMO the two most important rules of sales are; 1) you can't close anything you don't open and, 2) you won't get anything you don't ask for. Ask for their business.

If you're that damned good, then you shouldn't have a problem with that. It's as they say, it's not bragging if you can back it up. If your product isn't what the client needs, you need to be up front but you also need determine whether they can be brought around to what you can provide. Or else, just walk away. If you truly cannot get enough enthusiasm for your product to sell it, then you need a different line of work. It's not selling ice to an eskimo, it's finding out what the client desires and knowing what you have in stock which would supply a fulfillment of that desire.

In between opening the sale and closing the sale there's a lot you need to pay attention to. The client is telling you what they want. Pay attention. Repeat words back to them so there is an agreement on what has been said as you understand the ideas and what your answers are to what has been said. Some times it's what you have and some times it's not. If it's not and you can't deliver the goods, don't tell the client you can. A single dissatisfied client will tell ten times the number of people about you vs a satisfied client.

If you feel your product and your work ethic can satisfy the client, then you need to present your ideas in a way that clicks with that specific client. That can be difficult if you are selling yourself to a couple where one is this personality type and the partner is another. Which is almost always the case, opposites do attract. But the basics of how people look, talk and handle information are what you must respond to. It's all available for study, you just need to put forth the effort to become a sales person proud of what they are selling.

But, how, in today's world, do you ever not have examples to show someone? That says you really don't think very much of your work.

A business person carries their cards with them to every event and non-event in their day. You don't gladhand people. But you, at the very least, have your cards - your advertising - with you. People will not remember your name or your business' name. Have a professional looking card and some examples you can show at all times. Even if it's just a web page someone can check at their leisure. One rule though is, once you have allowed a client to look elsewhere, your chances of getting that business have depreciated by at least half. So carry your sales tools with you - period!

If you sell cars or HVAC systems, OK, you don't carry those with you. But carrying photos is pretty easy today. If you don't have at least a few examples with you, that's like the used car salesperson who says, "Trust me, I can get you the car you want in no time." If you can't prove to the client that you can back up your words, most will go with the person who can.

Even if you're the superior photographer, most people won't give a flip about that. They aren't looking for the sort of things a photographer sees in a photo. So you need to listen to your clients and respond to what they say they want. Carry your card and don't be afraid or embarrassed to hand it out. And certainly don't think asking your satisfied clients for referrals is bad for business. Neither is asking other photographers for tips on doing good business. Just don't talk out of school.

Like Angie's List, people will do business with people who have satisfied their neighbors and friends and people they feel are like them in needs and wants. If you are proud of your work and you've satisfied the clients needs and desires, ask for a referral or, at the least, ask if someone would mind answering questions from a prospective client on your behalf. If you can't be comfortable selling to a satisfied client, then you do really need a different profession. If you feel you must, offer them a discount on their next job with you for every referral they give. Word of mouth is your best sales representative.

If you can't sell yourself, find someone who can and give them 50% of your fees. I don't know a lot of people who like to give away money so you'll learn to do your own selling or you'll be content working for 50% less.

Sales is a profession. Learn it and practice good sales techniques. Clients respond to honesty and they will respond to someone who is obviously listening to them rather than that prick who can't stop running down his competition.

And, if you lose a sale you thought you should have, remember it's simply a business deal. Walk away with no hard feelings.

Excellent response. I most definitely agree with everything you are saying.

I do have business cards and photos I can show people on my phone. The photo on my business card usually elicits some good responses from people. The reason for this thread is that its not every situation and conversation that you can pull out your phone and show photos, plus sometimes it seems like showing off. The true dilemma I'm facing is really just an internal conflict between my "Artist" self hating saying anything about the quality of my work to anyone.. ever; and my "Business" self wanting to tell potential clients I am a skilled photographer with the capability of creating beautiful images for them. I guess I'm just trying to learn how others find a balance between those ideas to see if the place I'm at is a good one or if it could be negatively impacting me, so thanks very much for the responses!! They're doing a lot to affirm my position on the matter I think.

 

[soufiej]

The reason for this thread is that its not every situation and conversation that you can pull out your phone and show photos, plus sometimes it seems like showing off. The true dilemma I'm facing is really just an internal conflict between my "Artist" self hating saying anything about the quality of my work to anyone.. ever; and my "Business" self wanting to tell potential clients I am a skilled photographer with the capability of creating beautiful images for them. I guess I'm just trying to learn how others find a balance between those ideas to see if the place I'm at is a good one or if it could be negatively impacting me, so thanks very much for the responses!! They're doing a lot to affirm my position on the matter I think.

Maybe I'm still not understanding your question but no salesperson is a salesperson 24/7. If you think you are or should be, what you actually become is an annoyance.

Number one rule for sales is IMO, you listen to what others are saying. Over the years I've worked for myself and for companies. There are pros and cons to each. At the present, I'm working in a service industry; professional pet sitter. I'm also a care giver to a handicapped partner which requires I have some freedom to create my own schedule. So I work for a company and do some freelance work for neighbors and friends. The company does some advertising (we're the oldest and largest of our type in the city with the most client based awards for great service and a great amount of client referrals and, as such, we are the name that comes up first when clients do an on line search) but I am in control of just how much I want to go out into my local neighborhood and advertise myself.

I see others who are ten years old and their mother must drive them to the client's house and their mother won't let them sit too early or too late or this big dog or that cat. I've seen one "professional pet sitter" place his card in the doors of an entire neighborhood with the information that he had been vetted by the Secret Service. Cripes! Didn't know I needed that to clean a litter box! My services are some of the highest priced in the city but, as a company of individual employees/contractors, we've developed a clientele and a reputation that we are worth the money. I certainly can't coast on reputation but I certainly can't consider my competition to be a ten year old either. You set the tone for how and how much you promote yourself.

If you listen to people, you can tell when you can gracefully place yourself in the conversation. Even it's simply to say you do the type of work they are discussing and leaving them with a card. You don't have to intrude and you shouldn't intrude. You must though think of yourself as a salesperson before you can get a job as a photographer. Unless you have developed that reputation over years of work and effort, people aren't just going to call you in most cases.

You can go to a few of the marketing studies available on line which will suggest where you get the best bang for your buck when it comes to promotion. Word of mouth is very powerful and getting known at the local shops where someone might ask for a referral can get a few jobs if you've shown the shop you are trustworthy. Remember, you're asking the shop to place their own reputation on the line when they recommend someone. Screw up once - even if it wasn't your fault - and word of mouth will be your worst enemy. So you must have you cards in order before you go out to gain recommendations. As Walter Brennan's character always said on "The Guns of Will Sonnet", "No brag, just fact". Make the shop look good and they will be more willing to promote you.

If you overhear someone discussing the need for your type of services, just listen to their words. Be extremely gracious without being sappy. Don't brag but be positive and, as always, make your words about the other person's needs and desires. Be aware of the circumstances; you don't walk up and shake someone's hand in the restroom and you don't slip your card into their hymnal at church.

If you are just starting out, how much work you get will depend on how much work you work to get. It takes a long time to develop a reputation. If you feel you're really not up to the job of selling yourself, get with a company as a freelancer. There are as many upsides as downsides to this, most significantly, you are giving up some commission to have someone else take on the responsibilities of advertising and insurance. But you can get your start with a company and eventually work your way into referrals that gain you work on your own. Be careful since most companies have non-competition clauses in any contract you sign. Some companies are very aggressive about protecting their turf from someone they see as unwanted and illegal competition. You can find yourself losing a lot when you take on a company (with lawyers) if you don't work under their rules. However, at times it's much easier for the newest worker to sell the benefits of a large company vs their own skills and talents. You have to decide what works best for your own situation.

More than anything though, as a salesperson for yourself or a company, your first job is, IMO, to listen and pick up on the client's own words. They will tell you how to proceed. There are as many "styles" to sales as there are salespeople. Being yourself is your best route to being an effective salesperson. Put yourself in the client's situation and answer questions that really say something about their own questions and statements.

How you sell a Chevy is not the same as how you sell a Mercedes. The very best people I have worked with are incredibly comfortable moving from the high end buyer to the low end buyer without missing a beat. It's not a bad idea though to go to the Mercedes dealer and just strike up a conversation when its slow and time is not money. No one objects to being treated as though they were spending a lot of money even when they aren't. High end and "luxury" shops tend to employ people who have experience and see sales as a profession so you're far less likely to find a situation where someone isn't planning to come back after lunch. Find a few high end shops in your area and just go in. Observe how the sales staff operates and how they handle questions. Don't not read and study on your own but observing a good salesperson is a great education IMO. No Willy Lomans and no Alec Baldwins in "Glengarry Glen Ross". At one shop I had an office with glass walls right next to "George", the top salesperson in the shop who only had to work on referrals. Watching him and listening to him was watching and listening to every client's best friend. Find a salesperson like that and you will find an education you can take to the bank.

Many of the people I have worked with have a difficult time following up. If they don't close a sales on the first visit, they write the deal off and never again contact that person. There are times for that certainly, but I normally had a short file I would keep with contact information and I would follow up in a few days to a week or so with a more extensive contact. I asked the clients to fill it out so, if they objected, fine. Otherwise, most felt it was to their benefit to explain on paper why they were shopping for my goods and services. Then we'd go over their words and clarify just what they were after.

Emails went out in 24 hours. People like to think they made an impression on you and, if you show them they have, they are more likely to remember you over the prick who writes them off. If you get no feedback from your contacts, drop the file in the "pending" slot. Don't become the prick who won't let go. However, I've had more than a few clients come back after several months saying they were happy I kept in contact. Otherwise, they've said, they wouldn't have taken action. People get busy and at times a gentle reminder actually moves them to make a decision. Stay in contact until you've been assured you are no longer in their sights. Do so both before and after the sale/assignment. This is, IMO, an important part of your work that a lot of others will simply blow off. If they skip it and you don't, you can set yourself apart with minimal effort.