MLeeK
TPF Noob!
- Joined
- Oct 20, 2011
- Messages
- 6,761
- Reaction score
- 1,380
- Location
- NY
- Can others edit my Photos
- Photos OK to edit
It's simple really. Under-promise, over deliver.
I went to a seminar by Jim Garner at WPPI a few years ago and he kept repeating this phrase: "Give it away. It will come back to you. Tenfold."
I live and do business by that philosophy every day. It is amazingly true... BUT... there is more to it that giving everything away-obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be in business. You can't get paid by giving it away and giving it away doesn't pay the bills.
Here's how it works:
1. Don't show your best, most amazing, blow you away work. WHAT??? You're kidding me, right? No. I am not. I didn't say show them your out takes and chimp shots. I said don't show them your once in a lifetime shots or your shots that are absolute perfectness. Show only your average stuff. The stuff that is an average expectation. Show what the average shots in your delivery will look like. If they expect those are your top end shots, you are bound to impress them when they get your WOW shots from their wedding or portrait session.
We make the mistake of showing only the WOW shots and most of the session isn't made up of the WOW shot. That's usually a few shots out of maybe 30.
2. Whatever package is only list a portion of it as the deal. For example, we'll say your wedding package includes:
8-10 hours with one shooter
2 hours of a second shooter-the immediate before, during and after the ceremony when things are hectic.
10x10 Finao Album, 36 sides
2-8x8 copies as parents albums
Custom bag for the 10x10 album
20x24 framed canvas
DVD of the slideshow and high res images
Write your package to say:
8 hours
10x10 album with 24 sides
DVD of hi-res images
20x24 framed canvas
Then give it away. When I show up at the final meeting before the wedding I offer them the second shooter and extra hour if they will do me a favor. The favor is to see each other before the wedding. I give them the hour or two to get together with their bridal party-the most important friends in their lives-and enjoy that time together. A few bottles of champagne are a minimal cost to me. BUT! The deal for that time is that it is NOT for posed portraits or anything with pressure. It is JUST to be together and celebrate privately. Then I sit back and snap. At the end of that time the second shooter will come in and shoot the immediate moments before the wedding, during the wedding and the chaos after.
When I deliver the proofing of the album I make about 48 sides. Their wedding was just so amazing that I couldn't stop myself! I GIVE them 12 extra sides. I also still leave a LOT of possible upsell on the table with the 12 more slides on the table.
When I deliver the final products they are then also gifted the bag, and the 2 extra albums. I just happened to buy a deal from the lab for the 2 albums and they are such an amazing client that I wanted to give them as a gift.
On top of that their images also include my WOW images-better than what they saw when they contracted me.
In short: they got more, FEE!!! They got better images than they contracted for and they are the. most. special. client. I have ever had.
I have already priced the package as if those free things were written in there. They're paid for. But the client doesn't realize this.
The same idea applies to a portrait session. Promise less, give more. More product, more time and more attention. Set the standards low. Then deliver your standard.
3. Retail Pricing, discount pricing and "friends and family" pricing. I mentioned in a post earlier that my FULL retail price for an 8x10 is $40. My ACTUAL price is $30 if ordered within 14 days of proofing. If a client is spending a TON of money I also have my secret friends and family discount. I can give that discount out whenever I want. It's my business! As long as I am making my minimum and getting paid what I want to be paid for a session I can just "looove" a client and because they're the most amazing client EVER I'll give them my friends and family price which is whatever I want it to be, but usually 50% off retail on prints. Canvases and artworks are priced a bit differently, so they're not a % off, but they are a significant discount.
Summary: Set their expectations at an acceptable standard. Then deliver YOUR standard. You aren't doing MORE or costing more than you would normally do, you are CONTROLLING EXPECTATIONS and then exceeding them.
I went to a seminar by Jim Garner at WPPI a few years ago and he kept repeating this phrase: "Give it away. It will come back to you. Tenfold."
I live and do business by that philosophy every day. It is amazingly true... BUT... there is more to it that giving everything away-obviously. Otherwise I wouldn't be in business. You can't get paid by giving it away and giving it away doesn't pay the bills.
Here's how it works:
1. Don't show your best, most amazing, blow you away work. WHAT??? You're kidding me, right? No. I am not. I didn't say show them your out takes and chimp shots. I said don't show them your once in a lifetime shots or your shots that are absolute perfectness. Show only your average stuff. The stuff that is an average expectation. Show what the average shots in your delivery will look like. If they expect those are your top end shots, you are bound to impress them when they get your WOW shots from their wedding or portrait session.
We make the mistake of showing only the WOW shots and most of the session isn't made up of the WOW shot. That's usually a few shots out of maybe 30.
2. Whatever package is only list a portion of it as the deal. For example, we'll say your wedding package includes:
8-10 hours with one shooter
2 hours of a second shooter-the immediate before, during and after the ceremony when things are hectic.
10x10 Finao Album, 36 sides
2-8x8 copies as parents albums
Custom bag for the 10x10 album
20x24 framed canvas
DVD of the slideshow and high res images
Write your package to say:
8 hours
10x10 album with 24 sides
DVD of hi-res images
20x24 framed canvas
Then give it away. When I show up at the final meeting before the wedding I offer them the second shooter and extra hour if they will do me a favor. The favor is to see each other before the wedding. I give them the hour or two to get together with their bridal party-the most important friends in their lives-and enjoy that time together. A few bottles of champagne are a minimal cost to me. BUT! The deal for that time is that it is NOT for posed portraits or anything with pressure. It is JUST to be together and celebrate privately. Then I sit back and snap. At the end of that time the second shooter will come in and shoot the immediate moments before the wedding, during the wedding and the chaos after.
When I deliver the proofing of the album I make about 48 sides. Their wedding was just so amazing that I couldn't stop myself! I GIVE them 12 extra sides. I also still leave a LOT of possible upsell on the table with the 12 more slides on the table.
When I deliver the final products they are then also gifted the bag, and the 2 extra albums. I just happened to buy a deal from the lab for the 2 albums and they are such an amazing client that I wanted to give them as a gift.
On top of that their images also include my WOW images-better than what they saw when they contracted me.
In short: they got more, FEE!!! They got better images than they contracted for and they are the. most. special. client. I have ever had.
I have already priced the package as if those free things were written in there. They're paid for. But the client doesn't realize this.
The same idea applies to a portrait session. Promise less, give more. More product, more time and more attention. Set the standards low. Then deliver your standard.
3. Retail Pricing, discount pricing and "friends and family" pricing. I mentioned in a post earlier that my FULL retail price for an 8x10 is $40. My ACTUAL price is $30 if ordered within 14 days of proofing. If a client is spending a TON of money I also have my secret friends and family discount. I can give that discount out whenever I want. It's my business! As long as I am making my minimum and getting paid what I want to be paid for a session I can just "looove" a client and because they're the most amazing client EVER I'll give them my friends and family price which is whatever I want it to be, but usually 50% off retail on prints. Canvases and artworks are priced a bit differently, so they're not a % off, but they are a significant discount.
Summary: Set their expectations at an acceptable standard. Then deliver YOUR standard. You aren't doing MORE or costing more than you would normally do, you are CONTROLLING EXPECTATIONS and then exceeding them.