Lessons

Lesson Info

Presentation Prep & How to Cold Call Effectively

Develop a hot list and work it follow up follow up follow up this is probably the single most important part about going to volunteer job once you study here your community once you study what you need, what you want to go after and the weaknesses and you say okay, this is it this is where I'm going to go and you do your research and you have it developed at hotlist and start falling up so if you fail that first time you're going to come back again in a polite way you're not going away I even jobim say I'm like a bad rash I just never go away and they laugh and joke and someone hate me for because I'm a bad rash but whatever they remember me this is a huge one and this is advantage that I personally have in my community along with cody there's no question we're born and raised in our community we know a lot of people in our community and that helps that again that makes it personal, which is my model I want to make it personal so that helps tremendously. So before I go into any present...

ation or even go into where I want to get president, just the initial contact always ask cody even susan amy, do you know any of these people like I already done the research I know the key players aren't supposed to talk to and now ask him do you know any these people I'll even call my mom and my dad do you know these people well mom taught in a school district for so many years so I use every bit of my resources to see if I can bring in their family their children their any interest when I had that conversation because how is it susie is a perfect example when you first meet people and you shake their hand and tell your name most people the vast majority do not even pay attention that person saying their name it's just normal procedure to greet someone and you say your name you don't pay teams you don't comprehend it susie has an uncanny knack once you meet someone show remember the first name their last name their parents their grandparents their ex boyfriends their boyfriend she'll remember everything it's crazy but that's such a huge vital part of the presentation so if you can't like me I always review the names before I go in it's the fresh first thing it's all my mind's on the tip of my memory when I go in there so I can call them by their first name the weak point in mind it's a weakness so I try to strengthen it up so you wouldn't have that problem show remember everything but how big is it when you go off and meet someone even they don't know you you call him sir you call him mike or missed mr, whatever first name last name, whatever it brings so much more that personal right off the bat to try to study who you're going to talk to and they find any other personal information can I'm not trying to be stocker, you know, and all the other stuff, but find the personal information that could help you relate because when I have these meetings with people that don't know me, I'll talk to them, and even if I have no no knowledge of who they know, I'm listening to what they're doing listen to what they're saying, listen to where they live, the people they know, maybe I could bring something up that we have a common people in common tend to forgive each other intend to relate and get along with a lot better with each other, people that don't have anything in common don't understand each others problems, and they're gonna have an easy time telling you no, thank you, so find do that research and find interest on those. I can't stress how important that is when he comes and throw it out early on in the conversation, because when we started doing our high school seniors and then we started moving into the schools and doing like the teachers, I knew one of the weaknesses they have because my sister is a teacher she still has an id that had a photo from ten years ago fifteen years ago when she started the school district they're not updating the photos of the teachers so want me talking to these teachers even though I was getting roadblocks, I knew that there was a problem, so we set it up with our school in the summer when they're having teacher work teacher workdays and they're getting educated, getting prepped we would come in and one of the stations we set up the teachers would have to come by and get the photograph, so now they have new updated photographs of all their teachers and you don't think that that's big of a deal but by me going in having these presentations and listening to people and learning talking about it, observing everything as soon as I walk in I'm looking through banners hanging up if there's no banners hanging up what's going I'm looking at everything every little detail counts write them all down make notes and that I d was a big one and when I brought up that conversation they said, oh my goodness that's a great thing we can do that another one from talking to one of our schools is in our district we have two high schools and we actually have a third school it's kind like a third high school and it can be the hardship kids we're the ones that have a little harder time graduating because they need a little more prep work. A little more help could be the bad kids that are in trouble, so they all go to this other campus. Well, the national school, the national photo people they would set up in the main campus and just shoot and all these kids that have a hard time staying in school to begin with, they were allowed on them to leave and come to the main campus to get photographed logically, that makes no sense. My whole point is I want to help these kids. Why would I take the kids? They're high risk out of campus and you probably never see him again that day they're going to school, so we said, well, let us go down there instead of her day and we'll we'll photograph those kids there in that school, they don't have to leave like you really do that there's only like twenty album that matter were local that's the vantage of you coming to us being local, and that was for me coming into a presentation and I knew nothing about and we're talking and they said, well, we have to go to this school, and I have to bring them in, and I said, well, what do you mean? And she explained to that and around about it said no let's just go down there that right there can help you completely have a job because it's personal and you have to listen to it so when you get in there and you make it personal, it takes down that brick takes down that wall and then you start listen to what their needs are and you instantly khun solved more too so and then keep your pipeline full the more you put in it, the more will come out. I know that sounds stupid, but meaning don't stop pushing for new contracts. It sounds so easy, it sounds illogical, but again, as I said at the beginning of the segment, we seem to forget about the relationships we've already built don't ever forget about relationships you already have, and just and you've made a contact that's a relationship might not be a strong one, but that's a relationship and you want to continue to push that to build upon it because if you don't, they're never going to remember you. Some of the questions we had earlier on online was how when there's so many photographers that come in this is how you stand apart from all the other photographers because ninety percent of those photography not mohr well come in, get a no and never show up again but you constantly being there constant showing up, constantly helping them solve problems constantly being a positive thorn in their side, they're slowly going to allow you to put a bit in there, slowly going allow you to be a part of their school there, slowly going allow you to be a part of their sports league there slowly going allow you to be a part of a lot of that. Now that opens up for a lot of negativity, in a sense to because by you giving so much they're they're actually expecting a lot out of you as well, just as if a friend. If you have someone that you don't know, they were really disappointed because it's not that personal, but your husband, your wife, your sister, your father, your mother, the ones that really mean a lot to you. Those are the ones who can hurt you when they disappoint you, it's the same thing for this, the more they trusting you, the more you're gonna have to respect that trust and have to perform. So that's. That's your job that's your job as a photographer that's that's your goal. When you make it this personal, you have to know you got to step it up and when you don't, which we've done before, it hurts. And they have every right to you know, to walk away and you know, but we still we send a thank you card because it's true and we screwed up we're going we're going to face it and we do we mess up a lot so don't forget to keep your pipeline full again it seems overdone it seems simplistic but if you're all getting divine when we got involved, people are like, why you involved when you do weddings all over the world why you into volume tough talker friends like cause I need to make money to our local people they're like we know track us but theyjust travel they don't they don't do anything here locally and so we had to fight kind of backwards that yes, you could afford us yes we're volume yes, we have inexpensive packages and it was a fight it was a fight to get in the door but once you get there it's very easy. All right? So call on every school make yourself visible. This is the biggest part that most people don't do. As I said in not every school heidi every school within your goal there's a difference let me explain that before you like see it was right every school within that goal air that defined territory that we talked about right in the beginning the program call every school and continue you go down there, you say hello, you make that initial always make the initial in person always always, always make the initial in person. It just means more yet questions go ahead if you know that you're actually bidding on the entire district vs bidding on per school, do you still go to each school or on lee? Both I do both. I just I let people know who we are a little now that we're here to help them because its principles are still gonna have probably say so most the time, some some don't it's just a school war feature, but generally everybody works together generally. And so if they don't have an input there, at least going to know and you'd be amazed how many times the snows come down hey, anyone you would like we have, you know, four five is there anyone you know? Do you know anything about these people? They might not ever seen a single photograph? I said this in detail, colossal said again, every time we photograph a wedding at the end of it, if we don't have the client come up to say that you are the best photographers in the world, we've not done our job, and yet they've never seen a photograph of ours. That's because we sell the experience that's because we're there to support them when we helped them every step of the way during their wedding and that's what we want to do with our volume so when these people these principles or the yearbook teacher whoever's in charge of the photos if they love you they might have never seen a photograph taken but they're definitely remember you in a positive manner if you keep your pipeline full if you're constantly there being their friend letting them lf you could do anything but when we got our studio our studio space was was done exactly like this we we wanted it for like three, four years they wanted too much rent for it I kept constantly reminded him every year right after the pay property tax that this building was sitting empty they're paying money every year for taxes were just an empty building I remind him once a year at least hey, I'm still interested in the price is too high and it's gonna continue sit empty because this is lake jackson texas this sit in houston texas it's a whole different property market well, they finally said okay, you can have it they agreed everything I wanted and we're already I little sound the contract millet over to him on a friday I mean on a monday morning well on friday they sold the building up from underneath me someone else and so they used me to get that buyer into the building so first I want to drive to mississippi and just be bad things to these people but then that that was just a human nature me then I had to back down and said okay, I didn't get it what would do in my best interest if I still have a chance there's still a slight chance I can have this building because the paperwork's not sign I wrote a thank you letter thanks for let me know if this deal falls through or I'm still interested in this I called him up the day after two days after I knew that the time closed nothing had happened to the building said hey saw that nothing happened to the building I just want to make sure that the deal still there if not we're very interested the callback syd yeah we just gave me an extension but thanks so much will keep your mind you call me back that was better than ever done before and then that was in april and then come to end a memorial day which is the end of may they said okay we're tired of it it's fallen through again do you want the bill and I said I'll send you the first month right now and we got it because we constantly kept a pipeline full on it and that's exactly how this works as well you have to constantly keep your pipeline full, have to constant keep talking to people and you're going to do well cold calling this is probably he the hardest for people that are not used to this. Uh, this is probably the hardest for people that aren't used to this. You need to find out who the decision maker is and get an appointment. That's the that's the best part and again, when I say cold calling, it doesn't mean me picking up the phone and calling that it means akala means this is my client, I'm going to talk to them in one way or another, so it could be in person, which again is what I suggest, but it can be a call can be an email. I don't suggest those first, but either way, whatever you chose choose to do this is the steps. Find out who the decision maker isn't getting appointment be prepared. I can't tell you we've already talked about it. This is a huge separation between amateur and professional preparation, so many young photographers, because photography is easier today and there's nothing wrong with that effect. I love it, but because you could buy a camera and take a photograph, I think a lot of other parts are easy. This is not easy work this is preparation you have to prepare yourself you can't go into this fly by night if you do you're gonna fail you're gonna fail miserably and you're gonna be in a deeper holding what you were to begin with so be prepared together info pay attention the minute you walk into school like I said earlier the key facts, banners, plaques, anything that's in there if they have historical photographs from each year and I were going to be required to take those because that's part of the job I don't have the equipment to do that or if that is required I could do that or if that's another company we can combine it together every one of those little details matter same thing with a sports league pay attention to the details patrons and what their favorite product is talk to parents and you can go from there and you'll be good that makes sense have three powerful benefits of your studio ready to be presented in your presentation have three items that you feel that you can do better than anyone or justus good as anyone could be anything put some examples online ordering yearbooks being local if your local push local, plain and simple that you're number one asset that's in your favor yearbooks or another one for elementary schools younger ones because high school they have a class at developed to your book and you can do it. But in elementary schools, it's usually p t a mom. Usually maybe the counselor, someone at school. If you push yearbooks and there's. Great companies out there. Walter's publishing out of minnesota is one that is great. They have their own software. It's. Very easy. If you continue that person who's, put together your book. How to enter. Literally click attacked and open up a document. Open up an image and hit insert. Like in a word document or anything else, you could easily teach them how to use this software. And so it goes on their computer. They build the yearbook the entire year. You just give him the your photos that you take. The term is called flow into the yearbook. So now, by you presenting yearbooks by default, you get photographs. You're the middleman for the yearbooks. And you could make five to twenty dollars a pop off each year. But just being the middleman. So now you're sinking teeth even deeper. So if they don't have a good yearbook solution, you find a good yearbook solution. You become their yearbook solution. It's not just about the photograph about solving problems for the school. So good make dougie regarding cold calling do you ever have contacts that would rather talk on the phone with you when you call in for an appointment rather than let you come in for a meeting in person? How do you make sure you get the first meeting in person and I would follow up with that and say, if if the phone conversation is all you can get, how do you guys prove your excellence or do you mailed on pfc? Absolutely. You're always gonna have something ready for me on occasion will have that because people again, they know nothing about you, they don't make time for you, they're busy but that's that's just human nature I don't know you who cares? And so if you can on ly get that, but generally I'll go to that school and I'll still leave something up front in nice presentation for the secretary upfront or whatever else, whoever the road the road blocker is the one you're going to get there, I'll leave that. So then if I do get the phone conversation and I remember that lady's name of that gentleman and then I left it with and I say, yeah, and the other day I left a package with so and so with your front office, you don't have that, I'd love to send you another one and so that kind of throws it back on them as well that way they came here first of all now they have a pact if they do maybe they'll set it up maybe they looked at it just depends but if they don't it leaves you that open space and generally if you throw back on their employees or him or her whoever is the balls that you're talking to and it human nature is amazing we have an undesirable urge if we don't understand something, we're going to just act as if we do we're not going to be able to just say most people will say I don't know what you're talking about I mean you're in a group for people there's five people for more going oh yeah you saw the other night already joking that one part's going to go yeah and I mean they don't have a clue that's human nature and so if you do stuff like that where you dropped a package off and you say I dropped it off with so until so you're making it personal you remember their names and if they don't have it you can send another one there could you please do that here address it to me this time and they get because they're going to say, well, that's customer service issue when you drop something off and I didn't get it so now there's a problem maybe and maybe in the back of their non they know they throw it away, but now they want to see it so it opens up that item of regret personal customer service they went to school to look good, and that usually allows you to get in through that door, but again, it's all because of made it personal by going to that location first, that help answer hopeful that helped answer so cold calling three powerful benefits your book's being local being local like a set of my number one that is by far and being locals in the county. As long as I'm in the same county, we keep the tax base in that same county. I'm local, and I pushed that heavily if there is there some areas that are west of us that go out farther away from houston that are even smaller, and when we work with some of them, I'm still local because the only other companies showed them is the national companies. So while I'm forty minutes away or forty miles away, I'm still local doesn't no one else will do do them what to say, what not to say simple things? Ask if you can introduce yourself to the principle the head of the daycare for the president's sports league name drop about key customers in the area, what they'll be familiar with and reiterate that you just want to take a brief moment of their time, be a guest, not a pest it's basic common knowledge. But how often do we don't use this? We don't do it because again, we had a thing called the internet that we just want to send an email you need to get out, make it personal and that's so hard that's why I have to look like the nerd so I can do that, but be a guest, not a past. So again, this is kind of reiterating what we talked about before I'm bringing up keep customers in the air that we know that we work with. Is this business? Yes? Is it personal? Yes, it's important to me, I want to get to know these people. I take pride in helping my community, and this is all part of it, and that comes out that comes out when you do it and you're gonna have problems. Sports leagues love the death, but again the volunteers and they're going to think that their kids are going to the pros and some of the kids were just horrible and you're going to deal with it. Some of the people in sports leagues are wonderful, some are absolutely worst people you ever you ever deal with in your life. And you'll have that all across the board and you just again have to figure out if it's worth it or not and again always be brief never take a lot of the time and that's my problem I never shut up so I need to know when to shut up and listen without cody or susie kicking me or have a little hand signs saying enough's enough we got to go I'll just sit there forever and talk and sometimes it's good sometimes it's not it just kind of take it on their lead be prepared for rejection another common one but you really don't think about how you gonna handle it if you're going to fail so learn to break through the gate keeper we just talked about with that question one way we do it again just a minute of the time these objectives to provoke interest, exciting program, great benefits, outstanding incentives can't write find someone can hire your weaknesses hire your weakness is you don't have it hire it plain and simple hire your witnesses it helps so if you can't write to find someone who can and you can't sail, you find someone who can and you can't talk fast on the spur of the moment you find someone who can and you can do this it's not that difficult, I promise and if you think you can do it, then do it ask probing questions I am amazed at how much when you just simply ask you'll find out so one of you last well what percentage do you give bag? Do you give a cut who took the photos last year? I don't know any of that but I go in there and I asked and you'd be amazed how many times they tell you everything it's not that difficult what you got to know what to ask in my fifteen years of cop experience being a pig winker winker um twelve half his crime scene I worked so many homicides that we solve homicide cases the same why did you kill him? We didn't know if you killed him and I said, why did you kill him? Well he had it coming to him. Well okay, well come with me you're arrested I mean literally it's that easy sometimes because human nature has an undesirable urge no matter what we've done, we have to tell someone about it if we know piece of evidence that you don't you can't you can't like I know a secret you don't know it's the same thing is when we're kids is when we're adults ask probing questions and you're going to find out a lot of information people do it they think it's a supergiant secret sometimes it isthe most of time it's not so ask who makes the decisions if you don't know is that the yearbook teacher it's the principal? Who is it? Ask I guarantee the secretaries that run the school of its school going to know there's always for sports league. Usually one of the board members are scientific photography, and most of that stuff is online go to that sports leagues website look of the board members usually tells you who's in charge of what division if not there's going to be president email you sent it to them, the president's going to send it usually to every he or she assigned it to because they've got enough to deal with it's a volunteer job. They're not going to do anything they don't want to do it's not assigned a veil generally because that's another human nature who were they currently working with that'll tell you huge of its national companies the same and pretty much no matter what school you'll know exactly what they're doing, you know exactly how they're taking photograph and how are things going with your portrait program used the word portrait don't use picture portrait har quality term, the higher quality expression and so that helps when you go in and make yourself look more professional little things like that make a difference, I just want to jump in really quickly and that's genius because it's really easy to feel like a sales person and kind of feel I don't know I'm not really sure how to describe it but when you try to push your products or your service is too much it's like I don't really want to do that but just by asking questions that's pretty that's a pretty easy way to do it it's very simple and it's human nature that people especially in the schools they want to help that's I mean that's again their work around kids they're usually not all but generally have great personalities and great inner soul they want to help people and so by you just asking simple questions you'll get a lot of answers and then naturally kind of breaks down of barrier when you ask a question of someone they immediately let their guard down write exactly that and you know it is I said earlier I don't want to come in here up here you want to come in very low beneath them in a sense they're in control but really if you ask the right questions your control, you're just letting them think they're in control and that's the whole key, you'll get that information and if not if they don't want to tell you they used to say I don't know but you need to maybe go talk to someone, so write that down then that process starts all over again so I go to cody cody you know this person now no, okay, and so all my research starts over on this person, so I actually will go in, so when I do meet this person if they have a connection, I know I can bring that out of that conversation. So all this is a cycle a continual cycle it's not just one time it's a continual cycle getting these jobs and it's a never ending cycle leave something not just a business card, not just a flier, but leave something nice you don't have to go over dramatic, you don't have to have scratches their smelly paper and all this other stuff, but make it professional looking make it professional looking have nice portrait if you have a wide range of art in your portrait show if you do natural light, you do studio you full set you white backdrop show because a lot of playing, especially in daycares, they love natural line outside shots, but a lot of the won't do it it's too hot or a lot of people on lee do natural because I don't have studios so whatever you have in your business show and make it effective but again make it like a menu and I mentioned earlier making like a menu in a restaurant make it simple and easy to understand and highlight your points with visuals were all visual creatures all visual creatures because if it's fast and furious they look at it, the first thing they're going to see is the photos, they don't look at the writing, so it doesn't matter what you have on inside if they're not gonna open it up it's useless, so make it like a menu make it enticing with visuals don't overdo the graphics because I don't care about the graphics. This is a business, this is not art is a business when you give them that they're going to look at it as a business. I don't know very many professional business presentations that has a lot of design on it. It's all about the black and white it's all about the meeting potatoes so makes big visuals that look good that entice your business and meat and potatoes very straightforward. You can make some graphics and make it look pretty make it adult overdo the graphics with with meat potatoes. Not sure that makes sense because that's a big failure in a lot of designs, so I say business card, not just a business card, so have some marketing information. Have a business card and again your personality that's the biggest thing you're selling is your personality. We have a folder that you can get printed it's all designed up, and we have individual flyers, innit I found that's a better presentation they mean putting together a booklet because of a book that if I change one thing, I have to reprint my entire booklet but changed one thing on one flower just have to reprint that one flier it's all found for me because I've on mrs constantly evolves new products, new items, prices maybe it went from ten dollars of twelve dollars a fifteen dollars beginning package. Maybe I raised my packages up because two three dollars from every package is going back to the league so I don't wanna have all those same flyers in every package I want to sit down and make it personal with each and every one of them once I get through these people and be able to make a unique package for them and that's one of my big assets so I show that in this package I show them I even put an order form with packages and I put one beside it has the same layout, but all the numbers are gone and I said, you know, I'd love to fill these envoy I'd love to make a unique package just for you guys and most people won't do that it is what it is so it's another way being personal makes sense getting there I know this is kind of hard to fall after lunch but I just want to go through all this and then cold call followup so you broke through yea them can you just send to something you your studio's about listening to our customers in need and and building a specific program for the fit in those needs? So if you could just send something you try to constantly and everything you say make it personal back to them, it was very difficult to send you something generic if I want to make something very personal to you, even if you if you have a generic, you're going to send them from the get go. Every word you say makes it personal so much in the volume business people think is not personal and as you can tell from our presentation, everything is personal in the wall in business, just like in our high in sessions. There's not much difference, the product you're providing is different, but the way it goes about is all the same and that's what's so neat about it. The more you make this personal, the better your business is going to be. So every step, every single way that we go in all this process, I try to make it personal with the terminology, with the products we provide everything, and these all break down those barriers, make it personal every step of the way I can't explain that enough, I can't stress it enough there's anything you're going to take out of this work shop. This is the one term it's different for every community. But this is the most important part of the entire thing.