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Switching from Online to In-Person Sales

How do you make the switch? I get this question all the time how do you guys sell online your cell in person in person in person have three important both cool it's good to talk about how to do both okay? Because there is a way to do it. The big question is do I need a retail studio? No. Which one of you needs studio meeting meeting space if you don't want to why would you why can't you go to your client's home? Yes, it takes more time but that commands a bigger price that's customer service when a massage therapists comes to your home they charged twice what they do if you went to them right? Why are on location photographers charging less? I don't understand that it shouldn't be that way and it won't be that way if you can sell and market and brand that customer service oh this is what we provide our clients we're going to be all for you write your own home okay? You can just do it on a laptop for years I did it on a laptop with no projection screen it was great cozy up next to your ...

client look at the laptop they get all excited it's kind of more of an intimate experience you could do that in a coffee shop a quiet pretty coffee shop somewhere wedding photographers partner with your florist go into the flower shop and show them their images their things like that go to their venue talk to the venue provider and make arrangements to meet there if you don't have it on if you don't have a studio meeting space in the place where they actually got married ah talk about emotion you're just nailing home the point right there you know senior same thing go to their home coffee shops senior's love coffee shops places like that they buy them coffee treat them with that customer service that you would want creative life isn't is an expert at this when I got my hotel room with a basket beautiful basket all these beautiful things well handwritten note makes my heart but you know people are great cath I got sick a couple weeks ago catherine producer sent me flowers thank you, cathy I mean hello they just understand hospitality and customer service I'm just a teacher I'm just a instructor I'm nobody special and here they are treating me like I'm the god's gift to the planet and I'm the only instructor they ever had that's how you should that's how you should treat your clients okay? They're session should be the on ly one you have in their book that makes someone feel important so the other way you could do this is do it in person online susan's giving this quiz look like what do you mean there are wonderful screen sharing programs and this is what I do with my out of town clients they're wonderful screen sharing programs where you khun like show pro select on your screen to them thousands of miles away you can still provide them that customer service show them images in person show them images on their walls through their computer there's challenges of course calibration issues color all that you know you got to deal with issues but at least it's the way to do it in person from a long ways away so well you know like I said this is the segment right here is just kind of an overview so you know we're going to talk about in depth each of these things as the three days goes by this is scary I know when I first did my first in person appointment I mean I was shaking in my boots I totally get it it is not easy to dio and the thought of your client actually coming down and sitting on the sofa and you have to still your work to them is like but I told jim this yesterday and I want to say the same thing to you guys you're not selling you it's not about your worth and what you they should pay for you it's about what they should pay for the emotion you've provided them the work you've put into making that emotion that follows away together so all of us and what that does for you is it makes you step outside this room here and it's, not about them paying for you and your worth but then paying for the work you've put into it you know nothing and nobody can afford himself I can't afford me you kidding? No way that should be the point you shouldn't be able to afford you you want to track the clients who can? I'm going to take questions here in a minute. I'm almost done with my slides here we've got sometimes that's awesome, we'll take some good questions, but it's important, you know, practice with the friends say it out loud, you know, get comfortable, take a good client with you in the studio that you whom you know and we'll put up with you kind of learning how to do this, but you guys have a minute, you d'oh okay, how do I tell my clients that I'm switching to this? We'll just darn it tout the benefits. Maybe we'll provide you amazing customer service. I really want to see reaction when you see the images, that means so much to me. You say these things that really highlight how it's going to help them, okay, so offer the option of an online gallery after the in person appointment and I do this especially in the old days when I didn't sell digital so much and we'll talk about digital files. I know that's a huge topic of conversation and controversy, but we will get into that and have a discussion on it. But before I sold a lot of digital files, I was doing online galleries god, they had to pay me first. I don't mind it online gallery as long as they give me that money. I'm not going to release images online unless I have cash in hand, okay? Because otherwise I'm getting way I'm giving away my product, right? So it's really important to me? Delineate that and say, okay, come in for your in person sales appointment first you buy and then we'll put the images online for family and friends too, to purchase a long as I know you've made this initial investment with me, I'm okay with putting watermarked images online for the rest of you tow to dio. And now that I sell digital total different, we'll talk about that once we get the price sing as a last resort as a last resort. Sometimes if your clients complain about that, you just got home. I'm sorry, but in today's digital technology age there's a huge loss opportunity cost when I released my images online. Being able to right, click at the drop of a notice with so many people out there, we've just had too many issues in the past and unfortunately ottoman state. This policy for all of our clients in orderto support our living, okay, they answer okay? All the time they get it. The ones who are going to steal are the ones who argue with you. You know I mean s so keep that in mind the misconception of time. This is really important. Everybody who's sells online thinks it's going to take so much more time to do it in person appointment this is gonna take forever. He was going put so much time into my into my it's, so much easier to put him online and let them decide. Oh, let me prove you wrong, okay? Online sales takes way more time and it cost you more money than you think let's, analyze this, okay before we do that, harvey mackay said time is free, but it's priceless. You can't own it, but you can use it. Ok, you can't keep it, which you can spend it. Once you've lost it, you could never get it back think about it that in those terms, when time becomes a commodity, when time becomes a product that costs something, then you see it differently. Online sales it's time let's analyze this re sizing marking uploading images time lost thirty minutes ok even if you haven't, action will take that long to get the o make it happen. Okay seven day gallery time lost seven days with their client can't make up their mind they're overwhelmed gallery gets extended fifty bucks you get fifty bucks out of it great. Thanks. Time lost seven more days. Fifty bucks wasn't worth it was it? Client orders xmas cards with design and revisions you know what I'm talking about gotta email it back and forth only what this font oh, can you give this color? What a pain in the booty, right? Okay, client changes the order could happen could not if it does, it takes you to another fifteen minutes or so. Client adds on prince more prince because they still conceive the gallery more time that you've got to now add to the order. Total client orders three dollars money lost total hours three hundred eighty five okay, frida, eighty five hours you've just put into a three hundred no kind during those seven days you're getting stuff done in other areas you have to go back it's not system by system by system everybody's in a nice flowing line, which is what makes it easy oh, this clients hear this coming it's here, huh? I mean you're just going crazy trying to keep everybody straight stuff drops you dropped the ball, don't you? Thanks fall through the cracks so and so hasn't ordered you know, do you know that feeling that feeling of anxiety when you're pulled in fifty different directions because your clients are out of order when you have a system of sales everybody's in the conveyor belt everybody's in a line so you khun task um cats organized which is really, really nice. Okay, so let's go over in person appointment should take along with no more than two hours for them to sit down here and buy from you it saves time, you know, importing approved images, especially in a program like prospect takes less than thirty seconds. You don't need to resize or do anything just the proofed images you did just throw him in there one hour appointment the client, which is typical for me sometimes will be an hour and a half if they're indecisive products designed created an approved in person right there in the ordering appointment money exchange the appointment client signs the invoices finalizes the order the order processes the lab thirty minutes later after they're gone from the order inclement yes always looking at me like holy cannoli serious yeah that's the power of a good software like I said, I'm biased I agree but you know, pro select allows me thirty minutes after the client's gone they've ordered storyboard that canvas then we're an album and they've ordered christmas card it's all at the lab thirty minutes after they're gone so my turnaround time on prince is less than a week a product you know depends on the company that I'm with sometimes companies take a little longer especially the albums to produce stuff I'm delivering product within two weeks of the order an appointment that emotion jamie schultz her husband did a wonderful study you know james schultz she designs templates just wonderful photographer her her husband's an engineer type what is it that women start from mary engineers anyway? He did the study with her client for informal study, but he found that the quicker you deliver product, the more referrals you get because they're still on this emotional high from the session. So when they get the product that soon there like touting your praises to the entire world, I don't know the exact percentage I think you said referrals or fifty percent higher. I think when you delivered product within two weeks something like that I'd have to ask her again but was phenomenal number no further action is needed just wait for the product arrived so all in all to three hours is the reality of how long it takes from when the images are edited and done to completing the order and having it at the lab. So now it's really hard to argue with me that online sales is left time not only is in person sales last time, but it's also greater customer service it's higher dollar I mean, I hope I talked you into it maybe maybe not in review just for this second here will take some questions it'll save you time and making money simple as that okay, money means growth. Imagine if you could predict how much money that would be with every client would that be fantastic knowing when that person walks through your door that they're going to spend a thousand bucks or more every time so relaxing that I want you to worry about getting clients in the door doing your marketing and branding that's it that's all I really worry about these days is making sure that clients are coming in and that we have a good marketing branding program in our studio. Welcome to the five piece of in person sales we will get into that heavily here in the next three days so I'm really excited let's take questions. I know there's a lot of online questions with you get some of those that of course I know you guys may have questions too, so please feel free to jump in and get involved let's answer some stuff before we finish out this segment let's, do it. Okay, well, I just want to start off by saying thank you for that beginning of day one, that was a great start off, and I know a lot of people online are talking about their concerns around in person sales and things like that, and so I just wantto lay everyone's concerns to rest, and julia will be addressing all of these things. People tend to fight against what they don't know, and you really hold on to what they do know, but I'll just reiterate again, you know, she's got a six figure business, so she's doing she's got it figured out she's doing something right, and I also read that you've doubled your client sales in the last year, so there are there are things to really think about and look at her success when you're saying what if what if? What if so, let's? Just go with the flow let's, listen, tour let's have her let's duke this out people and maybe all excited online, you know? I mean, you know, people, people, people find it difficult in person sales, they really do so let's just let's just go step by step in, address everybody and address people's questions, and we'll start here let's, see, here we'll start with mira cursor photography, who said I'm one of those who are for seventy five images in the gallery, and my concern about cutting it down is that my clients expect to get a lot of images or even all of them. How do I manage my client's expectations? And if you aren't posting one hundred and fifty images and people are saying where's, all the rest of them, like, how do you how do you manage all that? Well, first of all, the pre council is going to help you tremendously when you talk to your client before hand and set the expectations, then they won't say anything. If you set that expectation and say, you know, in your gallery, we're going to be showing you between thirty and forty finished images for you to select from you say them. We've discovered that when we show more than that, you know, this is a very emotional time, and our clients tend to get overwhelmed, so we're going to choose the absolute best ones that we feel are technically perfect, beautiful color well processed, and we'll let you decide from there, and we have found that forty to fifty images is plenty for our clients to review from, and I mean more than that, they tend to get overwhelmed. And we're happy to help you walk through that process and when you come in for your in person ordered appointment, we're going to be there every step of the way to make sure you create something beautiful as a final goal for your home all of a sudden that elevates the experience too not just taking pictures and if you do a pre council patient even if it's just on the phone I don't care if you did on the phone you didn't personally always has its advantages to doing it in person versus on the phone, but if you long as you do it as long as you make your client sign their policies, get him in the sandbox tell him where the borders are I was thinking in that sandbox they know they can play with anything in the sandbox life is all good it's about you standing your ground nicely kindly and setting that expectation for your client so they know what's gonna happen and credit when you've been giving away a hundred images it's going to take a little bit of a growing pain to kind of the because the old clients referring the new clients and so you gotta set that expectation and the way you change that's a good thing you know help the benefits were providing this new service to our clients because we really feel that it will help customer service and make you happier try it out for a few days especially old clients and say well, you know you do have the option you know you can kind of slow them into it and go ok all new clients in person all repeat clients will give them the option you know we're happy to put these on line for you but we'd really like you to come in and experience are are in person viewing appointment we've been doing it with other clients and it's just you know, reap so many results and folks there's not that much happier and we'd really like to see your reaction to the images they're gonna go oh okay, well then can we have a gallery afterwards? Sure, no problem you know, saying yes saying nobody saying yes is the art of business you know and when you tout the benefits and how how it will help them that's where you're really going to shine and how to change that that answers the question so great that's like everything in life manage people's expectations yes, you do that here like going todo over deliver love say no while you're saying yes, you know with the nice tio no, I'm not going that way and I think that's a lot a big part of sales and I think we're gonna get a lot of questions like that about those boundaries in the sandbox and especially like this one from jessica who says when you get the excuses of oh, I don't have time for in person sales or skype sales is that part of your agreement as well that you are going to meet them somehow or some way yeah I mean now it's just I mean I think I understand the question but now it's it's just it's just they just do it that's the way it is in our studio you come in there's three appointments your organization you ever session and you have a viewing appointments and that's how we explain it when they pick up the phone first phone call we're gonna be asking a ton of questions about your home we'll be talking to you on a deeper, deeper, richer level about who you are, what your personal stylist because yes, you hire us for our creativity but you have a style too and we want the to mesh if you have a home that's all white glass walls of metal furniture I'm gonna shoot that session a lot differently than if you love anthropology and antiques totally different session they go oh I can't get it so we need to find out more about what's in your heart and what you love so that we can mesh the two our creativity and your personal style what does it do to them what they think of their mind all of a sudden it's like you care about me I do genuinely care about them I want to know because I want them to be happy with the images and if I know what their style is like and I do a good pre consultation and set those expectations and find out who they are all of a sudden the prenuptial agreement signed and they're ready to come get married okay and have a great session and be happy at the end result. What do you think? Have I answered your question? Okay, perfect good. All right, well let's just stay on this topic for a little bit longer. Be loosened ask most of my clients are at least three hours away or further and I'm I'm in a destination location. Yes. So do I go to them for sales meetings? Is that worth my time and travel costs again and again? No, I mean she's she's right? She does have an issue three hours away a long time I have hopefully maybe this can relate to her what's her name again the name is b lucent be lose it, lose it, lose it. I started my business in portland, which is three and a half hours away from my current city event so occasional still have clients in portland who come to me and want to come to bend bend zaveri destination towns it's a vacation town for the folks in oregon ski resort, summer fly fishing net and so they'll come in the summer and want a family session. They can't come back for a morning appointment. They can't come in for the pre consul. Okay, I mean that's, why I'm not going to go all the way over there over the mountain pass in the middle of winter or whatever it is. So I do do that. Freaking pre consultation on the phone is not like a lot of my pre councils are done on the phone, especially with repeat clients. They know what to expect. Okay, so as long as you do a good pre complication online on on the phone and then you know, at the end of the day today we're going to do a huge segment, a full segment on free consultations and how to do them correctly because I really believe that pre consultations are almost the second most important processes in the sales area in the sales process, so, you know, she can talk to those clients on the phone and really get a deep in depth look at who they are and set those expectations on the phone and then reaffirm that with having them fill out things online, remember, learning, hear it, see it, touch it. To get it for your clients to get it to I mean, here I am telling you guys to download the sheet so that you could do the exercises and write it down because the only way you're gonna learn this is if you see it you hear it and you do it okay, I want you to do it same thing with your client if they do it, if they fill out a form it can be the exact same questions that you asked in the pre consul patient that's totally fine, but if you do that and they go away, I solder this okay, we write this down make it so she has a record of it that's what they think they're doing but what it's doing is it's planting the seed of the fail in their head and it's that free consultation I'm asking them what they want to do with their images what's the goal here and they always say they just wanna keep picture. Dani, what do you do with that image of johnny? We're going to get a few pictures of johnny, but the end result is what you're going to do with it, okay, so that when they go home, half of them haven't thought about that I was always to know we need to get pictures, we don't know what we want do with it, okay jeff question yes, first we'll you're blowing my mind about the about selling the emotion this is like percolating in the back of my mind like hard core right now you know I mean I'm I'm trying to think how I can apply that teo to everything that I'm doing with clients but the other thing is like what? How you're speaking to your clients you know, I just want to bottle that is amazing because I want to buy whatever it is you're selling no need to say it with such confidence and you're not saying anything like, you know, just the way that you're speaking to it like this is what I want to acquire for my business and I'm wondering like how did that just develop over time or did you script it or how did you do it? You know, I scripted it first when I was first starting out you also have to understand I do have ten years of journalism experience so I interviewed a lot of people over over a time and a lot of that was learned from just interacting and listening to people listening is one of most valuable skills you can have with a client listen to who they are and what they want and then respond in kind and when you're a good listener that will really make them feel loved and feel special and get drawn into the emotion of it it really is like dating are you married? Yeah, your husband cord you just magically made you feel like you're the cat's meal your flowers and go out to dinner and he asked questions about you and he just doted on you he wanted you to feel special and he wanted to know about you same thing with clients when you act like the court her and say to the client how much you wanna get to know them ask questions about what they do when they're from, you know, just get in their heads and and make them feel like you're interested in them that elevates that process to relationship and then when you have to explain things like, oh, I can't determine is online it's easier because they get it they understand they relate to you there's not a wallop, you know there's not this o r you know there's shell emotional shield around them you want to break that down? We sell emotion, especially in mind wedding and babies and families particularly mean we sell emotion as a parent man now that I know what it's like to be a parent and I love my son like the dickens and would run in front of a truck for him that feeling is what I'm putting into the image and so when we're in this relationship with a pre consultation with sale session and talking, I want them to feel like they like me I mean I'm getting them to like me I mean really I want them to date me and so with ease and yes, as far as you know, these little saying that I have um I have some of the repeated myself so many times I mean, my poor associated with tiffany has heard me say the same thing sometimes she can repeat it I mean, you know you're gonna say you're goingto feel like a broken record, but if you scripted it first for all these issues and what's going to happen is it's going to come over time you're gonna have somebody who asked you a question and you don't have to answer you fumble bumble and you pick up the phone calls credit book that session, learn from your stake and write down a real script that would work with that then as you say that the next time the issue comes up and you say that script again keep a little three ring binder next year phone and and you know eventually you'll start to memories the things you'll put your own spin on it you'll say it with your own heart and they will just become automatic so that's a good way to start especially don't feel real confident in coming up with those words saying no when you saying yes when you really mean no, that kind of thing yeah, it is I'm sorry to tell you, but it is an overtime thing it does develop over time but have confidence that it will and the fastest way to do that is think of all these issues that you have problems with create a script for it if it's just notes things that you know you want to say and in that guide I do isn't that kind or no someone like you? I've written so many prenups in last three weeks I'm not sure where things are there is language on what words to use and what words not to use okay, so that will help us tremendously but you're right it is hard and that that was on the top things that students ask me like I just want to say what you say and you say it, you know that is something that just comes over time but definitely script it first and then practice it and that's what I did when I first started I had to write scripts that feels a little forced overtime it will get more comfortable, more questions, ladies, do you have anything else? Okay, well, I've got one right here, so schrader photo would like to know do you feel that a sneak peek creates more excitement for their viewing or kills the hype before they get their photographs and I will ask you what's your editing process for the sneak peek that's a good question sometimes I sneak peek and sometimes I don't depend on the client um I did a sneak peek just another example of this kind of example but I didn't sneak peek last week my client rescheduled her ordering appointment because her daughter had the flu and a hundred for fever and so I'm of course and then she found out that it was not only the flu but it was pneumonia and her left lung it's of course any time a child gets you know my heart crumbles I'm a softie so I put a sneak peek up of her session so that she would make you feel better I wanted mom to feel better and not be so worried and have give her that and she just went nuts over it and her friends had a connection there like seymour we wanted seymour and it works really well on a scale session was fine it was great I mean it wasn't you know anything beyond what's normal in the studio but it's still it endeared her to me she I did a customer service thing by putting a sneak peek out there some clients I won't do it clients I suspect won't spend a lot of money I don't do a sneak peek good clients who are repeaters do sneak peeks all the time so it really depends on the client and what my my vibe is my gut feeling about them s o and that element of surprise like we have a pre session questionnaire online that our clients without you guys will see it and in that packet you have all the information that in that question the one of the questions is what's your facebook id you know if you and we signed the model release because if you do then we can post sneak peeks on facebook for you and so since nobody knows who's going to get picked for a sneak peek everybody feels that out and agrees to the model release so it's like some people get something get us think picking some people don't on the element of surprise who's gonna get who isn't is kind of keeps that buzz going in the community I think that's a powerful way to use sneak peeks without overdoing it but for us you know in a lot of doctors like to put the online gallery up before the in person doing appointment that kills in my opinion it really does I mean you know some people think it works and what's important is as you're listening next three days I don't have all the answers I mean I don't and I make mistakes justus muchas you guys teo and but some of the things I say may resonate and you go oh yeah that could work really moment visiting my business just take what you because there's so many ways to run a business it all depends on your personality how you work are you overtake her? Are you not my sister and I? She has a six figure business in southern california. She does the exact same thing that I do and we are very similar styles if you look at her work its way almost sisters but we run our business is entirely differently and they're both successful because as we have different strengths in our personalities, we run it differently. So take what you can for me. But I also understand that not everything I say is gonna work for you. And the important thing about learning and from a different instructors is that we all have methods that work you have to find the right one for you that works for you and not everything I say is going to resonate. But a lot of people like to put those galleries up online before the sales when they say it works great because the client has a better understanding what the images will be they know what they want is kind of a prepper. I don't agree, I think it loses the emotion you don't get to see their reaction, the emotions starting to fade and when they come in it's kind of just so boring cold appointment whereas if they come in this scene images for the first time it's like, wow, this is fantastic you know, they that peak, and you get to see that my mom's crying, there's a box of tissues, but it's. Fantastic. Okay, so there are different methods of doing that. I think sneak peaks are very valuable in creating that buzz and excitement, but as far as online galleries, before showing all the images before the appointment, I'm not so sure about that, but there are arguments against it and for it. So you have to kind of do what's what's right for you.