I need your brains to help figure out a business problem

[Picture North Carolina]

I don't post in this forum often, but read it daily. There's a lot of smart business people here and I was hoping somebody could help me resolve a problem.

I have a couple of hotels that are interested in selling my pictures, but cannot figure out a workable plan. Briefly:

The hotels are upscale hotels ($300+ per night) located in a well-known tourist attraction area, so the sales potentials are there.
The pictures to be sold are related to the local tourist attractions.
I will be supplying prints to decorate the rooms.
The hotel will allow my brochures to be placed in each room.
The hotel will sell the prints at an agreed percentage. Here's the problem: for a number of good reasons I do not want to stock the hotels with an assortment of pre-printed prints. I would prefer that buyers would order from the website in the brochure. However, the hotels want some sort of a guarantee that if purchased off the website they will get their percentage.

So there's the problem. Both sides want a plan that has built in checks and balances so everybody feels safe in the business arrangement. I've had a few ideas, but all have flaws.

Any ideas?

/Dan

[slava-slavik]

You have gorgeous work, it'll sell fast. I would invest into that and gave them mounted prints and tried to put my logo with web address on the back.

[Karl C]

Get with an attorney and create a legal document that would cover how the plan works and how the percentages would be paid to the hotel.

That is my suggestion.

[stathunter]

Help from an attorney might be a good one.
I might also suggest that you negotiate with the hotel and get them to purchase the prints at cost for decoration in the hotel. Then ask them what percentage they are thinking about for sales.
In reality you probably will not sell many prints. So I would not put out the cash for the prints and frames. Let the hotel cover those costs---for a hotel that it minor.
It is a great point of reference you can use when you are selling clients....or showing credibilty.

[Croasdail]

I would provide them with prints. It is an impulse buy under these conditions. The web will never show off your prints as well as they would full size. Sure, some would hit the web site later and order, but the first rule of sales is don't put any unnecessary barriers to the purchase. Time is not your friend here. You want to capture them in that "awe" moment while the emotion is there. The "awe" moment will not be there when they return home and start adding up the bills from the weekend, or going to soccer or what ever else life distraction they have. Let them take it in their pretty little hands, or at least pay for it directly and then ship it to them. The web is great for broadening your audience, but it is very low on impact. Air is all impact and emotion... just do it.

[S.Horton]

You may want to contact an agent; they'd know what to do here.

Short of that, I'd suggest selling the prints to the Hotel outright, step one, close that deal, get paid, then discuss the other fancy options.

Why? The sale on room decoration is made, so close it. The other talk is more complex; it will take a while to sort it out.

[AussiePup]

Require them to purchase the print through the hotel and have it shipped to the customer, that would make some sense since the customer is there on a trip and may not want to travel with the print. This would allow the hotel to track the purchases along with you.

Regarding web sales:

1. On the brocure direct your customers to a seperate part of you site only for hotel guests, that way any sales through that portal are directly related to the hotel - easy to track. Or similarly set up another web-site and deduct 1/2 the monthly cost from the hotels take that way you both share the cost.

2. On the brocure offer a coupon code for hotel guests to use, even if it is $10 bucks off or something, then any sales using that coupon code are known to be from the hotel.

3. Require all sales to indicate how they found your site, with an option being the hotel, again then all sales based upon that are allocated.

In either case the agreement between you and the hotel will have to allow for some sort of accounting and at the hotels expense an examination of the records. That way the hotel if choose (and its expense) can review your sales to make sure you are in complaince with the agreemnt.

I also think that you should have a time limit on when you have to split the fee with the hotel. Do you want to have to worry about sales from guest from say over a year ago.

Final thought, why should they get anything....they are using your photos for free, and they are providing you an opportunity for a sale to me that is equal on both sides. Now if you sell your picture they want a piece of that pie...they seem to be getting the better end of the deal. - Just my .02

[Jon, The Elder]

AussiePup..... Require them to purchase the print through the hotel and have it shipped to the customer, that would make some sense since the customer is there on a trip and may not want to travel with the print. This would allow the hotel to track the purchases along with you.

Now that makes all kinds of sense. Well thought out.

[PhotosGuy]

Final thought, why should they get anything....they are using your photos for free, and they are providing you an opportunity for a sale to me that is equal on both sides. Now if you sell your picture they want a piece of that pie...they seem to be getting the better end of the deal. - Just my .02 Excellent question! They're already getting value added to their rooms at no cost to them. I agree that you shouldn't have to come up with a print for every room, too. I'd want to start with just the brochure in the rooms & see how that works out.
At the very least, I'd make this a 1-year deal to be reassessed after that time.

[Gary_Evans]

The hotels are upscale hotels ($300+ per night) located in a well-known tourist attraction area, so the sales potentials are there.

The pictures to be sold are related to the local tourist attractions.

I will be supplying prints to decorate the rooms.

The hotel will allow my brochures to be placed in each room.

The hotel will sell the prints at an agreed percentage.


My immediate thoughts:

Just because the hotel charges $300 and is in a good area it doesnt always follow that the sales potential is there. It should follow, but dont take it as read.

Yes, to the brochures in the rooms but I would suggest that you try and have your prints in areas that gets lots of use - the lobby, restaurant, corridors etc as this would allow guests to see a wide range of images as opposed to the one in their room. This will mean you have less prints to make (pay for) initially.

I would go along with a percentage as they are offering you access to clients who have the disposable income, but let them do all the shipping etc. After all nearly every hotel mailshot guests regularly.

The others have raised very good points.

[mikep00]

A lot of good ideas have been suggested. So to mix thing up here is a different spin on it, and this will really lower the barriers for sale to the client.

Idea: Have the pictures in the rooms (Hotel paying the cost of the print/frame, etc), with the brochure, and if the customer likes the print, they can take it home. Just take it off the wall and go home with it. The cost of the print gets added to their hotel bill, and the hotel lets you know they need a new print of X for room Y. From what the hotel collects on the bill they keep the cost of the print, X% of the profit, and you pick up a cheque for the rest . This simplifies your backend work, you pick up cheques once a month/week/whatever, and when you do you bring new stock of the sold prints.

This lets the hotel keep track of sales (like they want), the customer has zero barriers to sale, and will grab your flyer for future sales. Even if nothing sells you aren't out any costs and at the same time the hotel got cheap prints. If the hotel wants to be cheap and pretend nothing sold and keep the money they can only do that once and then they are out of the print for the room. You could maybe once every couple of months do an audit if you wish and check the rooms to verify the remaining prints, but I think that is overkill as if the prints are selling, it is in the interest of the hotel to re-order more from you rather than keep the money from the 1 sale.

[Picture North Carolina]

A big thank you for all who replied. Like I said, many sharp minds in these forums are contained. We are piecing things together to formulate a solid plan. Thanks again. /Dan

[AussiePup]

A big thank you for all who replied. Like I said, many sharp minds in these forums are contained. We are piecing things together to formulate a solid plan. Thanks again. /Dan

Sounds like it is going to work out for you that is great....let us know what the final plan looks like. It might help others in the same situation.

[Picture North Carolina]

Sounds like it is going to work out for you that is great....let us know what the final plan looks like. It might help others in the same situation.

I will be glad to. It will be a while, tho. Another project will be consuming my time for quite a while. /Dan