Print sale tactics?

Hey guys, I'm interested in seeing everyone's ways of handling print sales. Do you set up photo reviews with your clients and provide them with physical samples and try to sell them on larger print packages? Do you collect emails (guests at weddings) and mass email them once the client's gallery is public? What formula do you use to get decent print sales each month?

I was recently promoted to studio manager and my responsibilities include bringing in money to pay overhead and marketing the studio. I'm new to this but I'm also excited as this is a new challenge for me. I can also apply what I've learned for when I do my own thing in the future.

Our current procedure after our standard workflow is to send the client their zenfolio gallery and remind them about their free prints that come with their chosen package. The majority of the time, our clients will only accept the free prints and not order anything else... We used to offer print credits and even did 50% off the first day when we used to sit down with clients and review their gallery together. (We made more money that way but it was a very long process.)

If you guys can educate me on different options or even ways you handle the print process with clients, that would be awesome! I also looked into Pictage. Their service is overpriced but I looked into their print marketing process and it's not too shabby. (Gallery expiration dates, user registry based galleries...etc.) It was all about obtaining contacts and automated emails to have those contacts view the galleries from time to time which increased print sales. Their cost of printing was expensive, though...

So yea, what's your 2 cents?

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Thanks for the links, Frank! Both are interesting sides. I am more interested in selling prints as I feel they're more profitable. Though, we do sell disks that run for around $2 per image. Our lowest end wedding has around 300 images which is $600 per disk. No one so far has bought a disk from us.

Congratulations on the promotion.

Would you say that you are first and foremost a Photographer or a Businessman?

Please don't take this the wrong way but if you are a Photographer at heart you will need to have a serious think about how to develop the new skill set that you will need to run the business.

IMHO the best way to get print sales is to schedule a viewing/selling session a few weeks after the shoot and show the images in a controlled environment with an excellent salesman. A local studio uses a projector to display the images on a screen at upto 8ft across.

This puts you in control of the selling process and enables you to guide and flatter the client. Personally I would not offer online proofing via Zenfolio as the delay between shoot and viewing can only heighten anticipation.

Make sure the viewing area is comfortable with some nice music and low / mood lighting.

It also helps if you are able to offer finance terms - 3 years at $50 per month for an exceptional product is easier to digest than $1500 now.

Now this is the way you used to do it and by your own admission you made more money... I wouldn't be discounting on day 1 though - value your product.

Nightstalker wrote in post #10951301
Congratulations on the promotion.

Would you say that you are first and foremost a Photographer or a Businessman?

Please don't take this the wrong way but if you are a Photographer at heart you will need to have a serious think about how to develop the new skill set that you will need to run the business.

IMHO the best way to get print sales is to schedule a viewing/selling session a few weeks after the shoot and show the images in a controlled environment with an excellent salesman. A local studio uses a projector to display the images on a screen at upto 8ft across.

This puts you in control of the selling process and enables you to guide and flatter the client. Personally I would not offer online proofing via Zenfolio as the delay between shoot and viewing can only heighten anticipation.

Make sure the viewing area is comfortable with some nice music and low / mood lighting.

It also helps if you are able to offer finance terms - 3 years at $50 per month for an exceptional product is easier to digest than $1500 now.

Now this is the way you used to do it and by your own admission you made more money... I wouldn't be discounting on day 1 though - value your product.

I'm definitely a photographer over a businessman but I'm starting to finally take in business related information and actually understand it! It's a slow process but I'm getting there. As soon as my boss answers all of my questions regarding the ins and outs of this studio, I'll be able to apply that info to my research.

We recently bought an ipad and we were planning on making house reviewings in case the client can't come to us for some reason. One major thing is, we have yet to order in most of our products that we sale...Can't sell a client something that they can't see and feel!

Thanks for the info!

Check out proselect from timeexposure.

It's what I use for my clients. They come to my home/studio and I project on our huge tv. I have lots of samples and stuff for them to see.

I don't know how it would work on the wedding side of things but it's totally worth it for portraits. You can even create albums and storyboards on the fly with it though I have yet to utilize that feature.

sevillafox wrote in post #10955887
Check out proselect from timeexposure.

It's what I use for my clients. They come to my home/studio and I project on our huge tv. I have lots of samples and stuff for them to see.

I don't know how it would work on the wedding side of things but it's totally worth it for portraits. You can even create albums and storyboards on the fly with it though I have yet to utilize that feature.

Interesting software. How would you compare it to say, Lightroom 3? I know you can create slideshows within Lightroom as well as rate an item in case the client wants to order on the spot.

I do like the web album flip through. It looks better than a .pdf file of an album. I may look into it and see if any of the stuff it offers can be done in house. Did you notice any sales increase with that software/your workflow? Btw, how would you handle about reviewing photos and selling prints to portrait clients opposed to wedding clients? If you don't mind sharing your workflow, that would be awesome.

EOSBoy wrote in post #10956233
Interesting software. How would you compare it to say, Lightroom 3? I know you can create slideshows within Lightroom as well as rate an item in case the client wants to order on the spot.

I do like the web album flip through. It looks better than a .pdf file of an album. I may look into it and see if any of the stuff it offers can be done in house. Did you notice any sales increase with that software/your workflow? Btw, how would you handle about reviewing photos and selling prints to portrait clients opposed to wedding clients? If you don't mind sharing your workflow, that would be awesome.

I'm sure you can do something similar-ish in LR3/

My sales workflow is simple. I don't put anything but teasers online. When they come in I have a slideshow with music that I put in the big tv. Then we go through proselect marking images yes, no, maybe as we review them. We may do this twice depending on how good they are narrowing things down the first time. Then, we discuss their package needs so we know where we are going with the images they have left in their yes pile. Proselect lets you create the order right in it so I just add items to their cart as we go. When they are all done I print out their order copy which rocks because it has thumbnail images and makes it very much easier for them to review their order and me to put the order in. Proselect can also be set up to tally up the prices and such I just haven't had time to mess with that.

I just got the cheaper version because I was, well, cheap.

hope that helps!

sevillafox wrote in post #10955887
They come to my home/studio and I project on our huge tv.

Yup - bigger is definately better in this instance.

I like the iPAD idea although if they can get to the studio to have the pictures taken I think it would be fair to expect to get them back to view the images.

Also who deals with the customer when they come back to view the images - the Photographer, you or a dedicated salesman?

Some people are excellent at selling - others are not. If your sales are not what you expect look first of all to the person who is doing the selling and ask are they the right person? Do they have the necessary sales skills?

A professional and experienced salesman can increase your sales dramatically. I would not suggest going for a high pressure sales approach but definately iof you leave it up to the clients to choose what they want on their own your sales will suffer.

Check out David Ziser's blog, he has a wealth of information, re: marketing and follow-up sales.

Nightstalker wrote in post #10951301
It also helps if you are able to offer finance terms - 3 years at $50 per month for an exceptional product is easier to digest than $1500 now.

whaaaaaaaaat?

since when did photographers become loan officers?

Let the credit card companies bill them monthly. Get your money now.

sctbiggs wrote in post #10956998
whaaaaaaaaat?

since when did photographers become loan officers?

Let the credit card companies bill them monthly. Get your money now.

It may be different in the US but over here in the UK it is quite common to offer credit through a recognised finance company.

The studio (or whatever company offering the finance) gets paid out by the finance compamy straight away (or within a couple of days) - the finance company then recieves the payment from the client over the agreed term - much the same way as buying a car.

I was not in any way suggesting that the Studio accept monthly payments but if they signed up with a finance company they would be able to offer the facility of monthly fixed rate payments which may help in upselling to a more profitable package etc.

Nightstalker wrote in post #10957215
It may be different in the US but over here in the UK it is quite common to offer credit through a recognised finance company.

The studio (or whatever company offering the finance) gets paid out by the finance compamy straight away (or within a couple of days) - the finance company then recieves the payment from the client over the agreed term - much the same way as buying a car.

I was not in any way suggesting that the Studio accept monthly payments but if they signed up with a finance company they would be able to offer the facility of monthly fixed rate payments which may help in upselling to a more profitable package etc.

okay... that's better.

sevillafox wrote in post #10956547
I'm sure you can do something similar-ish in LR3/

My sales workflow is simple. I don't put anything but teasers online. When they come in I have a slideshow with music that I put in the big tv. Then we go through proselect marking images yes, no, maybe as we review them. We may do this twice depending on how good they are narrowing things down the first time. Then, we discuss their package needs so we know where we are going with the images they have left in their yes pile. Proselect lets you create the order right in it so I just add items to their cart as we go. When they are all done I print out their order copy which rocks because it has thumbnail images and makes it very much easier for them to review their order and me to put the order in. Proselect can also be set up to tally up the prices and such I just haven't had time to mess with that.

I just got the cheaper version because I was, well, cheap.

hope that helps!

Thanks for the info! Lightroom seems capable of doing this. Though, it'll take a lot longer to factor in the prices on paper...I'm horrible with math!
I'll look into it and weigh the pros and cons out to see if it's worth getting at our studio. Thanks for giving me the heads up on this program!

Nightstalker wrote in post #10956574
Yup - bigger is definately better in this instance.

I like the iPAD idea although if they can get to the studio to have the pictures taken I think it would be fair to expect to get them back to view the images.

Also who deals with the customer when they come back to view the images - the Photographer, you or a dedicated salesman?

Some people are excellent at selling - others are not. If your sales are not what you expect look first of all to the person who is doing the selling and ask are they the right person? Do they have the necessary sales skills?

A professional and experienced salesman can increase your sales dramatically. I would not suggest going for a high pressure sales approach but definately iof you leave it up to the clients to choose what they want on their own your sales will suffer.

There's only 3 people at the studio. My boss who is in another office who works mostly as a CMO for one of our top retainer clients. My intern who is learning from me, who I don't think is ready for sales yet. (Needs to focus on photography first) And then me. I can pitch a good sale IF I know exactly what I'm talking about, haha!

If I've shot the clients, I'm already on good terms with them as there isn't too much ice to break when they come in. I'm pretty laid back so people have a easier time talking to me. More than anything, I love to pitch and sale camera gear to people who are in need but don't know what to get. If I apply this similar feeling to selling print products, I don't see any issues there.

I just have to order some samples first! There's nothing worse than pitching a product that the client doesn't even know what it looks like!

EOSBoy wrote in post #10945012
The majority of the time, our clients will only accept the free prints and not order anything else...

Nothing personal intended but if this is the case then I'd say that you are definately failing as a salesman.

The UK isn't really known for high pressure sales but the major national studio that I mentioned in a previous post offer introductory sessions for the equivalent of less than $40 and it is the salesmans job to get around $1500 - $2000 from the customer at the time of the viewing.

They use dedicated salesmen because as a professional photographer your skill is in capturing great images. You should be booked out taking the photos and should not have the free time to act as a salesman.

Having a specialist salesman needn't cost a fortune - if you find the right person and pay them 10% of what they sell you have a resource that pays for itself.