Archive for Customer
How to answer the question, “How much is it?”
Posted by: | CommentsThere are more choices for finding a photographer these days so help your callers out. Help them get through the uncomfortable moments of opening a conversation they may not know how to do.
Last week I shared an experience I had as being a new customer myself that helped me understand what it must be like for a new person calling a studio for the first time. You can read that here:
http://barbgordonphotocoach.com/business/customer/five-tips-for-understanding-your-new-prospects
Even though they may start with the question of how much you charge, it is not necessarily the question they are really asking.
The salesman in the horse feed booth at the fair could have helped me out by asking some fact finding questions to get me talking. Since I did not know how to start shopping for new horse feed, I needed some help but I was unable to verbalize that at the time.
The salesman could have asked me questions like:
- What kind of horses do you have?
- How many do you have?
- Are they varied in ages and jobs that they do? As there are different feeds based on the amount of physical energy they exert.
- What are you currently feeding them and how is that working?
All of these conversation starters would have been more helpful to me.
So as a photographer your conversation starter questions for a new prospect can be very similar. But first, ask permission not to answer their question right away with a statement like: “I would be happy to answer that question [about pricing] for you. Before I do, may I ask you a few questions first to get an idea of what you are looking for?”
- How many people are in your family?
- What are the ages of your children?
- Do you have a family hobby? Something that we could use to tell a story about you as a group?
- Do you have a location or style in mind?
- Where are you going to display your portrait? (This question also sets you up for planting seeds of a wall portrait sale.)
All of this discussion delays the “how much is it” question. You have time to build some rapport and get to know your prospects needs without focusing on the cost first. They will quickly find out how much you care about them too. You will also get the information you need to more accurately answer their pricing question, which, as you are discovering, really isn’t the real question anyway.
In order to get the prospect to move from a being caller to an actual booking, I offer a consultation in the studio. This is a low pressure invitation for more information so they may discover that I am indeed the photographer for them. At the consultation we look at images, discuss clothing options, and pricing. Personally, if someone does not want to invest an hour of their time to take this step, they are not a good customer for me and I let them go.
© 2012 Barb Gordon Photo Coach | Gordon Photography & Gallery, Inc.
Five Tips for Understanding your New Prospects
Posted by: | CommentsIt can be very difficult to see our business from the customer’s perspective. After all, we know our business so well we take so much for granted. Or maybe, you are new to business and are still struggling with some of the common problems.
This past weekend I had an experience that might help you see your customers from their perspective. And once you see your customers from a fresh perspective, your frustrations with challenges can melt away.
This particular challenge is how do your first time callers feel and what might we do better to convert them into a customer?
Here’s a recent experience I had that might be a good example for you to get an idea how a prospect might feel. I was at a large horse fair trying to learn more about what feed to use for my horses. (I have only had horses three years and still find feeding them properly is complicated.)
I stopped at a booth that I thought would be the answer. I found myself tongue tied at how to start the conversation. (This is where a good salesperson or representative could have been a great help.) I was so unsure what to ask first that I almost left the booth.
Tip one: some prospects will not try very hard to get information.
The real question in my heart that I could not verbalize was, “How do I find out about horse feeding options and more importantly, is this the right feed for my horses?”
That is when it hit me! So that’s how our prospects might feel when they call our studios! They do not know how to say, “how do I select a photographer and are you the right photographer for me?”
So naturally our prospects start with “how much does it cost?” This question right out of the shoot makes most of us cringe. Most of us are unprepared on how to handle this smoothly.
We all know that cost is really irreverent when it is a product we want or need (within reason of course). Look at all the money you spend on your hobby. Answering the question of cost does not have to be the first topic addressed.
Tip two: help your prospect get the information they really need.
I was not going to start the process of learning about horse feed by asking the price first. Not only is that not my mindset, it would not tell me what I really needed to know. Your customers could be the same way.
So I, the introvert, struggled and felt weird until the other man in the booth, the nutritionist, took over the conversation from the untrained salesman who did not know how to interact with new people.
Tip three: learn how to interact with new people especially if they are more introverted and need a little help expressing themselves. Be careful who you put on the phone when new prospects call for information. An untrained person can loose many sales for you.
Once the nutritionist was helping me, things went great. He was friendly, an expert, and only looked at me while he talked. He did not try to get to the next person in the booth until he felt that I was completely done and understood on his product.
Tip four: pay attention to your prospect and listen carefully. You will have plenty of time to make suggestions and influence the sale later.
It made more sense for me to purchase feed in my local area. The nutritionist made sure I knew where to go and what type of feed I needed to get. He gave me his card in case I had any additional questions.
Tip five: be helpful and invite them to continue the conversation later if necessary.
So, next we need to talk about how you specifically apply this experience to your studio. We’ll talk about that next week, come join me. Meanwhile, I encourage you to pay closer attention to interactions you have while you shop and see what you can learn.
(c) 2012 Barb Gordon Photo Coach
I am on Pinterest
Posted by: | CommentsI made a board on my Pinterest for all of you subscribers! What is it? Pinterest is a visual social networking format connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.
Organize and share things you love like bulletin boards. You can browse pinboards created by other people to get inspiration and ideas about all kinds of things like wedding planning, decorating, and recommended reading.
To get started you simply request an invite with your email address from Pinterest or a current user can invite you. Luckily for me, Melissa was on-line and got me started fast.
There is a free getting started guide I found at http://www.hubspot.com/how-to-use-pinterest-for-business/ Download this before you sign up, it has some great tips.
Then you can go to www.Pinterest.com to set up your account. It is easy.
At any time Barb Gordon Photo Coach subscribers can now pin your favorite images you have taken to my board. Here is the link:
http://pinterest.com/barbgordonia/barb-gordon-photo-coach-subscribers/
I am excited to see what you have been doing. Remember, the image you “pin” must already be on the web, so take a look at your blog and see what you have there. But before you pin: There is also some concern about copyright and image use agreements with Pinterest.
I for one find all the legal jargon hard to understand with use agreements. So I did not think too much about it until I found the following links articles that got me a bit concerned. You might want to be get more informed yourself so here are the links to get your research started:
http://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-copyright-issues-lawyer-2012-2
and
and
In the article “How to use Pinterest without breaking the law” on the Wall Street Journal blog located at http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2012/03/13/dont-get-stuck-by-pinterest-lawyers-warn/?mod=wsj_share_twitter Jonathan Pink, a California-based intellectual property lawyer with Bryan Cave LLP told the Law Blog, “if you are going to play it conservative and safe, you should never pin an image on Pinterest for which you don’t own the copyright interest or for which you have not obtained a license from the copyright owner.”
If you decide to proceed, make sure you go to http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/ to download the “follow buttons” to add to your website pages.
What to do with old negatives and files
Posted by: | CommentsTwo weeks ago I told you about why I was selling old files. There is money sitting on our storage shelves waiting for ….what?
This week I will share with you how am I tackling over fifteen years worth of old files. Where to start with all of those bankers boxes filled with negatives and CDs?
The first step is deciding what to charge for them. Consider the likelihood of getting a reorder like we talked about two weeks ago. Don’t be greedy but remember these are valuable. You might even adjust the price after a few sales attempts that may not go so easy. Remember to take into account the time that is involved in making the sales. Your time is not free.
The next step is how to position this idea to your clients. This generation, your actual client, may not think too much of it, they have the actual photographs on the wall or in albums. But what about the future? What about their legacy? Isn’t it a real treat and a blessing to stumble on some of your own family history that is well preserved? A photograph in good condition is great, but having the original negative or digital file would be even more exciting.
You might tell your clients, “It’s not for you, really, it is for your future generations.”
If you are anything like me, you don’t want to call all these people. Who knows how current their address and phone number are anymore. And who has time to do all of this? Break it down into manageable pieces.
Step One: From my accounting software I printed a list of all of my clients by job. This lets me makes notes on who did purchase files, who told me no, and helps me locate all of the jobs I have done for one family. (I file my jobs alphabetically by last name in each calendar year.)
Step Two: To make this task friendlier to me I pulled all the files for people I was currently working with this month. It was so easy to just ask them if they were interested because they were right there, no additional trips, phone calls, or mailings necessary.
Step Three: I also pulled all the files of clients that I really felt comfortable calling about this project. Keep in mind that contacting clients just might get you some bookings while you are interacting with them!
While doing the above, I threw away old event files like dances and commercial jobs that I was sure no one would care about anymore. That alone was two big trash bags!
A side note: Be sure to shred any old MasterCard/VISA slips. You know the old duplicate kind with complete account numbers listed.
Step Four: Design a simple postcard to mail to people that you don’t have time to call. If the number is too overwhelming just do a few at a time. Nothing says you have to complete this in a month.
Do have a deadline for purchase. You want to be confident that you can throw away old files, move on, and not worry about someone changing their mind. If you are doing this in stages, just do a fill in the blank on your postcard for the deadline for them to respond. This will help you spread out the project and not make your mailing obsolete.
If you have some images that are your favorites, make a high quality scan of the negatives before you sell them. Digital images, of course, make a copy of those as well. You never know if you want to produce a book of your work someday.
When I am aware of it, one thing that I have always done is to give the files to the parents who have lost a child I have photographed. They appreciate the gesture.
Of course we photographers are control freaks and don’t want our clients to monkey with the images and make strange graphics, off color prints and then say who the photographer is! That is why we are so controlling of our raw data in the first place. But we are going to have to stop worrying and obsessing if we want fewer things to store and create some cash flow in the process.
I am going to preface all of my sales with educating the client about keeping the integrity of the images. I will also tell them that I will be happy to print any further images they may need, professionally.
Better Business with Scripts!
Posted by: | CommentsI used to think that only large companies would benefit from having phone or presentation scripts. I have come to appreciate the value in scripts for all sizes of companies.
Why should you consider using scripts?
- You can be prepared with answers to questions before the questions come up. You will sound smooth and professional.
- These responses help create your company culture, your feel, your style.
- Scripts give you a consistent message.
- When training a new employee a script gives them somewhere to start.
If you have any staff at all be it an intern, part time, full time, or temporary help you will want to consider what they say to your customers, after all they are representing you. Just have them sound natural in how they say it.
Part of building a top notch customer experience is the consistency of the experience they get. Training a new employee? Scripts will help.
Today is a great example of a great script I heard. The fellow absolutely did not sound as if he was using a script at all. I just know that he did because I know the company that I called very well (E-Myth Worldwide) and I know they systematize everything to perfection – because teaching others how to systematize their business is their business. Anyway, I had a very strange phone bill for over twelve hours of long distance charges when it should have been only sixty minutes! His response was, “Thanks for giving me the opportunity to learn something.”
Stop for a moment and think about how you would respond if you had been him or in any similar situation. What would you be saying? I would have been fumbling for words like, “oh wow, that is bizarre”, “um how did that happen?” or “I don’t know.” How many people would be apologizing all over the place for a mistake they did not even make. (A pet peeve of mine.)
“Thanks for giving me the opportunity to learn something, let’s figure this out together” sounds so much better. Personally, I am not even mildly concerned about this over charge getting resolved, but imagine if you had a customer that was a bit upset or even angry. Having your responses prepared ahead of time can help you keep your cool and make the final outcome of a challenge turn out for the best.
What kind of scripts can you write for yourself and small staff that would make your customer service questions and issues sound polished and positive?
Photo Jewelry – Profit or Loss?
Posted by: | CommentsDoes selling photo jewelry cut into your profits? Does it bring down your perceived value to have photos on items like mugs and mouse pads? Does your studio get more exposure to new clients if your portraits are printed on purses and bags your clients are carrying?
Let’s toss some ideas around about selling accessories and see what happens.
What I do know for sure is that I would rather have the profit of an equivalent portrait sale over the profit of a jewelry sale. The cost of goods is much higher with jewelry items than a photograph. I also found that ordering jewelry was a longer, harder process so the hassle factor was high for me.
I did carry a nice jewelry line for a while and only sold two pieces. Were my sales so small because I am not a big jewelry enthusiast? Was the price point just too expensive? Did I not carry the jewelry line long enough to give my customers time to get hooked on it? Did I pick the wrong line? Or was it because I would rather make more profit on portrait sales than a smaller profit on a jewelry sale?
I also discourage clients from wanting to put my work such things as mugs, mouse pads, and other trinkets. For me it felt like an insult to my work and the art form. It felt devalued and cheap. I know that is not how the client looks at it but I was uncomfortable with it. Maybe I am a portrait snob, but in a nice sort of way of course.
Jewelry, purses, and bags can function as advertising, but does it work? Does someone hire a photographer because they saw an image they did on a purse? These items are definite conversation starters and are visible to all the client’s friends to see and comment on for sure.
I would like your opinions on what you think about offering wearable fashions and totes. How are these items affecting your bottom line?
Color Shifts on Black and White Images
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s 1998, we are shooting film, and we are putting specially designed black and white paper through the color processing machines. It is cool looking, fast, and cheaper to do this than hand processing large black and white prints in the darkroom. The look was as nice as most black and white images.
Now it’s 2011 and these pseudo black and white images are now coming back to haunt us with visible color shifting in certain tones of the print. Little did we know thirteen years ago that there was going to be a stability issue with this process.
I had my first (and hopefully only) client call to ask about her strange looking portrait. I was so worried because I had no idea what was going on. I thought I had goofed in some way – until I saw the image. I found out that this was not really uncommon with images printed with that process and a few other photographers were having the same experience. My images had been printed in a professional, high end color lab too!
In case this happens to you, don’t panic. Just find your negative, get it scanned on a high quality film scanner, and have a new print remade for your customer. I was very pleased to see the new image was actually nicer than the original and my customer was happy with the customer service I was able to provide. (It was a good thing that I keep files for a long time.)
And by the way, I would advise doing this as a service and not charging your customer. If you can work something out with your printer to defer the cost to you, even better.
The color shifting showed up best on a close up I took of the print that was returned. I hope that you can see the orange looking cast in this section of the image. It will help you identify this problem if you come across it.
Keep them coming back. Speak your customer’s love language-Part Three
Posted by: | CommentsYou will probably not come right out and ask someone what their “love language” is. But you can pick up some clues by listening to their unconscious choice of words.
An auditory person will generally say “that sounds good to me”. What do you feel like for lunch? The more verbal affirmation style person responds, “pizza sounds good to me.”
I was selling some art images from Hawaii to a friend of mine for her office. I found it interesting how she voluntarily described herself saying “I have to see the images and find what feels right to me.” When I tell you she is a massage therapist and a kinesthetic learner, it makes sense.
A more visual person would use the word “look” more often. They would look at a menu and say “pizza looks good to me.”
What do you do with this type of information? A good salesperson would tune into a customer’s words and style and respond in a similar language. This is bound to make the customer more comfortable. It is subtle, I know, but when people feel more connected and comfortable with you they will like you and buy from you.
In the example of my massage therapist friend, I would respond to her by saying, “here is great flower image, how does that feel?” “What size image would feel right above your desk?” would probably feel better to her than “what size image would look right above your desk?”
You may find it interesting to note what your customers say. It could help you know how to communicate with them in their preferred style. This is great for thanking them for their business in their language as well as how to make better sales.
You may find out that showing that you appreciate your customer is more powerful than only saying so.
If you have your own experience to share please post it here. Sound good?
Keep them Coming Back Speak Your Customer’s Love Language-Part Two
Posted by: | CommentsIf you just joined us this week or missed last week’s issue, I would suggest reading part one as background material for today’s feature information.
By taking the time and effort to reach out to your customers in a way that is meaningful to them it will distinguish you as being unique. It may not be the most convenient for you but it is how they feel about your business which becomes part of your brand that counts. Speaking their language will impress them for sure.
Here are some ways you may consider to say thank you, show your care, and appreciate your client.
- A hand written thank you note on your branded postcard, stationary, or greeting card is a nice old fashioned courtesy.
- Send them a gift. A certificate for a cup of coffee at a local café is a warm and affordable. A money saving idea is to make arrangements to pay for only the certificates that actually were redeemed which is better than buying gift certificates for everyone. If you partner with a local coffee shop and check in with them weekly to pay your tab, this can be a win-win marketing effort too. You can put the gift card you design in a Christmas card or send as a solo mailing as an unexpected gift.
- Carrying client’s bags to and from the car is an easy to do act of service that women appreciate but will not usually ask for help with. If acts of service is her language this will make a big impact.
- Send a Valentine
- Send a “Thank you for business” at Christmas or anytime of the year.
- Make a set of greeting cards as a gift for your top 20% spenders. Based on the 80-20 principle that 20% of your customers are 80% of your income, treat the top 20% special.
- Slip a special surprise their bag when they pick up their order. A little candy maybe?
- Clip news articles that may be of interest to a client. Or send an email link to a topic of special interest.
- Call a client and congratulate them on a promotion, new baby, or other occasion you hear about. This verbal affirmation of a job well done will brighten their day.
- Some people really get into birthdays, send your clients a card.
- An act of service can be as simple as offering refreshments.
- Quality time with a client can be a brief personal conversation, a book recommendation, a coffee break, or lunch date. I personally love to learn so when my chiropractor or massage therapist shares information with me from their profession that I would not have come across, I feel valued.
- A verbal sincere thank you goes a very long way!
Do you have suggestions you can add to my list? Please post them and Thank You!
Keep them coming back. Speak Your Customer’s Love Language-Part One
Posted by: | CommentsMost people appreciate, and expect, a common courtesy of a verbal thank you at the appropriate times. It is after all it is the polite thing to do especially if someone just handed you money for your services! Want to keep her coming back? Learn to speak her language.
What you may not have thought about though is that each of us has our own “love language”, our preferred way of feeling special. We actually like a combination of them but we tend to have a primary language. Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a book for couples called “The Five Love Languages”. Although the book is discussing relationships between couples I apply the concepts to my customers, friends, and other family members as well. Dr. Chapman’s book is on my personal recommended reading list and I buy copies as gifts.
For more in-depth information I would recommend getting the book. But I need to share with you some of the basic concepts now before I give you the ideas I have for your business so you will understand why I suggest what I do.
In a nut shell we tend to prefer verbal affirmation, quality time, gifts, acts of service, or touch. And yes, we also may like a little of each one and we may be oblivious to one or more styles too.
Verbal affirmation is telling someone you appreciate them with words.
Quality time is simply spending time together doing something they enjoy. Even people’s definition of quality time will vary. For example, my husband’s idea of quality time is me sitting in the same room while he watches TV. My idea of quality time is the two of us talking about my favorite topics.
Gift giving is another way of saying you care. You know the jewelry stores love people with the gift giving language!
Acts of service is demonstrating you care by doing something for them. This could range from washing their car to having their favorite beverage on hand.
Touch is another language. Of course, in the business world, you can’t go around hugging everyone. But a simple touch on the elbow or shoulder or a warm hand shake can still communicate that you value them.
Now that you have the basic concept, next week I will give you some ideas on how you might consider impressing your customers in various ways. Hopefully one of them will touch the client in a way that she notices and does feel appreciated by you so that your business is always her first choice.
