We are so excited that you can join us! We are just starting our new series on giving your client the best experience possible from the moment they first see your work on your website to even months and years after their wedding. Word of mouth is THE BEST way to get those ideal clients that you will love just as much as they will love you and giving the best client experience possible helps to ensure you take your clients from just ordinary to Raving fans! So follow as we go over things like your website, email correspondence, client gifts and more!
Part 1 – You Had me at Hello (Your Website)
Part 2 – Sweet Talking Winning the First impression with Your Emails!
Part 3 – Wine & Dinning – Winning Your Client During the Consultation!
Part 4 – Giving Immediate Value – Growing your business exponentially with Client Gifts!
Win Them Over in the Consultations
This is a big deal. Great job, this client loves your work enough to want to meet face-to-face, this is HUGE! Becuase you have met with them face-to-face they have invested their time into you and your chances to book have increased exponentially, there are probably only 1-2 other photographers they are meeting with, here is your chance! Here are a couple of ways that we have found success and ensured an over 95% booking rate when meeting face-to-face with any client. We now have a studio space in our home that we meet our clients in but we will right this post under the assumption that you are finding a space to meet your clients.
- Privacy is Key
- It doesn’t matter where you meet your clients but the biggest thing is making sure you are in a spot at the location that is as private as possible. The last thing you want is for your clients to be distracted. If your clients are distracted then they aren’t fully into what you have to say and if you are anything like me, you get distracted as well. I am like that dog off up that is like “Squirrel” and if you are distracted your clients don’t feel valued!
- Make it Personal
- One of the best things we do during meetings is NOT talk about business for at least the first half hour or so. In these meetings the best way to win someone over is to make it feel like they became friends, established a relationship and really connected. When it comes to wedding photography, no matter how much we want our clients to see the different in styles, most of them will never know the difference in editing style and artistically if you are similar to another photographer. One thing that will separate you is the relationship made at the meeting. That is one thing you can control and the most important thing to give you the best advantage. After all, they are also deciding who they will spend most of their day around!
- Presentation and Pizazzz
- Presentation is everything. You have already gotten them through the door now you really need to work them! There are a couple of ways to WOW them with your presentation that puts you love and beyond everyone else they meet with.
- Pay for them!
- You have no idea how many times we have met with people and they are blown away by the simple fact that we pay for whatever they want. Sometimes it makes them feel obligated but that isn’t what we want, we want them to feel appreciated and valued! At our house, we have food and drinks already set out for them, if you are meeting at your favorite spot, already order your favorite snack plate and get them a drink when they come in. It will separate you from the crowd!
- Inform & Educate
- This is HUGE! If you can inform and educate someone, that will build trust and make you feel like their trusted advisor. You become the person that they look to first because you have offered THEM more than anyone else has. So far, all of the meetings they have been to have been all about the photographer, their awards or what they can do. Help the client know that you are there for THEM and that you want them to be educated enough to feel comfortable with whatever decision they are going to make. That alone can bring them on your side and gain instant trust!
- Call Them By Their Name
- I firmly believe that this alone has won clients to us. If you can call someone by their name and use them in examples you are making them feel like they have already hired you. If you can make them feel like that, then their mind does the rest. They start to dream and imagine situations as if you were already their photographer! In “How to Win Friends and Influence People” Dale Carnagie says that
“The average person is more interested in his or her own name than in all the other names on earth put together”
If you can remember their name, you have made them feel more valued than anyone else they have met with and they already feel like a bond is formed.
- I firmly believe that this alone has won clients to us. If you can call someone by their name and use them in examples you are making them feel like they have already hired you. If you can make them feel like that, then their mind does the rest. They start to dream and imagine situations as if you were already their photographer! In “How to Win Friends and Influence People” Dale Carnagie says that
- Have Your Technology Ready!
- This is such a small thing but makes a world of difference when it comes to being comfortable. The WORST is not already setting up your laptop or iPad on the Wi-Fi already. I can’t tell you how many times we went into a starbucks, had everything set up but when it was time to pull up the gallery or pricing page, the Wi-Fi wasn’t working or there were some complications. Not everyone can navigate situations like that very well so make sure you already have it ready!
- Pay for them!
- Presentation is everything. You have already gotten them through the door now you really need to work them! There are a couple of ways to WOW them with your presentation that puts you love and beyond everyone else they meet with.
- You Can’t sell what you don’t show
- I can’t tell you how many times when we first started our business and met with people without an album. We said that we offered this amazing album and it was SOOO beautiful, yet we never had it to show them. So, naturally, although we knew how beautiful the album was and how amazing it was, they always felt like their collection could do without it. It wasn’t until we put the albums in their hands when everyone started saying that they “HAD to have an album.” This goes for anything that you are trying to give them. Make sure they see the value int he gallery, the presentation of your prints and print box and the experience of the album, then and only then will they HAVE to have it!
- Leave them with something!
- You have one last change to leave a lasting impression and its done after the meeting. When clients leave with us, we give them a gift bag with a magazine, a hand written not and two gift cards. No one else is doing that. Something so small can leave such a lasting impression. This $30 investment we make has paid for itself 100x times over. People always email back saying how grateful they are for this gift and how amazing it was to meet us. This little gift leaves them wanting more!
If you can can implement these 5 quick tips in your in-person consultations, we promise that your booking rate after these meetings will sky-rocket! They already want to meet you, now seal the deal! We know you can do it!
Please, like always, don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any questions by emailing us! Also set sign up for our mailing list to stay updated and get weekly reports of whats going on!
