Folks, a Lansing-based photographer specializing in wedding and event photography has given me permission to post this conundrum to you. First is his challenge. Next is the advice I gave him. Any other ideas or corrections? Enquiring minds want to know.
The Photographer’s Challenge
I had several contacts [leads generated by his website] last week, but I notice a troubling pattern reoccurring from last year. The pattern is this:
- I receive requests for information,
- I provide the information,
- I follow up with a call to verify that they received the information and
- I never hear back.
I usually do not do a second follow up contact as I believe this borders on harassment. I have yet to get a conversion from a web contact and I’m really questioning why I can’t get the conversions and even more troubling why I never receive confirmation of receipt of information. I always have concerns over e-mails going into spam or junk mail folders, which is why I follow up with a phone call and ask them to return the call or send me an e-mail. It’s very troubling when I lose them at this point. It doesn’t do me much good to have a lot of traffic to the website if I can’t make any conversions or lose them after I am contacted.
[At which point, I asked him for an example of what he sends his prospects. He sent the following example:]
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Hi Stacey:
Thank you for the wedding photography inquiry, and congratulations on your upcoming wedding!
My pricing for weddings and receptions is service-based and based upon the type and amount of coverage you want. Here are the packages I offer:
Package 1, $3600
Two photographers
Unlimited Coverage of your wedding and reception (no limitation of hours). Coverage includes rehearsal dinner, pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony posed photos, post-ceremony outdoor photography, and reception.
Free Photo Booth at your reception.
Slideshow of Photo Booth photos during your reception
Fully edited and full resolution digital photographs with full rights.
Uploading of all photos to client proofing site for a review of photos and purchase of special products.
Package 2, $2600
One photographer
Unlimited Coverage of your wedding and reception (no limitation of hours). Coverage includes rehearsal dinner, pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony posed photos, post-ceremony outdoor photography, and reception.
Fully edited and full resolution digital photographs with full rights.
Uploading of all photos to client proofing site for a review of photos and purchase of special products.
Package 3, $1500
Two photographers
Limited Coverage of your wedding and reception (up to 6 hours). Coverage includes pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony posed photos, post-ceremony outdoor photography, and reception (as time allows).
Fully edited and full resolution digital photographs with full rights.
Uploading of all photos to client proofing site for a review of photos and purchase of special products.
Package 4, $1000
One photographer
Limited Coverage of your wedding and reception (up to 6 hours). Coverage includes pre-ceremony, ceremony, post-ceremony posed photos, post-ceremony outdoor photography, and reception (as time allows).
Fully edited and full resolution digital photographs with full rights.
Uploading of all photos to client proofing site for a review of photos and purchase of special products.
In addition to expanded coverage of your events, two photographers allow us to provide you with some special services. These special services include a photo booth set up at your wedding (a great way to entertain your guests before and during the reception) and a “first photo” (a framed photo of your first picture as husband and wife). The first photo is printed on site and we can frame it with a wide mat for your guests to sign.
Products
There are a lot of different products to choose from with a large number of variations on each specific product. Since you will have your files provided to you digitally, you can create these special products yourself, or we can assist you. One product I highly recommend is a photo book. A photo book can be designed with 20 or more pages and can be bound in either soft covers or hard covers. The number of photos per page can range from 1 to six. There are numerous layout and themes available. The size I prefer is 10 X 13. Photo books are very easy to create and have excellent print quality. Prices for photo books would range from $85.00 and up, depending on the number of pages, and the options you choose. If you opted for a photo book, you would also be able to create a digital slideshow (with music) to share with your friends and guests. Turnaround times on photo books are very quick (approximately one week).
If you wanted to opt for a more traditional album, the prices would range from $100 to $400 per album, again depending on the size, layout, cover (suede, leather, etc), type of binding, and other options.
Other popular products include prints, print gift boxes, prints on metal, standout prints, prints on canvas, etc. We also do custom framing and matting and can also create framed photo collages.
Your products can be created at any time. I have examples of the products I mentioned if you are interested in seeing them and discussing them in greater detail. Once I know the special products you are interested in, I can provide you with more accurate pricing.
I participated in the Lansing Bridal show in September and offered a free engagement photo session or “save the date” photo session for all confirmed bookings. This offer expires on December 31, 2011.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance or if you would like to confirm my availability.
John
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My Off-Cuff Marketing Advice
John,
What’s good about this:
1. You begin your pricing introduction from highest to lowest.
2. You offer other products at the end.
What I feel could be improved:
1. By removing a few dollars from the prices, you make the appearance of being more affordable. For instance, $995 looks a lot better than $1,000 even though it’s only a $5 difference.
2. Too much unnecessary talking about the additional products. People bent on price need to identify the value quickly, so use numbers, colons, and bullets where you can. An example:
_______________________________
The Forever Package: $3595 (use romantic names instead of cold numbers.. The Honeymoon Package, Wedding Bells, Endless Love, etc.)
Photographers: 2 fulltime. Two full-time professional photographers recording one of the most important times of your life. As one of the most important investments you can make, your wedding photos will be passed from you to your children, to your grandchildren and for generations to follow.
Coverage: UNLIMITED.
Includes:
– engagement photos (if desired)
– bachelor/bachelorette parties (if desired)
– rehearsal dinner,
– pre-ceremony,
– ceremony,
– post-ceremony posed photos,
– all outdoor photography, and
– reception.
Photo Booth: Included. Capture your guests well-wishings on digital video at your reception! Huge fun for all! Portraits included.
Photo Booth Slideshow: Included. See the photobooth videos and photos of your guests during your reception. Quite entertaining!
Terms: Unlike many other studios, with John Douglas Photography you receive the fully-edited high-resolution digital photographs with full rights. We upload all photos to our client proofing site for your review. From here you may select only the images you want and may purchase additional products such as custom photo books, apparel and more.
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3. OPTIONAL: Show pictures of the products on your website. You can also list all products on your website, so long as the value is easy to see. If the clients have to do a lot of reading or calculating, you’ll hurt yourself more than helping yourself. Don’t worry about your competition pricing you. You provide the shoppers with the info they want and if they call you after seeing your pricing, now they’re really qualified. If you do this, however, you have to really show value.
4. The budget has to be one of the questions on the questionnaire if you choose to approach prospects with a questionnaire as we do. If you don’t know their budget, you don’t know their comfort level and you can’t tailor a plan to suit them. I’ve heard competitors talk about squeaking more out of people and maybe they’re right, but we try to fit our clients’ budget. Period. Otherwise, you run the risk of producing sticker-shock and they stop listening. Or, the price is too low and they become underwhelmed and they don’t see your value. Always get people to state their budget if you can.
5. With high-ticket items, the term “FREE” tends to cheapen the offer instead of building value. Try using “Included” instead.
Ultimately, I would still recommend using the questionnaire approach to help sift real prospects from casual shoppers. It also gives you a way for you to let them build their own package if they can “a la carte” their own plan after being introduced to all that you provide (without prices). Then you contact them to answer further questions or to meet, if possible and bring a contract with price sheet with you or (easiest) email the quote/contract to them for them to sign off on and collect the opening deposit.
We probably have a 40-50% close rate using the live discussion-questionnaire-proposal/contract method. Talk on the phone when appropriate to build rapport and trust, which is especially important with the work you do for your clients.
Hope this helps.