Business Day Thursday: Bundling For Better Sales - Part 3

Good Afternoon Everybody,
What a day yesterday was at Photoshop World Boston - non stop from 8 till 8, but a good time was had by all. The thing about Photoshop World is that it truly is non-stop all the time.

Tonight they have an event called Midnight Madness which has nothing to do with Photoshop but it just a good party time for all that attend. Needless to say, when you give a program at 8 a.m and are walking out of Midnight Madness at 1:30a.m. it's a full day. If you want to follow all the Photoshop World action, head over to the PSW blog right here.

There are a lot of cool things to see here. NIK [link] have some really exciting things happening in BETA right now that I saw at their booth. It's kind of a Preset "Dashboard" for using their products I'll try to report on it as soon as I can. I also saw their Viveza plug-in for Lightroom - really cool [link]. I"ll show that on an upcoming Technique Tuesday.

Wacom was also showing their brand new Intuous 4 tablet [link]. I received a personal demonstration - maybe it's time for me to give up the mouse. Anyway, hit the links to check them out.

Hey gang, let's get on with a quick Business Day Thursday. Here we go...

Bundling For Better Sales - Part 3
We have talked about bundling coverages and bundling albums. Today let's talk about bundling images. So many times we photographers just wait for our clients to buy something. We too often are simply order takers instead of order makers. Our goal is to find out what our clients want and then helping them get it - that's really what selling is all about. Selling is not a dirty word! Selling is a service we offer our clients to help them enjoy what we have done for them with our talent as photographers.

Hit the "Read More..." link below for the rest of the story.

That said, our clients our looking many times for more than just an 8x10 so instead of us waiting for them to order that one 8x10 why don't we suggest some options. Why don't we bundle a couple of images together in picture packages.

Follow my logic - we know the mother of the bride wants a photograph of the bride and groom.
But instead of just taking an order for one 8x10, why not offer your client - let's call it - a "For Your Home" special. The bundle includes an 8x10 of their favorite image, and 2 5x7's - one for their bedroom and one for the den all nicely framed and ready to go.

The individual pricing on all 6 pieces (3 photographs and 3 frames) totals just for an example $150, but when purchased together, the cost would only be say $119 - a $31 savings. Heck, that's about a 20% allowance.

What's happening here is that you are suggesting to the client some options they probably haven't even considered. You are showing them how they can more fully enjoy the photography of the wedding day. It's a win-win for your client and for you.

My suggestion to you is to produce several different multi-image bundles. You have to think it through and decide what works best for your clients and your photography. Here are a few quick suggestions:

1. "For Your Home" special described above.
2. "Don't Forget Dad" - 2 framed images for dad's office - one of the entire family and a second of the bride and groom or even one of dad with his daughter.
3. "Thinking of Grandma" - 1 5x7 of the couple with gram and a second image of just the bride and groom.

I think you get the idea. If the frames bring the costs in a little high, then swith to plan B and offer the same image combinations in less expensive folios easily available from many vendors.

Now you have three levels of pricing to sell to; bundles of images in frames, the best value, bundles of images in folios for the more budget concious client, and the individual prints for the clint that wold prefer to purchase their own frames. In any case, the sale has the possiblity of beening much more successful than just waiting for the client to buy and 8x10.

Hey guys and gals, that's it for me today. I've got a presentation at 12:00 p.m. and I get to do a quick 1-hour demo in the PeachPit booth at 3p.m. So until tomorrow - have a good one. See you on Friday, -David