Thursday, November 05, 2009

Business Day Thursday: Who’s Your Best Salesperson?

Good Afternoon Everybody,

We had one more rousing good time in Colombia, SC last night.  One of our attendees can back a second time, Jeremy was with us in Charlotte the night before.  Last night he won my audience challenge question worth $99. And then won the $1200 door prize – convention registration for two to Photoshop World!  He was thrilled hugging LaDawn, jumping on stage and hugging me and about 3 to 4 others in the audience. See, it pays to come back a second time to the DWUC tour.  Hey gang, only 7 to go, maybe we’ll see you again in the next few weeks.

Time to get on with today’s post.  Here we go…

Who’s Your Best Sales Person?

Dollars  Is it you? Or an energetic studio employee? Who really is the best sales person you could have selling for you?  If you think about it, there is only one answer – a very satisfied past client.  The secret is to make all your clients very happy and satisfied clients, but we all know that.

It’s that satisfied and happy client that generates those “word of mouth” referrals that many of us rely on in our businesses.  But can we leverage that client satisfaction and take it to the next level?  I think so.

Suppose you are planning to participate in one of the local bridal shows. You know what a bridal show is, don,t you?  It’s where 5 florists, 5 bakers, 5 caterers, 5 bridal consultants, and 50 photographers come together to show their wares.  At least that seems to be the case at some of the bridal fares I’ve strolled through.

Anyway, all kidding aside, we all know what a bridal fare is all about.  It’s many times a gazillion wedding vendors coming together, including several photographers, all viding for the attention of the bridal multitudes that attend these weekend shows.

If we stand there behind our booth with our albums on the display table and our wedding images displayed around us, we look and sound pretty much like every other photographer showing their wares at the show.

Romance At SunsetSo, you say, how can you change it up for the next show you do?  My suggestion is to “hire” your best salespeople for the job – your best, favorite satisfied clients.  Would they really be the best salespeople to promote your photography to all those perspective brides?  I think so.

Each year, we can all recall a wonderful experience we have had with one of our clients.  We just get closer to that one client over another for some reason. Maybe it’s personality, chemistry, common interests or hobbies….whatever.

Anyway, why not ask that client couple to share the booth with you?  Why not ask them to be your “front person” for your studio?  Who better to relate to all the future brides attending the show than a bride herself?

How would you go about arranging that for your next bridal show?  Contact several of your happy clients and run the idea past them.  You could easily offer additional photographs from their wedding as compensation for their time.  You may even offer a casual portrait shoot, a Bridal pictorial (trash the dress) session.  The point is to really offer them a nice “thank you” for their time.

Last week during my Master Class I was engaged in a conversation with Greg who had travelled from Hawaii to attend the class. He received the long distance mileage travel award:~)

Anyway, he was telling me about the big bridal show that had just taken place in Honolulu shortly before he left to join us at the class. It seems that one of the photographers displaying at the show was doing exactly what I outlined above.  He said that this photographer's clients were not just standing around to answer questions.  They were pro-actively approaching the prospective bides and inviting them into the studio’s booth.  And, then proceeded to enthusiastically share their own studio experience.  WOW! You talk about “word of mouth” referrals.  Nothing better than having it happen in real time!

I think it’s a great idea that easily let’s you became the cream rising to the top, photographical speaking, at your next bridal show.

Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  We are about 100 miles outside of Atlanta with computer on  my lap.  LaDawn informs me it’s time to fill-up the gas tank and take a little lunch break - so I’m out of here.  See everybody tonight in Atlanta.  Adios,  -David

2 comments:

  1. Hey David, Do you need someone to cary your bags in Hawaii? Ken Toney

    ReplyDelete