Business Day Thursday: Rethinking The Sales Pitch

Good Morning Everybody,

Well, the bags are packed (almost) and we’re ready to hit the trail again.  Tomorrow we head off to Dallas, Texas where I’ll be teaching at Texas School for a week.  I taught at the school years ago so I’m really looking forward to see how things have changed since presenting there a few years ago.  A lot of our fiends are teaching during the week so it will be good to catch up with them too.

From the looks at the schedule, it seems like one busy week with about every spare minute in our schedules accounted for.  Blogging may be on the short and sweet side next week – we’ll see ;~)

On with today’s post…

Business Day Thursday: Rethinking The Sales Pitch

I was visiting with a couple of my wedding photography buddies recently and, as usual, the topic of how our wedding photography industry has changed so dramatically over just the last few years.  To the point - wedding averages are WAY down and everybody seems to be looking for a deal.

I addressed several reasons for this back in February when I did the two part blog post for my good friend and blogging buddy, Scott Kelby [link]. Since that post I have a few more observations on the same topic. 

I think the biggest reason for this situation lies in the fact that the folks making the “buying” decisions for wedding photography are no longer the bride’s parents.  I think in today’s market, it’s the bride and groom themselves and I think these younger adults are more conscious of the dollars they want to spend on wedding photography. 

Anyway, without me going into a long debate on that subject, let’s discuss how we might approach our new customer when it comes to making the sale. For years I’ve always “pitched” my top coverages first. 

I always liked to use the fine clothing store as an example.  I mean, how would you feel if you were browsing for a suit or dress in your local department store and the clerk came over, sized you up, and suggested you check out the less expensive inventory on the sale rack.  You’d probable feel a tinge insulted by the experience.

I felt the same way about selling my photography – show the best to sell the best.  Always start with your top product offering.  It’s how I’ve been doing things successfully at my studio for years.

Today’s market may call for a re-thinking of that strategy in light of the way folks are making their buying decisions.  Maybe it would be better to sell from the bottom up.  I know of one “high end” photographer doing just that and his percentages on closing the sale have improved dramatically!

Maybe the example of how a jeweler sells engagement rings works better in this market climate.  Most of us guys remember our experience buying the engagement ring for our brides.  We have a budgeted figure in mind for our purchase.  We want our loved one to have the best, but we know we still need to make the car payment, pay the electric bill, water, heat, buy food and occasionally some new clothing……  – right?

What happens? The jeweler begins showing us the various engagement ring options.  The one that was within our budget is about the size of a grain of sand even under the magnifying loupe.  He then proceeds to tell us about “color, cut. clarity, and caret weight” and our budget is blown to smithereens.

Think about it. The jeweler has educated us to why the nice diamonds cost more  money and we’re appreciative of that fact and do what?  WE SPEND MORE MONEY on the ring, sometimes much more that we ever intended – and worry about the car payment and other living expenses later.  Why? Because our girl is really worth the extra expense.

Now let’s put that experience into the context of selling wedding photography.  Maybe after we get an idea where the bride and groom’s budget lands, and we should have a pretty good idea before our appointment with them, we simply show them what they can get for that budgeted amount.

After offering the first option, it’s time to show them the “photographic” version of color, cut, clarity, and caret weight.  That might include more hours of coverage, a second or even third photographer, professionally bound albums, included digital images – the list goes on and on.

As the prospective client sees the exciting options, albeit at a higher cost, I’m thinking we photographers would experience the same results that most jewelers experience when selling that engagement ring we discussed above.

In today’s market I think starting with your lowest price, then educating your clients about the myriad of options available and selling up may be the way to go.  Showing the “sticker shocker” first and then relieving the potential buyer’s anxiety as the the price is lowered may not be as effective as doing the reverse.  Maybe  now is the time to introduce the client to something they thought they wanted pricewise and then educate them why the larger coverages are such a better value and excite then even more.

Food For Thought  -David

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Hey gang, that’s it for me today.  I’ve got calls to make, people to see and bags to pack – I’m out of here.  I’m planning to take the day off tomorrow because of our early wakeup call. If I miss you tomorrow, I’ll see you Monday morning hailing from Dallas, Texas.

Have a great one and I’ll see ya’ soon.

See ya’ Pardner,  David