Who will projection benefit?

Those who have a studio space will see immediate benefits from investing in projection equipment. As you already have the overhead of rent, you want to maximize the sales of existing and future clients!

Those who are ready to take their portrait sales to another level will benefit from projection. If you’ve been averaging sales of a few hundred dollars because you’re selling 5×7′s and nothing else, prepare to be wowed. Part of in-person ordering covers the needs of individual clients, allowing you to make individualized recommendations the client didn’t know he or she wanted. (Clients don’t just buy groupings of canvases. They need your expertise to help them know which images to choose, where to place the gallery, whether it should come in black and white, etc…)

Those who wish to provide their clients with a high-end portrait experience will benefit from personal consultations in clients’ homes, complete with wine and even dinner. In-home projection is a spectacular form of customer service.

Who will NOT reap the benefits of projection?

If you deal in volume photography services, projection may not be for you. It is a time-consuming process. Clients find themselves running late. They want to chit-chat. They have trouble deciding on their order. They want to see seven versions of the same wall mockup you made, then decide on the first one they saw.

If you do photography on a very part-time basis, projection probably isn’t for you. It’s a heavy investment that requires commitment to hard deadlines and to your clients. If the ordering appointment is at 7 p.m on Tuesday in the client’s home, you can’t wait until Wednesday to edit the photos.

If you can barely keep up with orders placed via online proofing, projection may not be for you – though you might consider hiring an assistant to complete ordering sessions for you!

Where can I find out more about projection and in-person sales?

The Projection and Sales Merit Badge, love.  It’s full of sales-y goodness in the most compact format possible.  Click here to buy.

Want to read it on the blog? IS PROJECTION RIGHT FOR ME?

Limit the number of choices a client is given!

Three album sizes x four possible covers x three paper finishes = 36 possible combinations for your client to consider.  And that’s if you’ve already narrowed your selection down significantly!  (I used to offer more album choices, but clients literally groaned at the thought of making another decision. So I chose the one I like best and offer it exclusively.)

Adding tons of images from a portrait session to the mix only muddies the decision-making waters.  It makes order-finalizing even harder.

How many images do you show a client during an ordering session?

Twenty-five to forty. Clients are paying for editing a shoot. (That includes deleting images, not post-processing-every-photo-that-doesn’t-suck.) They don’t need to see seven variations of the same pose. They just need to see the one deemed ‘best’ by you, the portrait professional.

But I take at least 327 fabulous images per portrait session!

Tough toodles!  Become a brutal editor. If you have any hesitation about an image, delete it and move on.

Don’t let your ego get in the way of delivering manageable results to your client.

This is awesome!  Hook me up with a Brand Camp promo code for the Projection & Sales merit badge, Kristen!

If you’re interested in learning more about projection and/or in-person sales in as few words and pages as humanly possible, you want the merit badge.  You might want to download the Pricing & Sales Remix to get it a lil cheaper.

Want to read it on the blog? SALES SECRETS FROM THE MERIT BADGE

Upon launching my own portrait business, I decided to start projecting my portrait sessions to increase my business’ customer service and ‘wow’ factor.  I then spent weeks upon weeks scraping together tidbits of information to make informed decisions about which software to buy, which projector would give me the most bang for my buck, and how to go about selling wall galleries.

Eventually, I gave up on finding any sort of comprehensive or reliable information and made my own way.  I’ve spent years refining my ordering process and software choices to maximize sales while minimizing decision-making on the part of the client.  (Yep, years.  Four of ‘em.  All in-person sales.  Two years working at a low-end volume-based studio and two working in my own high-end business.)   This merit badge is the nuts-and-bolts version of what I know about sales.

The Projection and Sales Merit Badge takes the guesswork out of creating a format for client sales sessions that take place in person.  You’ll determine whether a projector needs to be part of that system.  You’ll also learn to present images to clients in the order that yields consistently higher portrait sales.

Oh, and it really is a merit badge.  You’ll have to channel your inner Girl or Boy Scout by completing each task to make the most of your knowledge.  The badge includes ten tasks, rationale for each, and photographers’ FAQ about my sales process.

The Projection and Sales Merit Badge is only $69 through January 1, 2010, when it increases to $89.

Go on and buy it right this minute.

Want to read it on the blog? PROJECTION AND SALES MERIT BADGE IS HERE!