6 Reasons You HAVE to have Consultations
6 Reasons You Have to Have Consultations
First and foremost - why do we (I’m looking at you, Daniel Troutman) insist on calling them pre-consultations? Aren’t ALL consultations, by their very nature pre-consultations??? But, I digress. As I often do...
We insist on consultations with our clients. In fact, when we have a lackluster shoot or sale, we can always track it back to some routine part of our “normal” production getting skipped to make it easier or faster, only to have it trip us up later. In several of those cases the thing that tripped us up wasn’t discussed in the consultation or worse, we skipped the consultation all together.
Gauging your client (the baby)
Consultations are mandatory for Smash Cake photography sessions. A picture is worth a thousand words. Instead of asking Mom if their child is walking, you can tell if they aren’t mobile at all, if they will be walking by their appointment date, or if you’re going to spend all morning chasing the Roadrunner.
You can also gauge how friendly babies are or how shy. At nine months babies begin to show separation anxiety - and will recognize you as “new”. It’s best if the baby has met you prior to the big day. (And it’s best if first time parents have as well).
Better Sales
Consultations are important for good sales as well. Introducing parents to products they haven’t considered plants the seeds for additional sales. If your client has never heard of an image box they don’t have time to dream about why they MUST have one. If you haven’t heard of an image box - check these out Zno.com. They sell really well for us, all I have to do is bring up all of the memories they bring home from the hospital, that first lock of hair, the ultrasound pictures.... sold. More about making money in photography…
Pre-qualifying the client
If the client is concerned about your $50 8x10s, they’re really going to take issue with your thousand dollar albums. You need to gauge if they’re nervous about spending the funds, if they haven’t done it before, or if the amount of money you’re asking is completely beyond their capabilities.
Smash cake set design
Consultations give us a better way to understand the client’s design expectations. Collaboration about the set design is how we show our clients that we value their input and gives them “skin in the game”. It also shows that we’re going to go the extra mile and helps justify our pricing.
Walking through our smash cake process
Clients experience anxiety about their session when they have unanswered questions about the process. They are trusting you with your child, they are trusting you with their art, and their money. Communication is key. During every consultation we talk the client through our process from start to finish. Then, when the big day comes your client will be less nervous about the process and will trust you more, because they know what’s going to happen and when. Remember every time you tell a client what’s going to happen, followed by that event happening is a small promise you’re fulfilling. Filling those promises is what will set you apart from the pack.
Connect as people
And finally, and probably most importantly, consultations allow us to connect with our clients as people. They’ll know us, trust us and be “real” with us - which makes a much, much better portrait in the end.
- Clare
Images provided by Troutman Photography