***STOP TRYING TO SELL PHOTOGRAPHS***

People just don’t buy photographs on price, they buy images for a reason and that’s your major key to SUCCESS.

There are two typical reasons for a photographic purchase, either as a solution or as an emotional response.

So, for example, a restaurant hiring a photographer to take photographs of various dishes on their menu are doing so for an answer to a problem. The photograph is a solution to getting more clients through the door and more bums on seats in the restaurant. People viewing the images on social media are enticed to come down and try the new dishes because the image really sells the food. Try selling the restaurant your photography as a solution to their needs and you’re onto a winner.

For weddings and portraits its slightly different, people are making the purchase for an emotional reason. The more you can strengthen the value of this emotional connection, the bigger your sale will become and the less objection to the purchase you’ll have.

Take for example a family portrait with both parents and their two teenage sons. This could be the last time for years that the family has a chance to create such a portrait. Soon their sons will be off to college or university and the possibilities of getting the family together for a shoot will become less and less.

Now in a few years time that one portrait will be looked upon as priceless and from each year forward it will only increase in emotional value becoming a more and more treasured investment to the family.

The same can be said for wedding photography. Often this is one very rare occasion when the whole family and extended family are together. Wedding photography is not just a collection of photographs, its all the romance and emotion, the tears and the laughter, the joy and the happiness, captured in a moment that will never be repeated.

The key to any form of emotional selling is to ask questions then shut up and listen to the answers. Ask the future bride and groom their reasons for booking a photographer, what’s important to them in a photograph, how do they imagine their wedding photographs and who are the most important people they want captured in them. Listen to their response and turn this around in your sales pitch using the information they have supplied you with.

If they have told you they want a lot of natural images and plenty taken with their young daughter then explain how your style is free-flowing and unobtrusive allowing all the romantic and emotional moments of the day to unfold without interference. Explain how you’ll be there to capture those special moments on the wedding morning as their daughter (and be sure to use her name often in your pitch) gets ready with her Mam both looking beautiful together in their fabulous dresses.

Remember if a bride and groom or a family contact you, are interested in your services and they have just come from your social media pages or website then it’s a given fact that they like your work. It’s up to you to build that emotional connection and personalise your pitch to them. Forget price, people only buy on price if they are cheap skates, bargain hunters or Groupon Freebie followers and these are NOT your clients.

NLP (Nuro Linguistic Programming) is part of my 6 Steps to Success Program, it’s all about creating a desire for your products and services. Like it or not we are all sales people but remember we are not forcing a sale we are creating a desire for our services and ultimately giving the client exactly what THEY want, not what we think they should have. Ask questions, find out what drives your clients and the sale will close itself.

Hope this got you thinking. If you do have any questions please comment or drop me a message, always happy to help.