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3 Scary Reasons Your Referrals May Be Nonexistent

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This Halloween is definitely one for the record books. While here in Denver it’s supposed to be close to 70 degrees today, up and down the east coast their greatest fears are coming to light with the perfect storm. As we plan for the little ones’ trick or treating (and maybe some not-so little ones too), it always amazes me how real looking and down right scary some costumes can be. They definitely bring our fears to a whole new level.

Even though a monster, goblin or zombie can make our heart beat a bit faster, the feeling quickly disappears when you shut the door. But what about when your fear is more business related. What about when you’re not quite sure of how to bring referrals into your business?

Asking for referrals isn’t rocket science. You don’t need a degree, special classes or years worth of knowledge. The only thing you truly need is the belief you can do it, and the ability to set up the perfect plan that allows referrals to come flowing into your studio on a regular basis.

Yet most people don’t. And it all comes down to one thing: fear.

If you’re not asking for referrals on a regular basis, the first thing you need to do is identify the reason why. What fear is holding you back from referral marketing? Here are 3 of the top reasons people simply don’t ask for referrals – do you see yourself in one of them?

Fear #1: The Fear of Rejection

One of our top fears is not looking or being good enough. We don’t want to hear that someone doesn’t like what we do. So we avoid the situation all together. If we don’t ask, they can’t say no or tell us how they really feel. But if you stop to think about what response you’ll truly get, you can sum it up in several ways. A client will either tell you they don’t have a referral, will be vague about their response, or bring a name to the table immediately. That’s it. And if that’s all you are expecting, the worse you can get is a “no” or “I don’t know anyone”. Accept the “no’s” and move on. Every once in a while you’ll get the yeses. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Get Clients Tagged With: , ,

3 Things Your Photography Clients Will Never Tell You … Unless You Ask

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What’s the best way to grow your photography business? If you said “through referrals” you are correct. The concept of referral marketing involves two things:

1. Being able to make your clients even happier and more profitable throughout the years

2. Having each client refer you to their friends and family.

These two steps are all you need to grow your business without spending a ton more on marketing.

And while its easy to assume your clients are happy and referring you, its completely different than really knowing if its true. To get a handle on these two things requires you to ask each customer these three things.

#1 – Why did you choose to use me?

Customers are selfish by nature. When they decide to use a company or service, its because you have met all of their qualifications as a business owner. Yet every client has different qualifications. For some that might include great prices, good customer service, or a strong rapport – all of which they will rarely volunteer unless you ask for the information.

So ask them.

Find out what you are doing right. Then use that information to hone in and do more of it. When you start seeing patterns – multiple people focusing in on what they like best – you may have found a unique selling point that you can use in your marketing to attract more people, just like them.

#2 – Is there anything you wish I offered or would do differently?

As a small business owner, chances are you operate to a certain extent with blinders on. That’s not bad – its easy to do. You get so close to your business because you live it and breathe it everyday, that its hard to look beyond the norm for something new. [Read more...]

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The Photography Sales Funnel Part Three: Long Term Profits Through Referrals

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Now we head into the robust part of the sales funnel. This is where you build up a system that allows you to make big profits. If you haven’t read the first two parts in this series, make sure you catch up by starting with the Photographers Sales Funnel and a look at How To Generate Leads.

In part two of this series, I discussed the top of your sales funnel and how it helps you capture attention of people desiring what you provide. Potential customers are called “leads”. Leads ultimately convert into paying customers. Depending on how well you do with both marketing and sales, your ultimate goal is to bring in more qualified prospects as time goes by so that it becomes easier to convert them into paying customers. The greater the ratio, the more your “system” works, and the less time you’ll invest in working with prospects. Which means you’ll have more time to work with your clients AND to perfect your system.

Two Ways Of Building Profits

In small business marketing, there are only three ways of bringing in the sales.

The first way is to attract and bring in brand new prospects. That’s the most expensive way to market your business and it takes the most amount of time. This is the process of working your top or the front of your funnel.

But once you get people into your funnel, you’ve attracted them to your business and they’ve begun noticing what you have to offer, you move to the second phase. In this phase, there are two ways of building profits:

Selling more to each client that comes through your door

Selling to one client again and again, year after year

Selling More To Each Client That Comes Through Your Door

In order to sell more to each client that comes through your door, you have to build your packages in such a way that you can offer more to each client. In other words, they can’t be all-inclusive. You can’t offer everything they’ve ever dreamed of purchasing in one package deal. Instead you have to break it up, offering truly the most important aspect of what you do in each “sale”. For example, many wedding photographers offer a package like this:

An engagement setting

  • An 11×14 signature board for your wedding day
  • Unlimited photography on the day of your event
  • All images on copyright-free CD
  • 40 page bridal album
  • 20 page parent album
  • 16×20 Portrait Print
  • Online gallery of your wedding photos to share with friends and family worldwide

When you see a package like this, what else could a bride ever want? She gets her engagement images, she will receive an album and a wall portrait, her mom gets an album, her friends and family can view the images indefinitely online, and she gets the CD – which means no one will ever have to order from the photographer – she’ll simply order through her local discount store when family and friends approach her about wanting an image. [Read more...]

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