[Photography] How To Deal With Customers That Think You're Too Expensive?

Bradley J Anderson

14 years ago

I would explain and show the advantages to them. If they want to go with someone cheaper, let them. They'll be back.

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donhx

14 years ago

Understand that you are not selling photos. You are selling creativity. You use your camera, lighting kit and your skill and knowledge to deliver something unique.

Also, you must analyze your market. If you do quality creative work, your skills will seem cheap to the right people.

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Bradley J Anderson

I would explain and show the advantages to them. If they want to go with someone cheaper, let them. They'll be back.

But they basically get the same quality. The only difference is that they'll get a photo we professionally took in our studio. And thus charging more, because of that.

Originally Posted by donhx

Understand that you are not selling photos. You are selling creativity. You use your camera, lighting kit and your skill and knowledge to deliver something unique.

Also, you must analyze your market. If you do quality creative work, your skills will seem cheap to the right people.

Well said. Selling creativity. But how do you explain this to your customer? They'll probably understand this and are willing to pay for the actual photo shoot but don't want to pay $40 for each picture they order...

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Kurt

14 years ago

Originally Posted by donhx

Understand that you are not selling photos. You are selling creativity. You use your camera, lighting kit and your skill and knowledge to deliver something unique.

Also, you must analyze your market. If you do quality creative work, your skills will seem cheap to the right people.

Actually, I would lean more to selling memories...And how that portrait will be hanging in their living room for 50 years. Is this something you really want to be second rate?

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donhx

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

Actually, I would lean more to selling memories...And how that portrait will be hanging in their living room for 50 years. Is this something you really want to be second rate?

Yes. This would be a great example of the benefits of his creativity. It's really all about selling benefits, not prints. People will gladly buy the prints (and many are paying far more than $40) if they understood the benefits of having them.

Having the memories is an emotional thing. Most people buy photos for emotional reasons, and that is often the easiest sell of all.

By the way Elion, professional photographers are charging sitting fees and per picture fees all the time. Many make a very good living doing it. You may want to ask your questions at a professional photographers forum. They are the ones who have "been there, done that."

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travlinguy

14 years ago

Sometimes this works. If they're in a business or profession where the price of products or services are not negotiable, point that out and tell them your services are just as special.

I recently had a guy who marketed offline. He was just getting up and running marketing his service, dentistry, online. He thought he should be able to pay around two cents a word for any writing, content, sales copy, whatever. After all he said, "it's just a bunch of words thrown together to mean something." Ugh.

I danced for a bit trying to explain the value of these words that just happen to find the proper order as a result of me putting them there but he wouldn't budge. He ended up hiring a cheap writer and got what cheap writers produce, a bunch of words just thrown together. So he contacted me again to "fix" what the other writer produced. I told him I was too busy. Some people just aren't worth the bother.

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

Actually, I would lean more to selling memories...And how that portrait will be hanging in their living room for 50 years. Is this something you really want to be second rate?

Thanks. Selling memories that will be in their living room for years really gave me some new ideas and insight on how to deal with these problems. Going to line them out and get them ready when "selling" portraits and photoshoots again!

Originally Posted by donhx

Yes. This would be a great example of the benefits of his creativity. It's really all about selling benefits, not prints. People will gladly buy the prints (and many are paying far more than $40) if they understood the benefits of having them.

Having the memories is an emotional thing. Most people buy photos for emotional reasons, and that is often the easiest sell of all.

By the way Elion, professional photographers are charging sitting fees and per picture fees all the time. Many make a very good living doing it. You may want to ask your questions at a professional photographers forum. They are the ones who have "been there, done that."

Thanks. Will think about it. However, being a good photographer doesn't mean you know how to market it the right way. Customers preferences are changing all the time, even if we've been there and done that

.

Originally Posted by travlinguy

Sometimes this works. If they're in a business or profession where the price of products or services are not negotiable, point that out and tell them your services are just as special.

I recently had a guy who marketed offline. He was just getting up and running marketing his service, dentistry, online. He thought he should be able to pay around two cents a word for any writing, content, sales copy, whatever. After all he said, "it's just a bunch of words thrown together to mean something." Ugh.

I danced for a bit trying to explain the value of these words that just happen to find the proper order as a result of me putting them there but he wouldn't budge. He ended up hiring a cheap writer and got what cheap writers produce, a bunch of words just thrown together. So he contacted me again to "fix" what the other writer produced. I told him I was too busy. Some people just aren't worth the bother.

True. We've already seen some customers coming back to our shop because of the lack of quality and reliabilty.

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Tina Golden

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Elion Makkink

But they basically get the same quality. The only difference is that they'll get a photo we professionally took in our studio. And thus charging more, because of that.

If that bolded statement is true, then you are doing something wrong. If you, as a photographer, can't do better than people taking photos themselves or dropping by Walmart, then you are in the wrong business.

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Tina Golden

If that bolded statement is true, then you are doing something wrong. If you, as a photographer, can't do better than people taking photos themselves or dropping by Walmart, then you are in the wrong business.

I think you misunderstood this, or I wasn't clear enough when explaining. Because yes, they ARE the same. We basically charge two different prices (example prices):

Poster size 50x60 cm
- $15 If people deliver their own photos. We print them with our professional HP printer.
- $40 If people want to print a photo from a photoshoot we took. We also print them with our professional HP printer.

Hopefully that clarifies it a bit!

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Linda_C

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Elion Makkink

I think you misunderstood this, or I wasn't clear enough when explaining. Because yes, they ARE the same. We basically charge two different prices (example prices):

Poster size 50x60 cm
- $15 If people deliver their own photos. We print them with our professional HP printer.
- $40 If people want to print a photo from a photoshoot we took. We also print them with our professional HP printer.

Hopefully that clarifies it a bit!

Gah - this tells me you have a pricing clarity problem. You are actually creating the problem by comparing apples and oranges. Printing is printing, yes? So why not price the printing the same regardless and make sure to cover your costs in the photo shoot price? For example;

Professional Photo Shoot: $xx.xx

Professional Photo Printing: Yes, we'll print your home photos, too!
Poster size 50x60 cm: $15
Desk Size 20x26 (8x10): $xx
etc

Which also opens the door to bundles.

Get a professional photo shoot (reg $xx) and poster size print (reg $15) for only $xx -- SAVE $xx

Get a professional photo shoot (reg $xx) and 3 sizes of prints (reg $xx) for only $xx -- SAVE $xx

Food for thought, perhaps...

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Bradley J Anderson

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Elion Makkink

With the new digital age people think they can get large pictures for a few dollars. They could, but they'll never see the difference between the quality of paper, the difference between colors, lightning etc.

Originally Posted by Elion Makkink

But they basically get the same quality. The only difference is that they'll get a photo we professionally took in our studio. And thus charging more, because of that.

I'm confused. :confused: You seem to be contradicting yourself in these two statements.

Originally Posted by Elion Makkink

Thanks, that's what I already thought of in my first post! Making the shoot a bit more expensive, and the actual printing cheaper so it'll be perceived as relatively cheap!

I think you're a bit confused about what Linda_C was saying, unless I'm misunderstanding somehow.

But that's okay. You've got a lot of good ideas coming in already.

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

Thanks, that's what I already thought of in my first post! Making the shoot a bit more expensive, and the actual printing cheaper so it'll be perceived as relatively cheap!

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

Haha. Sorry for that. It's a bit strange indeed that we ask two different prices for the same print. The only difference is the actual photo, did they took it or did we took it?

But it would be better to make the pricing all the same for printing.. and like I said, increase the price of a shoot!

It's also better for contrast (aka Robert Cialdini's influence technique). Starting with a high photo shoot price will make the actual printing relatively cheap ;-)

For example:
Photoshoot - $30
Print - $50

Or

Photoshoot - $60
Print - $20

Same profit, different approach. And they might order more prints since they are "cheaper"

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JohnMcCabe

14 years ago

Originally Posted by Kurt

Actually, I would lean more to selling memories...And how that portrait will be hanging in their living room for 50 years. Is this something you really want to be second rate?

This leads into what I wanted to say.

If you are having trouble making sales, you are either selling the wrong thing or selling to the wrong people or both.

Right now, you sound more like a print shop that also takes photos. You compare yourself to Walmart.

I may be wrong, but it sounds like you're trying to sell a commodity to poor people -- one which many people on Walmart budgets consider a luxury.

Sell memories, as Kurt suggested. Sell heirlooms. Partner up with a framing shop and sell them something they'll want t hand down to their kids. And price it accordingly.

$40 for a photo sitting? Sounds like the guy at Walmart/K-Mart/the Mall.

Look at what outfits like Olan Mills do - they sell the sitting and bundles of photos. If you can get family portraits sold, you could even turn it into a continuity, with an annual appointment (billed automatically).

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Elion Makkink

14 years ago

We basically wanted to give the customer the ability to print their own pictures at our store as well. But not for the same price as photoshoot-prints did cost at the time. So we have two different price tags for the same product (which I see is not smart now). But again, the only difference is the actual photo, did they took it or did we took it?

But all comments and the example of Olan Mills really opened up my mind a LOT. Thanks for that!

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LB

14 years ago

I agree that you'd probably get better responses in a photography forum, but there is some good insight here.

Using a digital enlargement is often a "penny wise, pound foolish". Digital enlargements from photo scans are going to lack the crispness of an enlargement from a negative. (obviously you know this) Additionally, depending on the stock used, the paper for digital prints may have less accurate color reproduction and fade quicker.

You could also have samples people can look at showing the crisp detail of a professional enlargement versus a digital "blow up".

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Elion Makkink 14 years ago

Originally Posted by LB

You could also have samples people can look at showing the crisp detail of a professional enlargement versus a digital "blow up".

This is another good idea to show the customer the difference and qualify the price ticket. Thanks!
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[Photography] How To Deal With Customers That Think You're Too Expensive?

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