Skip to main content

Sales Session Q&A

Lesson 30 from: High School Senior Photography

Sal Cincotta

buy this class

$00

$00
Sale Ends Soon!

starting under

$13/month*

Unlock this classplus 2200+ more >

Lesson Info

30. Sales Session Q&A

Next Lesson: Pricing Your Work

Lesson Info

Sales Session Q&A

Okay, let's, ask him questions. Stay fab had asked what if the mom and daughter don't agree on a piece and both feel very strongly? What do you do? I think that's our job where we step in and give our guidance and it might be towards mom, it might be towards the daughter. It might be towards a different picture altogether, but you have to explain your reasons on each photo. So if kendra chose, say, this one for sixteen by twenty four campus and I really love that black and white head shop and she's also getting this one in a fifteen by thirty say, well, I love that picture, kendra, but you have one really similar like that in this size, and when you have two big prints, you want to make sure you have diversity in your home? Uh, so I like to do one faraway shot where its full body and then maybe one close up that way you have a nice portrait, something that's timeless, but then something that's unique, and you're never going to see anywhere else like this, and you just have more diversi...

ty that way. So when you guide people like that and give them your honest advice as the trusted advisor, I think that's a good way to push through those kind of moments where there's disagreement well and also keep them on if you know, if you remember mom, you know, joe, you were getting stuck on a cutter like, well, I don't know, I really want this I want this and like, don't forget you've got the album to fall back on and so there I automatically helped her get over that home to think, oh, that's, right? I can put all my extra favorites in the album, and so that becomes, I think, helpful as well. So another question from carol davis, sixty five if some of your favorite images are were not selected by mom, would you still use them in your advertising or your portfolio? Absolutely all day long does that happen a lot that happens all the time. There's a shot I'm absolutely in love way from the clients like it's. Okay, inside, I'm like freaking out like what do you mean it's? Okay, but it's, you know that's life, you know, you keep that inside, you don't get insulted don't get offended, but that becomes part of my no my portfolio in my promotional pieces, so yeah, don't take it personal it's not personal ultimately, their dollars are voting on what they like and don't like okay, so there's quite a few questions um and taylor about the signature book a lot of people would like to know I'll just pick one patricia night from yuko valley, california says, uh, where do you get your signature books from? I have never seen anything like this. It's from tindall photograph it. Uh, t y and dll photographic dot com I think we covered it monday way. Sell it for, uh, we sell it for it's fifty dollars? We sell it for, but our cost is twenty five. So it's not a high profit margin. Item it's a five by five leather book with black kraft paper pages in the wall it's just slide in there, it's the kids love it comes with a silver pen and it becomes like a little mini senior yearbook where they'll slide their pictures in and of course, they're friends can put pictures in and sign it. So it's really practical again? It's tindle, photographic I believe it's referred to as a wallet album wallet album. Yes, cool a kind of just a practical question from megan k how do you handle sales tax? Do they know ahead of time that they will be paying sales tax and in fact, that's it great question, because I wasn't sure when I started like what, how to do that it doesn't come up ahead of time, so it doesn't not in our in any of our language or it really never comes up, but we spoke to our accounts about how to charge tax where we live, so that it, you know, we were in line with everything, and because of what we provide is eighty percent service that's, what we tax es, so we only charge tax on twenty percent of the total cost the package because eighty percent of its considered service so tax where we are on ly comes up to me and maybe, like, fifteen dollars, on a two thousand dollar package, something like that, but that's way need to preface that we are not accountants know in every state is different. So this is a state of illinois thing, and our accountant had to really this was not a clean cut answer, just so you know, the first couple of years we were in business, we we're charging full tax on these packages. So then we had to give refunds and things like that. So you've got to make sure, uh, that talk to your accountant, check what qualifies for tax, knowing that part of your offering is part product parts service because you don't charge tax on service, and I just want to follow up the in fact, there are places where you do charge on sir where they do charge attacks on service and I think it was actually tamara lacking in her first class that said she got audited by the irs and that that came up like it was yeah so definitely folks check that out to your accountant, right? Right? And but just and I think where the question came from was do you it's like, I know when I first started I wasn't adding on sales tax and I was just I was just like, oh, I'll just eat that so do you tell your clients or doesn't do have reactions like, oh, you mean there's tax on top of this? Let me address that just the numbers in general so whenever the sale's over and uh they've picked everything and it's time to collect the payment, I never say a number notice when I was walking through the packages, I never said how much each packed package was because people don't want to hear how much something is it just doesn't sound they see they reckon read so you don't ever say numbers it's just uncomfortable and so when the sails over and they picked out everything, I don't give them a total just say would you like me to put that on the same card is your session fee that's how I ask for the money that's how you close in a nice way that doesn't you know change the mood in the situation will say oh no I'd rather write a cheque ok no problem and they usually don't even ask for a total if it's a credit card and I don't tell them a total and so if they do all cinnamon invoice if they want we'll do whatever but if they don't care to know don't tell them right sometimes those numbers could be a slap of reality and so that's not for me tio slap him with that reality uh again if they didn't ask there's no way they did ask for the total stay well with tax it comes to this there's the tax addressing thank you and and you know the thing is I don't want to dance around this at the end of the day every place you go is plus tax so why do we try to change our industry to behave any differently than any place else you go even when you go buy a new car and they're like four payments is always three, ninety nine a month it's three ninety nine plus tax so every place you go has this concept of adding tax we shouldn't act any differently so the packages are in addition there's tax on top of it cool I have a question for you mom from allie pep the question is what was your first reaction to the prices in general? I have to say I did it's kind of step back going well okay but having gone to the process they experience it helped me understand what went behind it I really appreciate the fact that salve brings a an artist of makeup and hair otters artists who really bring up the level of kendra's beauty um and I can say that because I'm her mom but it's really helped spring experience up and uh made the picture's amazing and so I saw want what went behind it and I had to appreciate that that's awesome and let's add to that uh I know it was either friday or saturday somebody had asked me do I have the parents on the shoot and I and I yes all day long and the reason I have them on the shoot is because mom correct me if I'm wrong this was a cz much an experience for you as it was for kendra it really wass um I was grabbing the seat when I was seeing the pictures going up on the screen I've got my guys that's amazing and um just the funds she was having then also the struggles on the roof with the wind and she fought for that and so did you those pictures so yeah and those air once in a lifetime images right? So you know, I think a lot of time ours would shy away from the wind conditions up there they would shy away from the lighting conditions up there and I went up there and I think I prefaced it with hay we're going to try something different if we get it we get it if we don't we don't you know it sounds like you guys are happy with what we got up there but mom, let me let me take this a step further, especially for the audience let me ask you a question, what was your favorite moment of the entire experience? Oh my god and I'm gonna ask both either so it could be the same moment that I might be different my favorite moments I'd like to be outside and watching you work with the elements the urban elements so I I don't know if it was the chair or if it was in the alleyway, so both of those I've just I like that hands on urban that's blend urban with elegance and see what we got so like that that makes it I did like you said, so going with, you know, taking my philosophy is I want to take this beautiful girl and put her in this gritty I've seen and I love that contrast that's and that's what draws people I think to my work is I tend to shoot that way verse beautiful, beautiful, you know it's less sterile it's more riel and it's just layers thie elements and the contrasts and makes it more interesting more engaging so I really I like that watching that unfold awesome kendra what was your favorite moment or experience in the whole thing I have to agree with both of you on the style of the um elegance with urban like card backgrounds are like tough um so hard to choose I really did like in the chair and from the big grow turning door and um in the street shot uh you really did nail when you ask me well, what do you want to do like what do you want to pose for this you guys choose um and and then when you said put your feet up and do this but the jacket here like yeah that looks good that's initially like what I wanted and so coffee it well so let me let me paraphrase for you and I don't put words in your mouth so stop it what I'm hearing you say that one of the biggest parts or best experience he had was when I asked you what if when you look at the shoot yesterday I asked you what do you want to do now? So when I gave you some control you enjoyed part of being part of the creative process especially in senior portrait it's I want my personality to come through and so it's nice to choose poses for pictures they're gonna represent you and so yeah, it makes a big difference when yes I like opposes you give me but maybe I have this in the back of my mind that maybe it's gonna look horrible maybe it's actually gonna look really good on that was also good um on point like, well, what else can you do what you want to show me? Because maybe I'm wrong, but I don't know how much you know about point and so much so I would be a little more educated on which poses you do and what formed a having ballet and, um maybe change a little bit for the purpose of posing and how it's going to hit light look through the camera but it's good to have a choice and yeah, and that's what I tried to do right? I was asking you I was trying to at least give you some latitude. I knew artistically what I wanted from a lighting perspective, but I don't know much about point, right? So I'm kind of deferring to you and that's why I'm just saying, hey, show me what you got and then when you show me something that's creating more creative ideas in my own head, right? So there's, nothing wrong with this collaborative process between, you know, your client and yourself, so don't feel like you have to know it all uh, all the time? Because I don't can we get some control on this monitor again? Well done. And while you bringing that up, you were in the alleyway and you were actually showing her some of the chutes and your camera. And you actually did show the one than that chair while you were found there showing the chutes and afterward she came back to me. She was so excited, he nailed it. Hey, I got what I wanted out of that. So that's now that scene because you worked with her and motored exactly how she would really have expressed that if she had really known how to express it. That's. Awesome. I love getting his feedback. And I hope you guys back home are appreciating. This is well, because how often do you have the opportunity to talk to your client and ask these kinds of pointed questions? So you might be thinking yourself all man, sal, I'm not buying into what you're saying. Well, here we are now clients that have been unprompted, I'm asking pretty raw questions and they are giving great answers. They're telling you from their hearts where they know what they feel about the entire process, so this is one of those pictures you're talking about. Yeah, and this was all your idea by the way so if you remember I do remember when you first sat down I was like yeah, that doesn't look good but I knew where you were going so all too often I watched artists and photographers they'll they'll say something to the effect of hay show me something then you go do it and they just shoot it and then it doesn't look good right? And that defeats the entire purpose so I just wanted an idea of what you were looking for and then from there the artist and me took over and try to nail the best version of it so awesome yeah I'm glad you love this one so I ask you what the best experience was uh it's for us coming into the shoot okay or into the sales process did you feel it was too it was pushing did you feel it was sales? Uh no okay and that's important for everybody who because that's the point we're trying to drive home is that there's nothing sales e about this and I do feel like you're looking at the pricing and you were driving yourself through the process talking myself into it like that? Yes, I was talking myself now let's talk your husband's not here right? So was there anything in your mind going on where you like my husband is going to kill me if I do this, I wasn't even thinking about him. I love it. Mission accomplished. He was an afterthought. Don't let him watch the show through this party. Yeah, no that's awesome and that's again driving that point home, guys is what we're doing here is we are capitalizing on this emotional moment by showing them great images and having that sale happen right here, right now. So, let's, take a few more questions. I do have some more tips. Uh, for the sale session. I just don't want you guys going home without this information. Uh, could you give me that prices? So we used to just hand clients pricing like this on a sheet of paper. But we don't anymore at her studio. We have a leather folio just like a menu. When you go to a nice restaurant, how it's like leather and the papers tucked in and the sides that's what we we built it by hand. Uh, this leather folio. And then we print this on like thick resume papers. So it's got a linen texture. And so this is mounted that leather folio and that's what I hand them you can't ask clients for two thousand dollars in hand, them a flimsy afore they did anyway, yes, thank you. Yeah, and normally I don't have this uh, bookie uh, clipboard I've got a nice modern thing that I'm taking notes on and I don't know if you can get a close up of this order form here I created this for the studio got it over there and it makes it really easy to fill out pictures so it's got their name their package tax what school? They go to their yearbook image uh section for a while it's big prints any special notes the alan type of album size album images did they get a signature book? Facebook? I mean, everything you could possibly need is on there and then whenever we're processing their order thiss gets checked off in red whenever it's come in. So you want to make this process as seamless as possible on the back end of your studio and make it easy for whoever's ordering pictures so keep that organized us? Well, um one question from uh btw by the way they'd like to know how often are you two brought to tears? Not often I think not with me talking about no eso I do not normally sit in on the sales process just for what it's worth I find that I can hinder the process more than help it because what happens is taylor will select with the clients is happens all the time, by the way she'll select their sixteen by twenty fours they're fifteen by thirties and then I'm coming in from a shoot I'm just wrapping up and then I'll see them and I'm like, hey, how's it going? Would you pick and taylor pitt bring up two pictures that she select or they selected and my face says it all I'm like all right and then the client would immediately be like you don't like it I'm like no that's not what I would pick well, what would you pick and taylor's ready to kill me? Because I just threw a wrench into her sales process so I'm usually not here but I tell you what gets to me would get to me choked up is there's two things just knowing how we help people, knowing how we create memories for people and just thinking about how an image like this will stay with kendra for the rest of her life. That's what gets me choked up when I start thinking that way and take it beyond its an image and now it's a family heirloom that's when I get choked up knowing I could be on someone's wall for fifty years that gets me choked him that's, that's the beauty and the blessing of what we do is artist that's awesome okay and a follow up question from avital photo is ah session normally this easy they say that seemed too easy how don't normally react, doesn't it? Yes, this is totally normal and they might go back and forth a couple times like, well, we really budgeted for the platinum but we love that album and they figure that out on their own for the most part but if I see them going back and forth five minutes I'll help him as much as I can like uh you know, just focus on the products themselves what have you drawn to let's figure out where you get the best deal? I'll help them add stuff up as if they were adding to a package so they can really see how much they're going to be saving whatever helps them I hope them and so but this is really the norm this is pretty I I'd have to have to say our sales processes are because of everything we're go ahead of time, right? So if you're watching this and your binding to this concept of doot sal, I'm loving, you know, sound tower with loving your business model right concept you have to understand that every piece of what we're doing from that initial phone call all the way down to the e mails being sent all the way down to the client communications happening have led to this moment this didn't happen by accident, you can't just jump into the process here and think it's going to go this smoothly it went this smoothly because everything we did leading up to this moment so the short answer is yes photos I mean that's just brought me in and so everything of these last three days that brought you to this point paint attention all the details and the techniques and engaging with the family the parents that's the teenager all that brought you to this point and so I've been engaged up to this point anyway, this is like the culmination of it expecting that we are going to be buying pictures and then when you see these gorgeous pictures I mean how can you not help e I think I want basically reiterated u says it's really easy to get in a ferrari and say, wow, it's goes fast that was easy there's a reason why it goes fast and you have said that and she said it actually I think you're paying her yeah, she said the word she said that she said she's like this was the experience right every every moment of their time even with all of these cameras around them, all of us interrupting the situation asking questions you engineered a situation to be a certain way on dh if you don't watch the first two days you won't know how to engineer it so pluck for you to buy but I mean you know and they're reiterating that the whole process was engineered it isn't by happenstance that we're just sitting here got lucky that she hadn't seen the prices before on dh that that just worked out because I think you know you missed that one that one thing and the whole thing can fall apart right in the hole thing is engineered it's not a part in parcel kind of thing where you could take one and not the other it is not an accident we are sitting here where we are today it is it is from hard work from running into that wall making mistakes again I don't want everyone out there to think like wow that was easy you know it's not easy it's a lot of hard work that went into it we run into a wall we make a mistake we step back and I think it comes down to just being honest with yourself a lot of people I know not even for tarver just business people will not acknowledge that they've made a mistake and when you make a mistake and you do something wrong you've got to make it right and that's not only for your client that's even internally like wow we really missed the boat on this let's step back regroup retool fix it try again did it work? Yes great keep doing it is it still broke keep trying to fix it you can never give up on your own business so question from terrence b and I'm not sure if this is what we were going to do next is what is the process after the select they're done but the client to assign the pictures to the products so the way it works from here is we would start with smallest prints and go up to the largest prints, and we would go through and pick out all the wallets first and then once they pick their pictures for the wallets, will review their selections to make sure they like him all together. If they want to swap it out that's fine, but will solidify that group before we go on to five by sevens eight by tens and you work your way up and then by the end of them picking out everything, we would review it all again just to make sure they liked it all because you never want them to leave with an uneasy feeling in their stomach, especially after spending the amount of money that they did. Uh so just make sure you're reviewing it until they're comfortable. Why don't we do this? Wei have about fifteen minutes to break. I'm gonna have taylor start filling. I want you to see how we use light room for the selection process, I think that's important, but before we do that you guys up in the control room out here get us three questions ok for these two this is this is unprecedented as far as I'm concern having the ability to get true feedback from a client let's ask them questions that makes sense because as photographers is business owners, you may never have this opportunity again to get true feedback from a client about the experience about what they thought about a b or c let's do that and then we'll go into this selection process so you get set up and let's get a couple of questions here cued up okay, so I don't know if this is all right to ask we'll find out in a second but, uh folks wanted to know if you guys came into this thinking that you wanted the digital negatives and that didn't come up at all. So carrie, if people want to know your reaction to that or of the seventy, um photos and I think that says said it for me that satisfy what I wanted, I don't know years like yeah, the animal slideshow getting that shooting come into this what they're looking for in my industry in our industry, the digital negatives it's a nightmare topic nonstop you didn't come into this hoping that you were gonna walk out of here having a cd full of just digital images that you were going to go home with you were looking for or did you or were you looking for more of a polished experience? Ah mohr artistic at its or what was your vision? That's? What they're looking to figure out at home, I think it's I like seeing original and stuff. It also helps to have some edits and you know what to do on every single picture it's going take so much time. But it's, good to see that it's on favorites because we have similar taste and so it's common favorites. And so I like maybe I like the edit more and so that's going to sell me maybe I like the original war, so it gives a little comparison. And it's, nice to see it it's like so I think the short answer here is understanding. They did not want a dvd of pictures. They wanted the experience they wanted the the final product. I mean, mom, you album, you're like album from the get I'm a working mom. Um, I don't have time to try to sit down with the cd full of pictures and figure out which ones I wanted, and I'm looking for the expert to guide me through that experience, whether the products that I can choose from and he anticipated and you seem to know what I wanted because it was right there, so I'm too busy if you ask me to sit down and do it on my own, I probably wouldn't get teo wait till christmas. When oh, yeah, I knew christmas president, where do we get this lady thes perfect. Yeah, yeah that's a real you know? No, I love what she just said, man, she said, I'm looking for the expert to tell me what to do it's day one I said to you guys out there, it's like, going into kentucky fried chicken, ordering your meal, and they give you raw chicken bread crumbs in some oil and tell you to go figure it out. No, I want to give her the complete experience, a delivered product and edited product, and you just hit on the head you're like I'm a busy mom. I don't have time for this madness well, and I think what the seniors really care about most is facebook it's usually while it's in facebook and maybe a book is this it's all in the seniors mind. So as long as they get a facebook posting of their favorites, you've pretty much addressed the digital negative situation with seniors. Yeah, I think what you did for me and hopefully everybody else is it reemphasize and reiterated finding the right clientele because the people who want the digital negatives are going to be the people who want more than they could ever possibly imagine having and they don't need all that they're not gonna appreciate what we do and they're going to constantly hounding us from or where is she she says hey listen this guy I'm looking for it can you get that for me and you say yeah again I've got these product let's do it right and then she's happy she satisfy people well what else can I get you and so I just reiterate that for me good and those clients by the way that you give those cds too they're more than likely those air ending up in a drawer somewhere they're not even they're not even doing anything with those images and that that how could I yeah, I just told you what gets me choked up what gets me excited is knowing that I just created something for them that they will have on their walls fifty years from now remembering me remembering this moment and I hope when she goes to get married I'm the guy she's calling to come in and photograph her wedding she said that I love a day says we're keeping this name because I want him there's a wedding awesome I'm going to stalk you if I see on facebook that you got engaged and call me don you have no rush you're too young just like wait no that's the ultimate goal and and if I don't get to deliver that that product that experience and it just goes a cd in a drawer I've missed that opportunity and I'm no longer part of family heirloom form so come in I want to be able to give him these great products let's take a few more okay another one for mom and I know what I already asked you what you initially thought when you saw the price sheet but a lot of people including md wine would like to know if you had a particular price range in mind beforehand when you walked in here did you what what were what was your concept around what you should pay for something like this I have to say my price range was probably a little bit lower thought fifteen hundred um and I think perhaps it's pretty common you you tend to buy a little bit higher when she just see what's what's offered and then you see the quality of the pictures and it's again it's ah once a lifetime experience and it's not something go cheap on so I was able to go up take one more and then we'll have taylor walking through the rest of the process having our because you know and I didn't know how this this process would be received because it took about forty minutes to get through and I asked everyone to kind of hold their questions just tow watch this unfold and to some it might seem like it's kind of boring but really it's not because there's a lot of subtleties going on behind the scenes we'll sail I got like I got word from craig that people are buying maurine this segment this workshop that's also then like his in his story this is priceless I actually really like people are out there buying this class because you don't get this way we're starting our studio we were just like you guys we didn't know what we didn't know and there was no one out there teaching these secrets I mean they would say oh do in studio sales and like what's in studio sales because where did my position my laptop what do we do with product? How do we show them? I mean, all these things that questions yeah, no one was showing you the aunt tsars and this is how we found success was through our own failures and there's no reason all of us can't be successful there's plenty of business for everyone, which is why we got into education and just sharing our story and what made us successful so I'm glad there's so many people getting so much out of it because that's exactly why we're here yeah that's humbling for for sure and for the record this process ah that you're seeing is you could do it for boudoir family babies there's a little bit of a slant when we're doing it for a wedding but not much the processes the process the framework is the framework so I've been saying that over and over again for three days um we got one more weii sure do why not? Why not? Well, a couple of people that asked was there something you did not like about the experience that's a good question or that you would have changed? I can't really think of anything this faras maybe not quite involved with it um so explains explore that when you say not involved with it, what do you mean by that? No, I I appreciated the fact that, um you explained at the beginning where the line was that the parents shouldn't cross over and that the needs and let the artist be the artist with the camera on and maybe some parents wouldn't appreciate that they want to be more or the helicopter parent, and so I did find myself at times going okay, I need to step back and I had to, um, allow myself to like you take control and I'm on a little bit of a control person, so well, I appreciate that that isn't much of a control freak as you are you able to I appreciate and understand what you're bringing to the table and in order to make this the best experience step out of it and so that was that was a bit of a chance and I ask you a question because I think this comes down teo confidence issue for a lot of photographers did you feel I had control off my environment very much so I you know I love the transparency the honesty and you didn't try to come across slick I always have the right answer um even if you made a mistake you not glossing it over you were riel and so that pulled me and that that tell me I can trust this person awesome that's great feedback for all you guys teo get a sense of you know how you know how the parent is receiving that part let go control and earn your trust exactly and this is very relational and I might my recommendation to any photographers establish that relationship that report um if you need to do a little research but headed time that phone call indicates you have a gothic kid on the other end well go to the website and figure out what gothic is and what that culture looks like so you can make some relevant suggestions recommendations for in the with the lighting that you have in mind and you did that with kendra thank you that's great feedback was it was there anything you didn't like or would you like to have seen different? I can't think of anything really I did hear you make a few comments issues we were going through the images and I hope you guys heard her when she said it I heard you commenting on the edits and so that's actually I don't think a lot of whatever israel that realize that is sometimes I'll see them uh anywhere from they won't edit anything two they'll charge you for black and white conversion there's actually photographers in my local market that will charge you five dollars extra to convert an image to black and white that's ridiculous or they'll show you all your image is completely unedited would this have been the same experience visually for you had I just shown you the images out of camera verse? A fully polished image fully polish is much more effective it's better shows your quality that you have and so has a plan I want to know that this which is a quality and I'm paying for it, I want them to be good and you're not paying for it, okay? So yeah, and I might not agree with that it maybe I'll get a plane or maybe it's a little too much of an edit, but that time you showing me that it doesn't mean I have to get that one that's correct, so but for our audience, what I'm hoping you understand all of you is how in tune our client base is today with the concept of post production these kids are using instagram, facebook all these tools for editing if you just show them a lame out of camera color corrected image you are not gonna wow anybody there threshold to be impressed has been raised so hard high today between the fashion magazines and what they're capable of doing on their phones we have got to go out of our way to take it to the next level to impress them I'm telling you I'm telling last year to this year since the introduction of instagram and all this stuff we've noticed a difference with our seniors and we've had to make adjustments because they would come in and see the edits that we used last year and they're really no I don't like my skin tones I'm sorry what? Yeah what do you know about skin find should not understand skin tone but that they're becoming more more educated around this process. So you lot of your question yes for the ladies did you like that? There was so many photos to pick from there's like over two hundred I like options like choices also like maybe just seeing twenty oh this coil which is much better with a lot more choices tohave because what if one was cut out that if it was still in there, it would've been your favorite and that would have sold you you would have gotten a good deal and that stuff that being said I think two hundred probably is the right number too many and uh shutdown overload I can't make a decision and I appreciate the process that you went through let's make a decision he's your instincts you got reaction at least whittle it down ok, we only whittled it down twenty five percent it's a good start and then it helps us look, I understand maybe what we're looking for let me ask the question a different way because that's what? I'm glad you asked that question right? I know that when I started off and I told you I was going to show them two hundred to two hundred fifty images everybody was there was like this gasp of air like that's crazy but you just heard it from the client's mouth no, that was we want options that being said did you enjoy? We made the process for you simple to now that down would you have been able to do this at home alone looking on a computer screen? No problem right there you have it you can't if you're going to show that mount of images and you just post them online they're going to shut down because there's no one there to help them that's good because you know you as photography we've listened to other programs and they're like oh no you know just show them twenty just show them fifteen whatever it is and I think that's limiting to weigh that we were with her for two and a half to three hours if I'd shown her twenty images her mom guaranteed would've been like uh where's the rest right and they would have felt like we were holding back images and that would have created an entirely different discussion so now we're not focusing on the images we're focusing on the discussion what I want to do is real quickly taylor just show the audience how we you like room we don't have to select every image just give me a sense of how we would use a light room to select their big print so the client is selected only paint the picture here the client is selected their top um they know they want to be in black label now we're going to walk them through and start filling their big prints so we would take him through and say ok let's pick your two favorite for the large prints so to pick large prince I would start with my suggestions so I bring up a couple of options if you just bring up two to start with they're gonna think oh well they were like a lot of other ones that I really like what about those so I like to give them a couple options to see it once that way they can feel secure in their decision from each outfit from each outfit come up so I would bring up my favorites along with what I heard them saying we're their favorites that's right don't try and push your favorites right right and then just guide them from their chair my favorites when e e so much like yeah, you guys are really air erring on the side of the black light which I love by the way because she your skin tone, by the way, speaking of skin tone really converts well to black and white so what you're saying up on the screen here, what I did was just command and select all my favorites and then end the letter end for come to compare them all and so this brings up my favorites and from here they could tell me their least favorite. So guys, when you're looking at this what's the one you like the least out of here and we can pull it out and make it easier for you a lower left lower left I said lower as the top I'm pointing I pointed out uh take out the glass top flips all right? So what I'll do is just excited that makes all the pictures bigger and we'll keep going through this process until we get to it once they love so they feel secure and what they've picked because they've looked at a bunch together, so we're going for the is it a too big one? So we've got a fifteen by thirty and then a sixteen by twenty four campus. Now let me tell you my suggestions and you do everyone because it's going to get challenging from this point on. So for the sixteen by twenty four campus, I love the top middle, I think that's a classic head shot that's never going out of style. And you said you love canvas that black and white with the texture of the campus is going to just look like a piece of artwork. And then for the fifteen by thirty, I think both of the bottom ones with the with the needle can't space meal. I can't think of that I love the arabesque, but maybe consider it in this coloring that we have black and white and color and big ones, not too black and white ones that's my suggestion and we had talked about perhaps even seen the space needle shot more with the warmer color sunset sunset lettering that just to explore that grabbed that on a swell, but have that that it bright on the arabesque. Yeah, so I can't show you the edit with that picture but basically it would it would look the same just in a different pose so that would look amazing with the air best too and I think that would make it a lot more dramatic when you put that sky on the left behind this one with just with that pose tanglewood really dreamy what we'll do is we'll add it that before we order it will give you an opportunity to prove it to make sure you like it and then you have that album that a body down which is a square I think that one of the chairs already crop to square. That would be amazing for the cover of your book cover the book yeah, I agree and I think that was them pulled that one that was a consideration for the big because that gives it a nop shin for a picture we love right that we really, really love um I think should cut out appoint one which one? The middle one on bottom. What do you say off three point? Which one would you take out first focus on the pot's? Not yet exactly. Um I do like the arabesque the one on the right wing right best okay, so we like that I punctured the best yes now which edit do like um I know you like black I like it yeah and you like a little dirty I'll give you options so so not the color one now break okay it's not the middle one so we'll show you sow thing I'll show you this one in that version before we order it that way you can see which one you like best maybe a good compromise the editor that you did on that for right where he did a little bit of texturizing use you like that swarm tongue and this introduces some warm tones maybe dots the compromise we can reach the one on the left is on the bottom is pretty dramatic it's almost it's very surreal night so I'm thinking maybe we could find that compromise and I've gotta have the one in the upper left on the left side somewhere somehow but there's not a twenty six by twenty four of it I've gotta have that way won't d'oh sixteen twenty five would go for like eight by ten or five by seven especially we're going to give some too family that's like opponent one two yes now for everybody at home because we're gonna go break here for everybody home what did you do on the keyboard to keep track of what they've selected so when they pick a picture that they want to purchase and it's definite it gets marked as green so that's the number eight so that second, when we set the label to green and then once they finalize all those sizes like they picked all their eight by ten there all green now all right, those numbers under my eight by ten section on my order form not keep track, but the reason we use green the green label is so that remember the clients looking at two hundred image it's gonna happen over and over again that what did we order again? Taylor could just quickly filter by green and then that brings up to the screen. Here is what you've ordered and we train the client, so if I go out yeah, they know if you go into grid mode a slick hoops scroll up with the wheel they know you see that image on the left there. If you're seeing this screen at home, you see it's got a green label on it client knows they're cute, they're visually queuing oh, I didn't get any from this siri's you'll hear the clients go we didn't get any from the serious because there's nothing green s o they're getting it and they'll typically want to pick one from each siri's, whether it's in an album, a print or wallet and so that's how simple we are, you know, using light room and then of course, if taylor has to crop it differently she can show the client. Oh, well, if you crop this into an eight by ten here's, what it's gonna look like all that functionalities built in the live room? Yes, there's. Other tools on the market that do that. But at the end of the day, I want one tool. Simplicity for my staff, simplicity for training, uh, that can handle all that stuff, so I can't thank you two enough for being part of this process with us. Thank you, this's. Amazing, absolutely over tossem. And I've personally had an amazing experience working with two of you. So I'm excited to get some of these pictures in your hands and know that they're going to be o

Class Materials

bonus material with purchase

Sal Cincotta Pricing.pdf

bonus material with enrollment

SeniorPhotography-Day1Slides.pdf

Ratings and Reviews

a Creativelive Student
 

I have been shooting seniors now for 6 years. I have to say this is the best course I have ever had online! My head is still spinning trying to process it all. (luckily I gave in and bought the course :) I was going to be printing my marketing magazine for my seniors this week. After the first day of this series, I completely changed my pricing structure and felt so much better about how it would work for me! That is what is amazing about this series. It has incredible amounts of information that the newest photographer to the seasoned photographer can take and use in the business. I watched all three, took notes like crazy; watched again and still could not get all the info I wanted on paper. So I did the logical thing. I bought it! I was so impressed with the down-to-earth style of teaching that Sal and Taylor use and how open they were to sharing so many helpful aspects of how they do business. I really wanted to buy another backdrop, but I truly believe my $99 for this series will reap way more benefit for my business. Thanks so much Sal and Taylor! Now... to go redo that marketing info. :)

a Creativelive Student
 

This course is amazing. Sal offers a truly comprehensive path toward success in a step-by-step way that leaves nothing out. You can tell he's very secure in his success and his skills and, therefore, can truly share his knowledge. This workshop is great for amateurs and experienced alike. And, unlike many other presenters, Sal doesn't spend exorbitant amounts of time bemoaning the existence of "shoot and burners" ... instead, he inspired even them to raise their game - benefiting the industry overall. Nice. You must buy this workshop.

Student Work

RELATED ARTICLES

RELATED ARTICLES