March 31st, 2006

Top 10 Tips to Get Ready for Prom Season.


With prom season about to set sail on a sea of ill-fitting tuxedoes and cleavage-busting dresses, it may be a good time to review what will make your prom season go smoother from the first kiss until the last dance.

1. Confirm ALL of the details with the school. Check with at least two people at the school for the correct date, time, location, and the number of people expected to attend. The one detail you don't confirm-- and re-confirm-- is the one that will bite you in the butt. It's no longer enough to request the number of couples attending the prom since there are still many attendees that choose to go as an individual in a group of individuals. Knowing the correct number of attendees may affect how many package backgrounds you really need on site.

2. Be sure to shoot backups. If you have enough digital equipment and can afford to shoot primaries and backup images on separate cameras, do so. If you only have enough digital equipment to shoot primaries then backup those images on film. It's not worth missing a shot of a couple for the lack of an extra frame, especially if someone blinks and you miss it!

3. Send enough staff to cover the prom properly. Nothing is worse than being at a prom and being understaffed. Not only does it put a tremendous amount of pressure on the those working the prom, but it also creates an invitation for major screw-ups like not recognizing that only one light was firing; or, not noticing that the lens was set to manual focus and shooting the prom as auto-focus; or, shooting the prom at an improper white balance setting.

4. Pre-market the prom. One of the best things you can do for your business regarding proms is to communicate your prom services to the high school student body the week BEFORE the prom. Sample print sizes, pricing, and any Party Pics information that can be displayed at the school the week leading up to the prom is invaluable because it sets expectations for the kids, creates excitement for having photos taken at the prom, and adds to your credibility as the prom photographer.

Here in OKC at our largest proms CCP actually sends a staff member to the school during lunch periods for three days leading up to the prom so that the students can sign-up and pre-pay for their photographs. This accomplishes a few distinct advantages both for CCP and for the school.

It allows CCP to collect and deposit money prior to the event creating shorter lines at the event. It allows the pre-pay couples to avoid standing in line when they get to the prom where they would select what they want and then pay. And finally, it allows the pre-pay couples to go to a special package line where they don't have to wait to have their photos taken.

5. If you're sending two identical background sets to the prom make sure they are EXACTLY the same. High school kids feed on following the leader and peer pressure. If one backgrond of a "matching" set is not exact--for whatever reason--the herd instinct will gravitate to one overworked crew, while the other crew begs and pleads with waiting couples to be photographed on their backdrop.

6. Bring plenty of cash to make change. Nothing is worse than shorting your sales crew of enough change to handle the large denomination bills that seem to emerge like dandelions every spring.

7. Schedule enough Party Pics® photographers. It's a self-fulfilling prophecy: send one Party Pics photographer and you will get one-half the number of images you would have gotten and significantly less sales than with two photographers. Proms are a great training ground for emerging photographers who want to step up. Challenge them at an event where you simply cannot take enough images.

8. Upload your images immediately after the prom. Schedule a staff person to begin work at midnight on a prom night and let them work until all images are uploaded and confirmed active online. Prom couples stay up all night. What better way to end the evening than by going online at 5 AM and reliving the prom-- all over again. Impulse sales are always the highest!

9. Deliver on time. If you promised the school that you'd deliver the finished packages by the following Thursday, then do it!
Proms are easier than ever to upload the images, and transmit the package information to the lab. Impress the school and the community by deliverying the finished packages ASAP.

10. Sign 'em up for next year! There's no reason why, if you've done a great job and the school loved your photographers, your backgrounds, your products and services that they wouldn't want to re-up for next year. Strike while the iron is hot and don't give them a chance to shop elsewhere.

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Here Are Some Special CCS Dates to Put on Your Calendar
July 23-25, 2006
CCS will be hosting the Summer Workshops right here in Oklahoma City.

July 23 will be a training day for those who want to arrive early and get some software, photography, or other specialized training.

July 24 and July 25 will be general meetings days with various topics and presentations. Details will be forthcoming shortly.

February 26-27, 2007
The CCS Winter Seminar will take place in Miami Beach, FL at the Eden Roc hotel right smack on the beach. Guest speakers, market-specific presentations and after-hour fun will be on the agenda.

February 28-March 3, 2007
Trip winners in the print-finishing promotion leave straight form Miami Beach to the soft trade winds of Grand Cayman Island for 4 days and three nights. You can get there!

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Passes Available for WPPI
Anyone interested in acquiring free admission passes to the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Trade Show need only contact Brian Speers  and request them.

Be sure to include your mailing address. We also have discounted 2-for-1 tickets to the WPPI Convention which includes entrance to most of the programs that will be offered over the five days of the show. If you have never been to WPPI it is one of THE best shows of this type with an excellent trade show and some of the finest speakers in the photographic industry.

Trade show dates are April 9-11 and the show takes place this year at the Paris Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.

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Making Sales Calls - The Numbers Game
by Darwin Drake

How do you make sales calls? Is this a process that requires getting your “ducks in a row”? While you’re aligning your ducks, is the next best person talking to the decision maker?

I’ve been knocking on doors the last few weeks and after visiting a number of sorority officers and high school sponsors I remembered how easy it is! I found that just by walking into a house you meet the newest officers. The benefit in that is I’m the first to start a working relationship. The newest officers are easily led by the past officers, so with a few inoculations, I can open up a channel of communication and walk right in and book a job.

If you are mailing out sales packets with facts, features and benefits you need to think about what you do with all those mail packets you receive. Packet mailing needs to follow steps:

•1. Call and tell the recipient that it’s in the mail.
•2. Mail.
•3. Call and ask, “Did you receive my information?”.
•4. Follow up with a personal visit to discuss your packet - No later 10 days after they receive your mailing or it’s a dead duck after that. After a short presentation, ask for the job, and sit quietly. Give them time to think, without talking. If they answer “Yes”, don’t sell anymore and ask for a signed agreement. If they answer “No”, ask why not, don’t tell them anything and sit quietly and listen to why. Handle the objection with what you can do. Show what you will do. Write down what you will do. Then, ask again summarizing what you are doing and clarifying the objection you just handled, and then ask again for the job. Sit quietly and repeat the above steps for both answers.

Making sales calls is expensive, and you may have to go back two to five times investing your time and efforts. Make the most of each call, have a list of questions and ask, “Can I ask you some questions”? Ask the “who” questions: Who is in charge; Who is the final decision maker; Who did it last? Then ask “when” questions: When will you make a decision? When can I get back with you?

The more time your clients invest with you, the better chance you have to get the job. The numbers of sales calls you make will directly reflect the numbers of jobs you will book. So stop getting ready and walk in and listen to what people need. Why wait for next season to learn?

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Additional Pearlized Paper Sizes in the PPS Market
by Blake Whitney
A product modifier once limited to certain sizes, pearlized paper is now available in all sizes in the PPS Market. In addition to the new sizes, this expansion of pearlized paper modifier now includes the statuette and statuette magnet products. We have found that the up-sell of pearlized paper has been so successful, that we wanted it available on all PPS products we produced. The updated PPS price list with the cost of the new pearlized sizes is available for you on Candidnet.