Eyes N Hart Photography Perfects the Level Two Experience by Jessica Irvin
Successful photography is about creating an experience for the customer, and Andrew Isenhart of Eyes N Hart Photography in Vancouver, WA, took this idea to the next level. Andrew shot 50 students at a local Martial Arts School over a two day period. He did not shoot the entire school, only those who were interested. The sales experience was personal, and Andrew walked away with an average per student shot of $80.76. Andrew organized each step of the shoot weeks in advance and all of his planning paid off and opened more doors.
The Photography Experience
Andrew made sure he was able to take his time with each student and give them plenty of personal attention, shooting 15 – 20 frames each. He used a background with studio lights and played music to create an exciting atmosphere for the athletes. In addition, Andrew had the Instructor hold the students in poses they would not be able to do on their own, giving them the feeling of being a star. (When doing this, make sure the instructor is holding them from behind and you the instructors hands aren’t gripped around the uniform.) The music created energy, the studio lights gave the feeling of being important, and the instructor posed each student looked like a master martial artist. Andrew shot this knowing that we would cut out the instructor and leave the student for the Level Two products. Click the images below to enlarge.
The Production
After each student, Andrew passed the memory card to an assistant who loaded the images and made a copy of each image. Next, the assistant rotated the copied images using Compu Pics. Once the images were rotated, the student, along with their parents, sat down with a sales rep to view and order the pics.
The Sales Experience
Before the student was shot they filled out a contact form with their information. After the shoot this form was given to a Sales Representative. Andrew had two sales stations, each consisted of a computer with an internet connection and a set of Martial Arts samples.
The Sales Representative sat down with the parents and went through each image. The Representative wrote down each frame number that the parents liked. Next, the sales process began. The parents looked at the samples and decided what product they wanted for each favorite image. The Sales Representative filled out the order form with the parents encouraging them to purchase higher end products.
Finally, the parents paid for their order with cash, check, or credit card. Each sales station had an internet connection, allowing credit cards to be run on the spot using a Virtual Terminal, such as Pay Pal. This only cost Andrew 3% of his sales, and since 75% of his sales were paid with credit card, it was well worth it!
The Result
By focusing on the importance of the sales experience Andrew had an average dollar sale of $98.49. Many of these orders consisted of 2 or 3 different Level Two Styles in several sizes, as well as, regular prints. Andrew capitalized on the impulse to buy, and provided viewing stations with a trained Sales Representative. This along with creating an exciting experience for the students encouraged sales.
Andrew has already been asked to come back and shoot the rest of the students at the school, and they will be referring him to another school in the area. Martial Arts is an overlooked sport, and Eyes N Hart Photography has proven this is a lucrative sport to pursue.
Do you need a product delivered immediately? Candid Color Systems has teamed up with FedEx to offer you Express Shipping! Shipment can now be scheduled for; overnight shipping, two-day shipping, or three-day shipping.
You can place a rush order for your products and have the packages sent out express, to reach your customer faster. Prices for the express shipping vary depending on the size of the package and the location of delivery. FedEx also charges a fuel charge that currently is at 27%. However, Candid Color Systems has a 13% cap on this fuel charge. This saves you 14% of the fuel charge!
To set up your express shipping account, go to www.fedex.com and select the “ship” tab. Candid Color Systems offers a step by step walkthrough on CandidNet. Simply log onto candidnet.candid.com, select the “price list” tab on the left side of the page. This will bring down a drop down box. From here, select “FedEx shipping.” Then you can view the “FedEx shipping info” pdf. CandidNet also offers information on zoning and rates under the same tab.
For more information, contact your customer development representative at 1-800-336-4550.
Candid Color Photography Success Story
by Dan Havs
In July Candid Color Photography booked a large school district for all of their Fall Sports. The booking process was notable because it is a testament to persistence.
Kelli Carder, the CCP sports salesperson, attempted to book with the Football Coach initially but learned that at this high school the photography is booked by the Booster Club. In addition, she discovered that the district, consisting of the middle school and the high school, were to be photographed together on one day in an hour and a half time period. This time slot was prior to a high school scrimmage resulting in no chance to run overtime. Kelli called the president of the booster club for more than a week before she reached him. He agreed to let her make a presentation to the board of the booster club. Kelli went out to the school armed with a wide variety of samples including, of course, Level Two™ samples. She chose to propose the View First™ program to allow the parents the opportunity to view the pictures before ordering and to relieve the coaches from having to handle the order forms or pictures. The Booster Club awarded the contract to Candid Color Photography for the high school football team, middle school football team, the high school cheerleaders, the middle school cheerleaders, and the high school softball team. The total number of athletes that were photographed was 376. This was accomplished in an hour and a half with three photographers and three assistants dedicated to individuals, 1 photographer dedicated to small groups and 1 photographer and 1 assistant dedicated to large groups. CCP also had five assistants showing samples and handing out contact information forms
CCP scouted the stadium where we would be shooting a couple of days ahead of time at the same time of day we would be shooting (morning). They looked for the best locations to shoot, evaluated lighting and background, and decided on flow while it was calm.
During the shoot, CCP photographed three pictures of each individual athlete, plus small group shots and a large group picture. In addition, CCP took “buddy shots” of the cheerleaders.
The shoot was on a Saturday morning and the following Monday was a holiday therefore, CCP didn’t get started I.D.ing the athletes until Tuesday morning. They posted the images, identified to each athlete’s name and sent out an e-mail to each e-mail address provided by athletes (they asked for 2 e-mail addresses per athlete). The following day, Wednesday, CCP printed proof sheets for each athlete and mailed them to the home address provided at the shoot by each athlete.
Interestingly, and at the time, somewhat depressing, sales during the first two weeks were not good. CCP really didn’t understand why they were not good. At that time, the economy was merely mediocre, not horrible. The school district was an upper middle class district. The pictures were of excellent quality and they got them online quickly, sent out e-mails quickly and sent out paper proofs quickly. They originally set the deadline at four weeks which could have discouraged early ordering and have since that time shortened the deadline date to two weeks.
After two weeks, the sales for all 376 athletes were $2,117.00 or $5.63 per athlete photographed, which is not very good. Below is a chart of the sales per week for weeks one through seven.
If CCP had set a deadline of two weeks, sent out one e-mail and stopped marketing, our sales at the end of two weeks would have been $2,117 and they would have left $5,586 on the table. If they had quit marketing after four weeks, the sales would have been $5,144 and they would have left $2,559 on the table. Week 5, interestingly, was the best week with $2,087 in sales. Five weeks is after the point that many of our customers would have ceased marketing.
The lesson to be learned here, which is NEW to CCS, is that the sales do not necessarily roll in right after the shoot. Accordingly, it is imperative to do an e-mail campaign consisting of at least six e-mails and to send out at least one and maybe two sets of paper proofs in order to maximize sales. This is contrary to our previous beliefs about the length of time in which you could market successfully.
We now believe that photographers should market for 3-6 months after the shoot in an effort to generate the highest sales. Customers may not be in a position to order right after the shoot. We must market to them at a time when the customer is motivated to order and has the money to order. Marketing over a long period of time increases the probability of selling possibly increasing the chances that we are offering them a chance to buy at a moment when they are receptive to buying.
It is still important to post proofs quickly, to send out e-mails within 24 hours of the shoot and to send out paper proofs within 48 hours of the shoot, but it is also important to continue making offers to customers to take advantage of your product offerings.
Enter your best sports pictures in the 2008 SPAA Photo Competition
by Morgan Fenn
Are you an active professional sports photographer? Do you have pictures that you’re proud of? If so, then enter them in to the 2008 SPAA Photo Competition to earn the recognition you deserve.
The competition features five categories of entries including: individual posed, team posed, action-indoor, action-outdoor and digitally constructed photographic image. The panel of judges will choose three winning photographs for each category to be on display at the 2009 PMA International Convention and Trade Show in March in Las Vegas! In addition, the winning images will be placed on the SPAA website and in various publications.
To be Eligible:
• All images entered must be executed and owned by the photographer on the entry form.
• Each entry must be accompanied by an entry form and no information may appear anywhere on the face of the entry. Files must be stripped of all copyrighting and watermarking.
• A maximum of five entries may be submitted per entrant.
• The photographer is responsible for securing appropriate model releases from each subject(s) and agrees to provide copies to SPAA upon request.
• SPAA and PMA reserve the right to reject entries.
Submission Guidelines
Each entry must be a high-resolution (250 to 300 dpi) 3 to 10 MB JPG file. Image size must be 8-by 10-inch, as winning files will be printed and displayed at 16- by 20-inch prints. Files need to be stripped of all copyrighting and watermarking to ensure anonymity for judging. Photos must be received at SPAA by October 31, 2008.
Entry Fees (All fees in U.S. funds).
SPAA Members: $10.00 per image. $30.00 for all five images (five entries maximum per entrant)
Non-Members: $20.00 per image. $50.00 for all five images (five entries maximum per entrant)
Visit pmai.org for more details.
Mail files on CD:
SPAA Photo Competition
Attn: Shelly Zimmerman
3000 Picture Place
Jackson, MI 49201 USA
Tel: 517-788-8100
Encourage immediate sales with a tiered pricing structure. This method is available in our QEMS software with the Quicpics market. Tiered pricing works by offering your base price for a limited time. After that time expires, raise the prices by a certain percentage. This can be done in as many time increments as preferred and by any percentage.
Example of a tiered pricing structure:
0-6 Days is base price
7-14 Days is base price plus 5%
15+ Days is base price plus 10%
If using the tiered pricing it is important to inform your customers in order for them to take advantage of the best price. This can be done by sending emails or having this information on the website. Encourage your customers to order right after the event and not wait until weeks later. For more information on tiered pricing, please contact Customer Development at 1.800.336.4550.
QEMS Setup Wizard
Example Website
(click to enlarge)
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