How to Use Consultations to Create Excitement, Set Expectations, and Make Bigger Sales
"As a business owner, not a camera owner a business owner: you need to talk about money. You need to be able to have that conversation."
In this section of her tutorial Luxe Portraiture and Retouching, Jai Mayhew shares how she approaches consultations and scheduling. While those two words sound like dry business practices, it’s clear from Jai’s explanation that they’re actually integral parts of setting client expectations, creating a fantastic photoshoot experience, and prepping the sale.
Scheduling a consultation where she can talk to clients live does a couple of powerful things: it shows the client that Jai is invested in creating an amazing experience for them, and it also gives her a chance to get to know her client, creating a trust and allowing her to find out how to center the photoshoot around what the client values most.
Setting Expectations For Your Photo Client
The consultation is also where expectations for the shoot, and the sale afterward are set. Mayhew uses the time to explain what the process will look like from beginning to end so the client knows what to expect, but she also uses it as an opportunity to inform the client about pricing.
She would have already given the client pricing information through first contacts and price sheets, but this is the opportunity to ensure they understand not only what she charges, but what the average client spends on portraits. This does two things: it builds a framework for sales that reduces the possibility of sticker shock, and gives the client parameters for what they’re likely to spend, making a large sale feel more natural.
I want to know more about them. I can't market or sell to someone if I don't know what they value. That is really sales 101. You need to know your client.
— Jai Mayhew
How To Schedule Your Photography Clients
Finally, Jai discusses how she approaches scheduling once the consultation is over, driving home the importance of valuing your time as a business owner. This also communicates value to the client, because it let’s them see that not only are your services in demand.
If you want to learn more about Jai’s approach to Luxury Portraiture, fill out the form below!
LEARN MORE ABOUT LUXE PORTRAITURE AND RETOUCHING WITH JAI MAYHEW
Jai Mayhew is a luxury portrait photographer who has built a 6 figure business through word-of-mouth, but the most important part of what Jai does isn’t necessarily her amazing customer service or her gorgeous photos: it’s her “why.”
If there’s one important thing to know about Jai Mayhew, it’s that she’s passionate about what she does.
“Portraits have power,” she said during our interview, “we are telling people, ‘this is what you look like, this is your image, this is your likeness.’ There is power and responsibility in that. I will get on a soapbox about this, I am passionate about thi. It’s like a calling for me to have women stand in front of me and reflect beauty back at them.”
