HANDLING ENQUIRIES: LET’S TALK PHONE CALLS

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For some of us, the idea of having phone calls with leads can be anxiety-inducing, and even if you have been doing it for a while you could still wonder whether you are “doing it right”.

There are two common traps we have the tendency to fall into:

1- We feel that the goal of the call is to convince our potential client of something: book the session, buy wall art, etc;

And

2 -As a result of the above, we often overwhelm with words the person on the other end of the phone.

If any of this sounds a bit like you, there are 3 steps you can take to immediately improve your approach, and these take us back to the idea that growing a business means building relationships (more on this HERE).

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PERSON ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PHONE

Before asking about the colour of their nursery, how they want to display their images, spaces for wall art, try to answer this question: “What is more important to your prospect when buying what you sell?”.

Knowing what is important to them will help you understand what to focus your conversation on, and also establish whether they are a good fit (see below).

Let me clarify with an example.

Baby’s mum and dad are both originally from France. Their families and friends, including baby’s grandparents, uncles, aunts, etc are all there.

This might even be the biggest motivation for booking a session: to have photographs they can share with their family and friends abroad to feel closer to them.

Now imagine you spending most of your phone call talking about wall art for their home, while your competitor (having discovered what’s important to the client) chose to focus on extras like additional personalised USBs they could send home, digital slideshows or even albums and other products delivered to the grandparents. 

Who do you think they would instantly love?

Who would make them more excited?

And who do you think would be more likely to get not only the booking, but a bigger sale in the end?

Now, the easiest way to understand what is important to your leads is to simply ask them.

“Over the years I have learned that parents have different ways of thinking about their session, some envision beautiful wall art they can show to family and friends, some are doing it to create memories for the baby and so on… can you tell me more about what is important to you?”

Of course, you don’t need to use these exact words. Make it yours, and you will see how easy it is to connect with your people once you have the answer, as opposed to trying to sell your clients something without knowing exactly what they are looking for.

ESTABLISH WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE A GOOD FIT

Going back to our previous example, you might be thinking “Well I don’t want to sell digitals, so they would not be my ideal client anyway”.

Great, it would be even more important for you to discover that information and let the client know that you might not be the right person for them.
If you have ever worked with someone that really was not your client, you’ll understand how important this is.

SET BOUNDARIES AND CLARIFY WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

We all hate chasing clients, and clients hate being chased. 

Before ending the call, define exactly what is going to happen. Here are a couple of scenarios you might find useful:

  1. “I’ll speak to my partner and let you know”

    “That’s perfect, I will email you now and then try to call you next Tuesday. 

    Can I please ask you to email me back, should you decide not to go ahead? I want to ensure I don’t keep trying to contact you again if you are not interested”
  1. If the baby has already arrived and you have a very limited time to get the family in the studio.

    “Ok, if Wednesday 10:30am works for you I will hold the date for 48 hours to give us time to get you booked in.

    I am about to email you a recap of what we have discussed, so you have all the info in writing. I will also send you a second email with the contract, and invoice for your deposit/session fee.

    Should I not hear from you within 48 hours I will only contact you once again to let you know I am closing your enquiry and cancelling your reservation.”

When I first started in business I had a 6-page script to follow for my calls. A perfectly designed tool for sales.

And I hated it.

Fast forward to today, I can unequivocally say that the non-scripted approach I have taken after using my perfect script less than 5 times has been an irreplaceable tool to learn who my clients are, what motivates them, what language they use and – ultimately – to make selling a genuine and easy process.

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3 Steps to a better photography business

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Ever experienced “Editing procrastination”?

You KNOW that session didn’t go as planned and now you are just DREADING the idea of looking at the images. 

Never mind editing them.

But editing procrastination might not be the most dangerous syndrome for a newborn photographer.

Pause for a moment and think your business.

Are you avoiding business or marketing tasks that you struggle with?

Maybe you avoid following up on enquiries because you just DON’T KNOW what to say, and you feel like you are bothering people?

… or you keep putting off planning any adverts, as your mind goes blank when thinking up content?

Is your pricing all over the place but you have no idea where to start to put it right?

You are not alone!

IN BUSINESS AND MARKETING… EVERYTHING IS “FIGUREOUTABLE”

It’s fulfilling and enjoyable to spend time doing things we excel at, and easy to avoid tasks we aren’t so great at.

People tend to be scared of what they are not good at, trying and failing can make them feel inadequate.

We bury our head in the sand and brush things under the carpet, but that feeling does not go away. It keeps us awake at night. It gets louder every time the problem manifests itself again (and believe me, it WILL happen).

The good news?

In business and marketing, everything is “figureoutable”.

The BETTER news is that figuring things out and improving will empower you and boost your confidence.

Yes, because it’s that feeling of “I don’t know what I am doing” that is keeping you stuck and making you wonder whether or not you are “good enough”.

PRACTICE WHAT YOU CAN’T PLAY

As a former piano tutor, I would tell my students “Practice what you CAN”T play’ and this translates very well to the business world.

A dear friend tells her children they only find some school work difficult because they haven’t learnt how to do it yet. She tells them it’s a sign they need more practice and ultimately that they need to ask for guidance from someone who DOES know how to do it.

It’s the same in business.

It doesn’t mean you are BAD at something if you struggle, only that you require some help. 

It’s a bit like having a toothache. It hurts a little bit, so you ignore it to avoid the dentist and save money, then in six months it’s 10 times as bad and will cost even more to get sorted.

Identifying your weaknesses and looking for ways to improve, seeking outside help from those who DO know, will get you on the right path. Far better than ignoring them, knowing full well they are going to come and bite you on the bum somewhere down the line. 

Whether that presents itself as poor bookings, client issues or simply stress you do not need.

Once things click into place, you’ll find yourself enjoying 100% of your business, rather than just 75% and the rewards will be immense.

Part of being a good business owner is not only being able to delegate, but also to identify strengths and weaknesses, and be able to act upon them. 

As “the owner”, you aren’t answerable to anyone but yourself, so it’s easy to slip into a habit of avoiding tasks you are weaker at and playing to your strengths.

Eventually, however, your strengths will suffer because of this – you need the whole choir singing in tune!

For instance, if it’s your marketing you are having issues with, it’s no good being the best photographer in the world if your marketing sucks! 

Without clients, there is no photography business. 

Or if your pricing is your nemesis you could be working your butt off, producing incredible results, but getting nowhere fast.

3 STEPS TO A BETTER PHOTOGRAPHY BUSINESS

“Ok, I get it, so now what?”

No matter what you are struggling with, solving your problem requires 3 steps:

1 – Total clarity about the problem itself and what’s causing it

2 – A solid plan

3 – The ability to make decisions when things don’t work as planned: stick to the plan or adjust? This makes the BIGGEST difference.

Achieving all this on your own is hard.

Being too close to the problem can lead to you not being able to see the wood for the trees. Facing your issues head-on can be daunting, so don’t do it alone. Letting someone assist you with their metaphorical axe paves the way for smoother running business, instead of giving up and going back to old habits, which can be all TOO tempting. 

So before you immerse yourself and write the most sophisticated marketing plan the photography industry has ever seen… ASK FOR HELP. 

Sometimes some outside guidance and little tweaks can be your ‘light bulb’ moment and go a long way to improving your confidence, happiness and success in what you do.

Yes, it can be hard releasing your hold on the reins when your business is your baby, but similarly, your baby deserves you to be firing on all cylinders.

If you are ready to finally feel confident and in control of your business, this is the most important page you will visit today.

Book a free business and marketing coaching call using the button below and we’ll help you define exactly how to implement these 3 steps to a better photography business.

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5-step guide to successfully advertise your Newborn Sessions online

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Online advertising can be quite complicated… and launching campaigns without knowing the rules can be quite costly! Not to mention that you might not getting the results you were expecting.

To help you get started, we have created a simple 5-step guide. FAR from being a comprehensive guide to advertising for Newborn Photographers, this should help you avoid some of the most common mistakes… such as launching ONE CAMPAIGN with ONE AD and running it without tracking results.

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Why people say no to your newborn sessions (and what to do about it)

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Almost everybody has had this experience.

You go to a store to buy something. A pair of trousers, for example.
So your trip is purposed, you are leaving your house to go and buy something you need.

You enter the store, the customer assistant comes to you and asks “Can I help you?”

“No, I am just looking”.

In fact, this is our conditioned response to almost anything that can get us into a “sales process”.

We say no because we don’t want to be pressured into buying something.
We say no because we don’t want to have to explain WHY we don’t want to buy those trousers that apparently fits us perfectly and look good.


We say no because we want to be free to “think about it”.

You know why?

Because we’re supposed to.

Starting from childhood, we’re taught to be wary of people we don’t know and to never make a fast decision when it comes to buying something.

We aren’t supposed to buy at first. We’re taught not to do it.

So to expect our prospects to go against the very habits and beliefs is foolish.

Still, this is what most photographers and businesses in general try to do when it comes to promoting their services over the internet. And especially when it comes to paid ads.

We expect an immediate return, we expect “instant bookings”. For some reason, we are happy to spend hundreds of pounds or dollars in activities that don’t generate any return, but the moment we invest £10 in Facebook Ads or Google Ads we want to see bookings flocking in.

And for this reason, we mostly put out campaigns, ads and posts that sound more or less like:
“Give me X amount of money NOW to get Y”.

The bad news is that this message is exclusively designed to focus on the tiny percentage of prospects who defy human nature and buy quickly, and it ignores (and usually irritates) everyone else.

The good news is that there are massive opportunities for studios and photographers who do things differently.

You can start today by booking a free business and marketing strategy session below.

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