Choosing 'Client Experience' over 'Profit'.
When John and I got married, our photographer was still quite new.
She was really lovely and John and I got on really well with her, so we asked if she'd like to photograph our wedding.
This is about two years before I'd decided to make photography a 'thing', so I really didn't know what I was supposed to expect from our wedding photographer.
About a month after our wedding, our photographer called to say the images were ready for us to collect, so we drove to her house to pick up.. a cd. Don't get me wrong! I was so excited! I loved them.. and I still love them! But I really wish, looking back, that we'd been offered an album of all our favourite images. At the time, I remember thinking, 'saved a bit of cash on that one!' by not having the option, but now, I realise how much I would have loved the experience if we were able to sort through our favourites and have them turned into a beautiful album; a legacy for us to hand down to our children.
When I decided that I wanted to specialise in weddings, I knew that I wanted to encourage all of our couples to purchase an album.
Appreciating that a beautiful hand-bound album can be quite costly, I knew that it could be enough to turn some couples off, until I realised that my ideal couples, the dream brides and grooms I want to work with, THEY are the people I'm serving and THEY wouldn't dream of walking away from this experience without a legacy album.
I'm at a stage in my life and in my work where I can be really specific about the kinds of couples we work with and that has been life changing for us because, not only do I get to work with the most amazing couples, I also get to provide a really personalised experience for them and they know, through the way that I market myself and my work, how much heart and soul goes into providing them with that experience. My EM Couples aren't just paying for a wedding photographer, they're paying for a complete service; they're paying to learn everything they need to know about outfits, locations, the best timelines for their wedding day, how to navigate family portraits on a wedding day..
They're paying to have John and I take charge of the situation and ensure everyone is where they need to be and stress levels are as low as possible. They're paying to have more than just a folder full of images on their computer that only ever sees Facebook and Instagram!
There's a place for wedding photography which is delivered on a USB or online gallery and no album is offered. There will always be a place for that because there will always be couples who WANT that. I work so hard to ensure people know what to expect from us so that couples can make an informed decision on whether we're the perfect fit for them; a couple who just want a few nice photos and aren't really in it for the experience, probably.. most definitely.. won't want to work with us. The couple who want to feel like they're being looked after, like they've got someone walking them through the entire process, someone who genuinely cares about the kinds of memories they will have of their day, not just in photographs, but in moments.. the kind of couple who imagine sitting on the couch with their children one day and telling stories of their wedding day as they turn the pages of their wedding album, THOSE are the couples who want to work with us. So, although this is my business, the work I do to pay for.. life, I also look at the way I want people to EXPERIENCE my business. When I finally went ahead, some years later, and ordered our wedding album, I happily paid the 700-odd-dollars for it because I wasn't just paying for a photo album, I was paying for wedding-anniversary-wines on the deck as we laugh about the funniest photos of the night. I was paying for snuggles with my kids as we turned the pages on our wedding album for the hundredth time. I was paying for memories of a time that was effortless and carefree on the days when marriage can be a little trying. I was paying for a sentiment; a feeling of nostalgia, of hope, of love. I was paying for experiences that 'scrolling' wouldn't provide.
Being able to have these moments, I knew I had to share it's importance with my couples.
If I turned album sales into a profitable piece of my business, it'd go against what I was trying to do. It would no longer be me selling albums to couples because of the sentimental connection, it'd be about making a buck. Yes, routinely, photographers, like most salespeople, mark products up to make a profit because that's where their income comes from; we receive a wholesale price and then mark it up to sell. Honestly, I considered it. I had a talk with our supplier and John and I discussed what that would look like for our couples and our business. But what outweighed the pros of being paid a little more? Having a higher chance of every one of our couples walking away from this experience with their own legacy. If we marked our albums up, it means they cost that little bit more. If they cost a bit more, it could be the deal-breaker for a couple adding one to their package in the first place. So the question quickly became, 'Do I want to make a little extra or do I want more couples to have the option of a legacy album?'.
There are still going to be couples who see the two prices side by side, our 'legacy album' package price and the one without, and think, '$699 cheaper, YES PLEASE!' but that gives us the opportunity to educate our couples of the importance.. the experience.. the sentiment. And why a Snapfish photo book just isn't quite the same.
Erin Michele Thomson ∙ Tauranga Photographer ∙ info@erinmichele.co.nz
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