34 PPMAG.COMWHAT KILLS ONLINE SALES
LACK OF GUIDANCE. At its core, photography is a service business. When you
abandon your clients at the point of sale, you’re giving up your ability to guide them
to the best solutions for them.CONSUMER RETREAT. Often, photographers overwhelm their clients with too many
options. It’s the “Applebee’s menu effect.” Page after page of choices, and the
consumer can’t decide.NO SENSE OF VALUE. With the typical online gallery, photographers don’t give
clients what they really value. It’s just a long series of choices with no education
about the underlying value.NO TIMELINE TO PURCHASE. Many photographers leave their galleries up for too
long—or indefinitely—in hopes that clients will come back and make more purchases.
This removes the incentive to finalize a purchase.SUCCESS
BRIDGING THE GAP
you’re not just a disconnected voice on the
other side of a phone. Instead, you can look
clients in the eyes, virtually speaking, and
build some rapport.
IMPROVE YOUR VIDEO. You don’t need pro-
fessional video production, just a higher-
definition web cam than your computer’s
built-in camera. Add a video light so you
look more professional than the typical Face-
Time call.
PROVIDE A PROCESS. Explain the process,
even if it seems ridiculously obvious. Walk
clients through the steps. That helps take
their mind through a logical sequence, so
they understand what comes next.
PRESENT A SLIDESHOW. And watch the
clients’ reactions. You can do this in person
or online during a video chat, allowing you
to see which images elicit the strong emo-
tional connections.
SHARE YOUR SCREEN. And demonstrate
how to mark favorites in the gallery and des-
ignate items for certain products.
SIMPLIFY THE OPTIONS. “We put in pricing
options and discounts for the most popular
products that we want to guide them to,” says
Blume. “There are quite a few total options,
but we simplify that down to three to four
key options. That way we’re guiding them to
our recommendations (and providing finan-
cial incentives to choose those options) ver-
sus overwhelming them with endless choices.”
SHOW PHYSICAL SAMPLES. In a video
chat, the clients won’t be able to touch or
feel, but you can still hold up samples to give
a sense of size and construction.
SET AN EXPIRATION DATE. If you’re asking
for a purchase decision during the video call,
great. If you’re letting the clients finalize their
decision afterward, be sure to remind them
that there’s an expiration date. “Our galler-
ies stay up for three days,” says Blume. “That
is their time to place an order and take ad-
vantage of special discounts.” If the gallery ex-
pires, there’s a re-posting fee to put it back up.
COMMUNICATE EXPECTATIONS. Communi-
cate pricing throughout all of your interac-
tions in advance of the online presentation.
That way there are no surprises and clients
come to the presentation ready to purchase.
HAVE THEM PUT SKIN IN THE GAME. The
Blumes’ price menu includes a $150 fee for
hosting the online gallery, but that $150 be-