PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | DECEMBER 2019
comes a full credit toward the client’s order.
“The gallery costs them nothing when they
order, but it gives them skin in the game,”
says Blume.
MAKE PRICING CLEAR. Don’t hide pricing
or make clients ask. Everything should have
a price clearly associated with it so clients
can consider their options while you’re pre-
senting the images.
SHOW IMAGES AT SCALE. This is a little
tricky without sitting in the same room with a
large-scale display, but you can use software
to create mockups of how certain images
would display in the clients’ home. Ask them
to provide snapshots of wall areas and then
superimpose framed portraits or canvases
in their home, displayed to scale. There are
multiple applications that make this process
easy, including some proprietary software
from labs that automates the process and
allows ordering from the mockups.
RELATE TO REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE.
“I always mention what I would be do-
ing if they were in the studio,” says Blume.
“That little transition reminds them that we’re
there for them at the next level of service.”
Following this system, the Blumes have
been able to create a heightened online
ordering experience that’s resulted in larg-
er orders and more orders placed on time.
Compared to their in-person sessions the
Mobile Premier sessions yield comparable
sales, with portrait sessions coming in about
$100 less on average, and wedding print
sales landing in an identical range.
Ultimately, the Mobile Premier allows that
all-important guided sales experience that
clients crave. “A lot of times, photographers
avoid the sales process because they don’t
want to be pushy,” says Blume. “But it’s real-
ly important to give clients something that
will have inestimable value to them. As pho-
tographers, we don’t appreciate it sometimes,
but this kind of artwork is incredibly im-
portant to people. So making a sale is not
pushing someone into giving us money;
it’s a trade of something that is valuable to
them for something that’s valuable to us. The
more you can guide that process and provide
professional insights, the happier everyone
will be.” •theblumes.co