Nothing is worse than responding to client inquiries by sending out your pricing and getting crickets in return. Isn’t that so frustrating!? It almost feels personal. You may feel like you just weren’t good enough for them to book with you, or that maybe you were just too expensive. Whatever the case, it’s just frustrating when you don’t book someone who was originally excited and interested in working with you. 

Let’s start with the basics. Two truths. 

1.) People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it. 

2.) People need to feel heard, seen, and valued in order to shell out serious cash for something.

If you can grasp these two foundational truths and implement them in your biz, you’re already way ahead of the game. But that’s the key, we have to actually implement these things in order for them to work for us and increase not only the impact of our business, but our income as well. 

So what does that look like? Here’s my top three tips for actually closing the sale on more client inquiries.

1. Create a bomb questionnaire.

The worst thing you can do is respond immediately to a generic inquiry with your pricing .pdf, a short line along the lines of, “I’m so honored you reached out! I’ve attached my pricing below. Let me know if you have any questions, and I look forward to working with you!” … and then just wait for a response. 

Sure, you may book some work that way; but it’s definitely not the most efficient way to close the deal – in my opinion. I value personal relationships, and I’d really appreciate a photographer getting to know me, my heart, and my ideas for the session – instead of just shoving a pricing .pdf in my face and then waiting for a payment. 

A way to avoid this scenario, is by creating a questionnaire that asks a few strategic questions. These questions should be crafted in a way that allows you to build connection points off of. Somewhere between 5-7 is good, but I wouldn’t do more than that because we want to keep it simple. If there are too many, they may get overwhelmed and not answer, and then they’ll forget to ever submit it in the first place; causing you to lose the sale before you’ve even given them your pricing.

Some questions I ask in my questionnaire include, “What’s you guys’ story? How did you guys meet & how did he propose?” “What are ya’lls favorite foods?” and things like that. That way, they get to share some personal things with me that allow them to think back into their story and savor those moments, (which in turn gets them to feel those butterflies again!) In doing so, they’ve now associated communicating with me – with that butterfly feeling. Bingo. 😉 

2. Use a Honeybook brochure or a digital magazine to send over your pricing – and put the value on the EXPERIENCE, not the price.

If you’ve never used Honeybook before, I’m about to change your LIFE. Honeybook is how I keep my sanity. It’s seriously such a Godsend for my biz. I have an entire post all about how I use Honeybook in my photography business workflow right here. But in short, I use Honeybook for all of the following:

• Organizing all of my projects with clients so I always know where I’m at
• Communicating with clients, from initial inquiry all the way to the testimonial request
• Sending out pricing
• Sending proposals (the contract and invoice all wrapped up in one document)
• And tons more

When using a brochure or digital magazine, (versus just a one page .pdf of your pricing,) it allows for an all-around better experience for your brand. You have the opportunity to really expand upon your products and services, and even give insight into what working with you is like.

3. Follow up.

I highly recommend following up if someone didn’t respond after sending out your questionnaire or pricing info. 

People get busy, and sometimes they truly do just forget to respond! By reaching out again, it shows that you care and want to get them on your schedule if they still want to work with you. I’ve booked jobs just by following up, so I promise it does work! 

When following up, be sure to use verbiage that really shows how you’re there for them and would love to support them however you can! They’re probably busy, so the more you can do for them – the better. We want to be a blessing and a beautiful addition to their life, that’s what creates raving fans, (and personal word-of-mouth marketers for our business.)

Do you have trouble booking more photography clients? Wishing somebody could come in and “Marie Kondo” your biz, and figure out what’s working and what’s not? I gotchu. 

Snag a free strategy call with me! It’s easy peasy, just click here (or the image below,) and snag a time slot that works best for you! It’s 30 minutes, and I power-pack it with actionable, tangible tips. The best part? We’ll create you a strategy that works best for right where you’re at – right now. You ready? Let’s do this! I can’t wait to chat with you!

Looking for more helpful photography tips? Feel free to binge on these blog posts, or pin ’em on Pinterest for later! ??

If you’re short on time, follow me on Pinterest – and you’ll get these kinda tips delivered straight to your feed! You know… when you’re scrollin’ through Pinterest with coffee in hand, ready to take on the day… or, procrastinate.

Whatevs. Pinterest biz sesh, anybody!? ??