Rain or Shine
Rj and Allie are Engaged!
Our very own RJ is getting married! YESSSSS!
A Richmond Wedding Featuring Sarah and Nick
A little bit of rain never hurt anybody!
A Shadow Creek Wedding Featuring Hallie and Billy
Last light...
A West Manor Wedding Featuring Amy and Stephen
The light is so perfect in this shot!! Congrats Amy and Stephen!
A Morais Vineyard Wedding Featuring Patrick and Sara
Another beautiful Morais Vineyard Wedding. This place is incredible!
A Charleston Bridal Portrait
Being able to shoot weddings in Charleston is the best!
A Charlottesville Wedding Featuring Katharyn and Mike :: King Family Vineyard
The First Dance!
Another Beautiful Virginia Portrait Session
These two and that light!
A Sierra Vista Portrait Session
It doesn't get much better than this !
A West Manor Wedding Featuring Amanda and John
Bridesmaids
A Pippin Hill Wedding Featuring Lindsey and Derek
I absolutely love this!
A West Manor Wedding Featuring Rosalia and Spencer
A little bit of rain goes a long way!
A Charlottesville Wedding Featuring Sarah and Gabe at Pippin Hill Farm
What an amazingly beautiful wedding at!! Congrats Sarah and Gabe!
Planner Donovan Groves Events
Venues/Caterer Pippin Hill
Florist Southern Blooms
CakeSweet Haus sweethaus.com
The Pie Chest Rachel Pennington thejarbaker@gmail.com
Hair & MakeupCarolyn Thombs
A West Manor Wedding featuring Ben and Hannah
In the darkness, she becomes my light
A Pippin Hill Wedding Featuring Sarah and Gabe
THAT LIGHT!!!!
A beautiful Richmond Virginia wedding featuring Lauri and David!
These two are perfect!
A Virginia Wedding Featuring Brandy and Brett :: Sierra Vista
Big Sky. Big Love
A Charlottesville Wedding Featuring Emmie and Brad
Another beautiful day in Charlottesville at the BEAUTIFUL Farmington Country Club!
Booking More Clients
The beginning of the 2016 Wedding season is upon us and that means almost 200 weddings booked for Sam Stroud Photography. I am floored that so many choose to work with us, but it isn’t also by accident. I go out of my way and work hard on ensuring that we book that client that emails us. No, we don’t book everyone, and you never will (or should) but we book a lot of the brides we are looking for and I want to take a few minutes to share some tips with you on how to take that relationship beyond just the first email inquiring about pricing.
1. Be Specific - There is nothing more annoying than having to pull information out of someone selling you something. If someone emails you and asks for availability and pricing, give them your availability and pricing. It may seem simple, but do you know how many times a bride has told me how hard it was talking to other photographers? If they email you asking for something, GIVE IT TO THEM!
2. Be Thorough - Again, this may be the same as the first point, but be as specific as possible and be as thorough as you possibly can. Meaning, talk to them about who you are, what you do, how you do it and how much it’s going to cost them. They have contacted you, so they are interested. The first part, the hardest part is over. You have them interested. Don’t lose them by not being direct with them.
3. Sell Them Your Experience - Yes, they are paying you to photograph their wedding. But rarely do I talk about taking pictures with them. I highlight how I photograph. I talk about what the day is like and how I interact with my clients. Here is a snippet of an email all of my clients get on that first contact;
I love shooting at Pippin HIll! There are so many beautiful details and locations there to shoot and I am excited to take full advantage of it! Making a real connection with you and bringing out your personalities in my portraits is so important. We want more than anything to create images that tell the story of your wedding day in the best way possible and to help create images that will last forever.
4. Respond Quickly - This one right here is a no brainer, and it blows my mind how many people miss this one. According to surveys more than half of the people surveyed said that they expect an email within 12 hours of sending one. 12 hours! I also did an internal survey, and over the last 2 years we maintained a 90% booking rate of those we responded to within 8-12 hours.
We used to respond within in 24, but now try to get to every new inquiry before the end of the day. This may mean you rework how you respond to email. For me personally, I only check email 3 times a day. Morning, Noon, and close of business. But when I do, i respond quickly. Bottom line is, get back to your new inquiries as fast as humanly possible
5. Follow Up - And finally, follow up with your clients. Be creative with this. I sometimes use gift cards to Starbucks, or other gifts. But the point is to follow up. I usually wait 5-7 days and sometimes it’s just a simple two liner asking if they need any other information. But I can’t tell you how many of those simple nudges have turned into bookings!
What about you guys? What has worked for you? How do you handle bookings and what do you do to stay on top of them? Make sure to let us know and thanks for reading!