Photography Coach Tip: Why Your Clients Won’t Say “Yes” To You

I shared this quick photography sales tip with my email subscribers yesterday, but got so many replies that I thought I would also share it here on the photography business and marketing blog, together with some extra thoughts that I’ve had since then.

In the course of my work as a photography coach, I have the privilege of speaking to a lot of photographers each week, from all over the world, and one of the common themes I hear is:

I can’t get my prospects to say “yes” to hiring me…

Clients Need Permission To Invest In Your Photography

Obviously, we’re not going to book every single prospect that calls us up on the phone or walks through the doors of our studio, but we should be booking a good percentage of them – for example, a good number to aim for would be about 60-75% or more.

But how do you get them to say “yes” to you?

The short answer is, “you don’t!”

Let me explain – when someone hires us as their photographer, they’re not saying “yes” to us, but rather, they’re saying “yes” to themselves. In a sense, they’re giving themselves permission to make the investment in you. They’ve already heard your pitch, understood the benefits of working with you, and you’ve built up good rapport with them to help them understand why you do what you do.

From your perspective, it would seem that hiring you is the only logical choice they could make, and they’re going to be the ones to lose out if they choose not to.

But, then we still hear all the hesitations, objections, stalls, and excuses that are preventing them from making a decision right then.

This is the point in the sales conversation where many salespeople feel as though they have to resort to more pressure-based sales tactics, which we know rarely work.

But what else can we do?

Help Them Justify & Rationalize The Investment

The answer is to help the prospect justify the investment to themselves, leading them to the point where they can comfortably give themselves permission to buy. After all, if they really know in their heart that this is what they want to do, the first thing they’ll do when they get home is talk to their spouse about it, and seek permission from them.

We’ve all done this, it’s simple human nature, especially if it involves a significant purchase, or an investment in ourselves.

I even see this behavior as a photography coach, when photographers are trying to decide whether or not to invest in a business coaching program, join my membership site, or invest in the Photography SEO Academy training course.

They know that they need to make the investment, that this is the best way for them to improve their business, but they still feel that they must justify it, and give themselves permission first. Unfortunately, most often, by the time they’ve gone through that process of rationalization, it’s too late for them – the program is either full, or they’ve lost their business (I’m serious about that, having seen it too often).

So, how can you help your own photography clients say “yes” to themselves first, so that they can then say “yes” to you?

The answer to this comes in two parts…

#1: Help The Client Really Understand The Benefits

The first part of the answer is simply helping them to see what will happen if they don’t make the investment.

We have to be careful here, because we don’t want to make this seem like pressure-selling, which it isn’t. We need to address this from a strong position of authenticity and trust, because we truly care about the client as a person.

For example, let’s say you’re offering children’s portraiture. We all know that our children grow up so fast, and that our lives are so busy that it can be difficult to make the time to schedule portraits of them. But, if we don’t, then we run the risk of missing out on those precious moments, which we can never get back again.

Communicating this type of idea to someone trying to give themselves permission to work with you can make all the difference.

How to do that without sounding like a pressure-based salesperson?

Easy – use stories that talk about this very thing, and use written, audio, or even video testimonials in your marketing strategies that speaks to these things, and educates your prospects on why this is so important.

#2: Be A Good Leader – Walk The Walk

The second part of the answer to this question is a little more difficult for a lot of photographers to accept, but it’s very true nonetheless, and even more important than the first part in some ways.

If you, yourself, are not prepared to invest in your own education or your business – in other words, if you won’t invest in training, or you’re always just looking only for the latest free information – then you’re going to find it substantially more difficult to get your clients to invest in you.

For example, leaders of soldiers understand this principle only too well – they can’t send someone else into battle unless they’re fully prepared to do the very thing they’re asking the people they lead to do. That state of mind (which cannot be fabricated) gives them one of the indefinable qualities of great leadership.

I learned this myself the hard way when I first started out in the photography business, and was hesitant about investing money in coaches or mentors, but then realized that a salesperson who is afraid or unwilling to make the same kind of investment they’re asking their clients to make will not succeed in business.

The day I made the decision to say “yes” to myself when it came to investing in my education was the day that everything turned around for me.

So, how about you? Are you really prepared to make the same commitment to yourself as you’re asking your client to make to you? For example, you could join the Zenologue Insiders membership program to learn more about how to run a successful photography business.

Share Your Thoughts Or Experiences

I hope this helps, and if you have any questions or thoughts you would like to share on this topic, then please do feel free to leave a comment below.

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Sales & Marketing motivation, photography business, photography coach, photography sales