Do any of you have a child that is a high school senior? Yesterday I learned a lesson in UPSELLING from a photographer and the more I thought about it I thought I need to pass this on. I don't know about you guys but it has been a while since I was a high school senior (obviously since my daughter is one now LOL) but I remember when we were seniors they took a class picture of all of us out in front of the school. They call these a panoramic picture now.
In the 80's they took the picture (feathered hair, mullets and all) you paid your $10 and got your copy. But let's think about this. If you are the photographer who does Senior Panoramic pictures and you already have a contract with all the high schools in your area what do you do to make more money? They aren't building any more schools so that you can add to your client base? The number of students making it to graduation in this day and age is dropping (that's a subject for a whole new soap box) so your picture count might be down. You are going to be there anyway so how do you increase your profits on this project?
Here was his solution – 1st he took the normal picture that will hang on the schools walls forever (of course the price after 25 years has increased to $15). Then he took a silly picture – let the kids do whatever they wanted (to a certain point) – that little trick just added $10 to each sale if the kid wanted a copy. Then instead of just selling the original picture in full size as always for $15 he sold it in 2 sizes and of course you want the smaller size as well for an additional $10. Now instead of his potential sale to each child being $15 it is now $35. I know this because I wrote the check yesterday!
Oh by the way – the senior invitation people no longer just sell invitations and envelopes – they now sell school hoodies, mugs, photo frames, etc. and let me tell you etc. fills a large book.
What can you add to your clients purchase to increase your sales as well as their shopping experience? Remember you should be adding value to their life but if you think about it if you can increase that sale by 10% or more that will add a lot to your bottom line.
