Episode Transcript
All the selling has already happened. It just never looked like sales. It looked like service because that’s exactly what it was.
You’re listening to the printmaker podcast where every week we help hardworking photographers like you make the switch to in-person sales. So if you’re ready to sell your work without selling your soul, then listen up because we’re getting started right now. Hey, what’s up everybody? This is Chris from the printmaker system and your host here on the printmaker podcast. Thanks so much for tuning in today and I’m really excited to present this info
To you. So as you know, I’m, hopefully you’ve listened to the last two episodes where we’ve started covering the first two steps of what we call the AEDD Framework. And this framework, in my opinion, is the perfect sales process. This is the process that our members are using. They’ve sold more than a million dollars in products. It’s the same process that we used to get to a $120,000 in sales in our first year of doing it. So it’s a great process and hopefully you have already started to learn just how this helps you sell without actually having to sell anything, right? Think about it. We got the right people in the door. We found out exactly what they wanted and we crafted that entire experience around each and every client. We’ve built their excitement for those products that they’ve already told us they want.
Now all we have to do is say, okay, remember that stuff that you saw on my website, you came over, we figured out exactly what you want, and then during the session I showed you on the back of the camera. The photo that I think is going to look amazing in those spots that we talked about. Well here it is. Now what else do you want? That’s all the sales meeting is, is the, Hey, remember that stuff you already told me you wanted to hear? It is now. What else do you want with these other images that you love or I guess this is what I want to stress. All the selling has already happened. It just never looked like sales. It looked like service because it’s exactly what it was. Okay. So we’ve done all the work. Now it’s time to just reap the rewards and here’s how we’re going to do it.
So this is the mechanics of the actual sales meeting. We’re going to do the slideshow twice. So we start with the slide. We’re going to do it twice first time. Just just enjoy. All right. Tell the client, just enjoy, don’t think about anything. Just sit back and relax and enjoy your photos. All right. Second time through we’re going to say, all right, start thinking about which ones are your favorite. Okay, from there we’re going to cull them. We’re going to go image by image and choose either yes or no. I am not a fan of maybe, maybe is a yes or a no by the end of the sales meeting. So it’s a wasted decision if you use a maybe category because they’re going to have to make the decision on yes or no by the end of the sales meeting. So to me it’s just an additional decision that you’re making a client make.
And we do not want to do that. All right? So yes or no. From there, we’re going to compare any similar images. You know the ones where you’re like the catch light or like this, this rim light on their jaw line is slightly different in this image than it is in this one that is otherwise exactly the same, right? I am just as guilty about this. So this is where we’re going to go through and we’re going to compare those similar images and choose the best of the bunch. Okay? And then from there we start showing them everything that they’ve already told us they want. We’re going to start with the biggest stuff. So we’re going to start with wall art. I will have predesigned some wall art for them. And I would say, okay, remember that one that we talked about? Here it is.
And remember, here’s the shot that I showed you on the back of the camera. Okay, here it is, right? So there’s a chance that we get to the wall art and I’ve predesigned some stuff that has images that they, that they said no to. Okay. No big deal. I’m going to go through and I’ll just swap it out for their absolute favorite images. Right? So I’m going to go through a, I’m going to put the ones that like they started tearing up when they saw them. Those are the ones I’m going to be like, you know what, this is what I had designed, but I noticed that you loved this image. Let me go ahead and just drop that one in instead for you. Right? So we’re going to go through wall art for all the rooms that we discussed in the planning meeting.
W you know, if they, if they had multiple spots where they wanted artwork, I will have predesigned those and they would be ready to go. Now all we have to do is either swap out images or just approve the design and add it to the order. Okay. So from there we’re going to go to albums and books and again, if they’ve showed any interest in an album or a book, I would have predesigned that I much prefer to predesign things. That way we can kind of cruise through the sales meeting and they tend to get the things that I wanted them to get. So it makes it a lot more smooth process and you can end up with higher sales by pre designing because it’s stuff that you had time to think about and to really put some thought into when you design them.
Right. Alright, so we go wall art then albums and books. From there we’re going to do accessories and I kind of think of accessories as upsell items. So remember we said, remember that stuff you already told me you want. Here it is. Now we’re on the next part. Now what do you want to do with the other images you love? Because really what happens is, you know, maybe we’ll get five or seven images on the walls throughout their house, right? Well, we probably have 10 or 12 or 15 final images left that they absolutely love that were yes, images, right? What are we going to do with those? Well, we could put them in an album or a book. Great, but what if we’ve already done that? What if we still have some images left? And this is a very real problem.
We actually came up with a product to solve this problem. It’s a great problem to have where a client is saying like, Hey, but I still love these other 10 images, you know, and we’re like, we don’t have a product to give to sell them. So to be able to do anything with these, right, because we’ve already done album, we’ve already done wall art. Like what did we do? So like for us, we just came up with what we called an easel collection and we literally just went to like the local a craft store and bought a bunch of like metal easels. And then we just ordered them as 8x8s. Their favorite images we ordered them is 8x8s. And we and we would sell them like 10 of those 8x8s. And that way they could put them on the easel, they could swap them out anytime they wanted and they had these other images that they love in their home, but it didn’t take up a massive amount of real estate in their home, like on the wall or anything like that.
And it also wasn’t this really big expense. It was a pretty easy upsell to be able to say like, okay, we’ve got these things on your wall, we’ve got these things in this book. You still have these 10 images that you love. How about we just put those on this easel? Right? Okay. So a slideshow. Cull. Compare similar images, Wall Art, albums and books, accessories. Now we’re going to move on to gift prints, accessories or upsells, right? Same thing. Gift prints. Now we truly consider gift prints exactly that they are gifts. This is not something that our clients would typically come to us for. They’re not going to come in the door and say, I just want some four by sixes or some five or seven or eight by twelves or whatever. You know, this is like, really, Hey, father’s day is coming up.
Do you want to get anything for grandpa, you know, or do you want a small framed print for the office or you know, that kind of stuff. Take those favorite images and just make suggestions. These holidays are coming up or do you want to get anything for the grandparents or, you know, whatever. All of that kind of stuff. And that’s kind of how we would deal with a gift prints. Okay. From there we deal with digitals. If they want digitals, then that’s when we would we would add those to the order as well. And and that’s it. I mean, that’s, I mean, this is not really it. Then we take their payment and if you are sitting there like feeling even uncomfortable right now saying like, Oh, how am I going to take their payment? Like the universal language for it’s time to pay me is, okay, how do you want to deal with this today?
So like just use that phrase, okay, how would you like to cover this today? How would you like to do with this today? All right, that’s a lot easier. It comes out of the mouth a lot easier than all right guys, time for you to pay me. Right? And so Hey, how do you want to deal with this today? Right? And then after that we want to discuss delivery. So we’re going to make sure that we’re setting expectations for delivery times a in lab times, all of that stuff basically. Okay, here’s what’s going to happen next. I’m going to go ahead and place this order a this week and it will take four to six weeks for your products to come in, right? That’s it. That’s all I have to do. I’m setting that expectation. And really what I’ve done there as well is typically it really only take, you know, two to four weeks or two to three weeks.
But I want to I want to under promise and over deliver. It’s a really important time in your process to under promise and over deliver. And what I mean by that is if I know that it takes two to three weeks for my products to come in, I’m going to tell them four to six. That way if the products come in and there’s something wrong, I can reorder them and they’ll be in still within that window and the client will be none the wiser. Otherwise they come in in two weeks, they look phenomenal and I can just call the client up and be like, Hey, they’re here already. When can I come and deliver these for you? Right? And that’s it guys. I mean, let’s see. That’s the sales meeting. Let’s do it again. Slideshow twice. Cull. Compare similar images, wall art, albums and books, accessories, gift prints, digitals, payment and discuss delivery.
All right, this is it. This is really, really easy stuff. All right. Now if you’re thinking though, okay, I’m done. That’s it. I’ve made the sale. I’ve attracted people, I’ve gotten them excited about products and now I’ve made the sale. Well, we’re not quite done with the entire process. Okay. And that’s what we’re going to cover in the next in the next episode where we’re going to talk about the final D in the AEDD Framework and that is deliver. I’m going to talk about how to deliver on all of the promises and how to really over-deliver. All right, so that’s coming up next. Again, Hey, if you haven’t checked it out yet, head over to AEDDframework.com because I’ve got a small, a workbook that I want to send to your door and I want to give it to you for free so you can head to AEDDframework.com and it’s going to help you really take and run with this entire framework and really put it into place in your business. So again, last time, promise AEDDframework.com and you can go grab that workbook. It’s free and and I’m going to ship it straight to your door. All right. Thanks so much for listening and I will be back tomorrow!