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Last week, we talked about building a marketing system that helps you consistently attract new leads without burning out. But if you finished listening to that episode and found yourself thinking, this whole system idea feels a little fuzzy, you're not entirely wrong. And I kind of want to back up. I started this series with marketing because, first of all, it makes sense chronologically, right? You're generally marketing to a person before you're selling to that person. You sell to them before you fulfill for them. That is, the first step in the process is finding new clients. But I also started with marketing because marketing tends to be, you know, the loudest voice in the room. If you don't have clients or you don't have enough clients, the first thing that you think is, I need to work on my marketing. The honest truth is that a marketing system really isn't the best example of a system in general. Why? Because the definition of a system as a repeatable process that leads to predictable results unfortunately doesn't fully apply, right? The results that you get when marketing a small business rarely feel predictable because marketing is a numbers game. When a huge business that's catering to huge audiences creates marketing campaigns, they can look at the data and then rely on that data and those averages to be pretty accurate predictors of the results that they will get in the future. If they spend, you know, X dollars on marketing, then they know that they'll make Y dollars in sales. But as photographers, we are working with much, much, much smaller numbers. If you ever took a statistics class, our N is really small, which makes it harder, right? Because little variations, little ups and downs, random things can affect our results in a much bigger way. The smaller your audience is, the less predictable your results will be. So you may get three inquiries this week and then go a month without hearing anything, even if you're doing everything right. And that can be a little disconcerting. And if it's not going well, it can be disheartening. And honestly, that is why I feel like systematizing your marketing efforts is so important, even though it may not come out with the most predictable results. When you put in the time and effort upfront to systematize your process, you take the guesswork and the emotion out of it, right? And you're much more likely to stick to the plan. If you've actually made a plan, you don't want to be on a roller coaster where this month you post every day and next month you only post twice. Because although there aren't any hard and fast rules for anything, when it comes to Marketing, I can tell you that consistency wins in the long run, right? So no one can guarantee marketing results. But what I can guarantee is that as long as you are consistently hitting the big four, right, that in person, connection, SEO, email, and social media, your audience will grow, your reach will expand, and as they do, you will start to see patterns and trends that will make your marketing system feel more like a system and less like a roulette wheel. But a thousand inquiries doesn't mean anything unless you are able to convert those leads into bookings and then turn those bookings into happy, loyal clients. And that is what your sales and fulfillment systems are all about. Again, while no system guarantees results, the results of a solid sales and fulfillment system is much more predictable and feels much less like a gamble than even the very best marketing system. And as a bonus, when those two systems are working well, they actually take pressure off of your marketing system, right, Because a growing number of your inquiries start to come from referrals and repeat clients. So today we're talking about sales and fulfillment. I'm going to cue the intro music and then we're going to dive in. Welcome to this Can't Be that Hard. My name is Annemie Tonkin, and I help photographers run profitable, sustainable businesses that they love. Each week on the podcast, I cover simple, actionable strategies and systems that photographers at every level of experience can use to earn more money in a more sustainable way. Running a photography business doesn't have to be that hard. You can do it, and I can show you how. So think of your sales system as everything that happens from the moment someone reaches out until the moment that they officially book with you. A good sales system is built to obviously get them to say yes, right? Booking clients is the point, but a great sales system takes it a step further. And when I'm building a system, I like to start with the goal and then work backward from there. So sales gets a bad rep. You know, we all know about people and sort of revile people whose only goal is to get sales and bookings, right? The used car salesman archetype comes to mind. This is somebody who is willing to say and do just about anything to get somebody's money. So they failed to mention that the car barely runs, and then they set that person up with some sort of terrible predatory financing package that they can't really afford, they shouldn't afford it. And I certainly hope that's not you. It's not me, and it is not what I believe. Sales can and should be what I prefer to do. Is think of sales as a service, right? We are ethically serving the person who, who is clearly interested in what we offer because they've reached out, right? And when we approach it as a service, our goal shifts. So instead of getting a yes at all costs, what we are looking for instead is a client who clearly understands exactly what they're getting and how much they're going to pay for it and is still enthusiastically nodding their head and asking where they should sign. So to build that system, we need to picture that outcome, right? That enthusiastic, informed client, and then reverse engineer every step that that person needs to take in order to get to that place. So you start to ask questions, right? What kind of communication makes that person feel confident? What objections or doubts or concerns might slow them down? What past experiences might they be bringing with them that cause them to make assumptions or have fears or anything like that? And how can we get those things out and help them see clearly what's going on? Also, where in the process can they disappear, right? Where can they get distracted? Where can they drop off entirely? These are the questions that we need to be asking as we map out each point of contact from that first moment that they inquire until the moment they say yes. When you approach your system this way, it becomes less about, you know, what should I send, what should I say? And more about what does this person need to hear or understand right now in order to be able to take that next step. Some of those touch points along the path are going to be designed to educate, to inspire. Others are literally just there as guardrails to protect against that very real risk that this person who again, is really interested, we want to protect them and prevent them from losing focus and basically forgetting to take the next step. This is something that happens all the time in not only our industry, but in our highly distracted world. And although none of us wants to be a nag, truthfully, persistence pays dividends. The first step in any sales system, especially these days, should be a quick, or I could even say immediate response. None of us is sitting by our email 24 hours a day. None of us should be responding to inquiries on our own immediately. But technology can help you with there, right? So as soon as someone submits an inquiry form, the clock is ticking. They are interested right now, but you can pretty much assume that they're also busy, distracted, and maybe a little unsure. You know, maybe they know for sure you're the person for them and they're getting married or they're having a baby and like, for sure they're going to book a photographer. But a lot of the time people are reaching out because in that moment they're inspired to book a photographer and they found you and they like you, but they don't really know you. So there's this window that we have to take advantage of, where they remember who you are, they remember how they were feeling when they reached out. And they're, you know, there's still some momentum there. Again, without having to sit by your inbox 24 7. You can set up an autoresponder that gives an immediate, thoughtful validation of the fact that they just reached out. And that can make a huge difference. Right? Your autoresponder should reassure them that their message was received. It should tell them when to expect a complete reply. However, that next step works. And ideally it should include something that's helpful or interesting or, you know, keeps them engaged or repoints them to a resource on your website. Lots of different options there. You can do a quick welcome video that is kind of hidden on your website. You could do. You could send a guide to maybe your favorite locations or clothing guides or those kinds of things. You can send a list of FAQs just to sort of invite them further into the process of thinking about working with you. Anything that adds that kind of value immediately is a solid idea. I also think that this is a really great, important place to sprinkle in some longer form testimonials. I'm sure you have testimonials on your website and that's great. Hopefully they've read through some of them. You want to choose some of the juiciest and maybe the ones that take a couple of minutes to read all the way through and put those in your autoresponder so that again, you're kind of validating the fact that they found you. You're giving yourself a little extra boost of social proof. These are all good things to kind of keep the momentum going. Hang on, guys. I have a quick message for you. If you've ever found yourself nodding along with an episode of this can't be that hard thinking, ugh, I need to actually do something with this. Then you are going to want to join us inside the Darkroom. The Darkroom is a brand new online space that I created just for our podcast listeners. And it's specifically designed to help you take the ideas and inspiration that you're exposed to here on the podcast and develop those ideas into action and results. But it doesn't stop there. You also get access to bonus content, special discounts and giveaways. And you have the opportunity to shape our future episodes by sharing your feedback, your questions and your guest recommendations. Best of all, the Darkroom is totally free. So all you need to do to sign up is go to thiscan't bethard.com darkroom. I can't wait to see you there. Now back to the episode. But that initial response cannot be your only response, right? Right. One email is not a system. It's honestly not sales at all. That is the absolute bare minimum that anyone could possibly hope for. And people feel that if you just send them one email response, I mean, I guess it's better than zero, but it's not a whole lot better. And if they don't get back to you and you just sort of sit in the corner licking your wounds saying, well, I guess they weren't that interested. Everybody ghosts me that, and I'm sorry to say it is on you. We are the business owners. At the end of the day, this is how we keep our lights on is by booking clients. And so with that attitude of service in mind, we have to follow up and follow up and follow up again. So how you like to sell your services depends on a number of factors, right? Maybe you have a meeting, maybe you schedule a phone call, maybe you make somebody a custom video, maybe you even just stick to email, although I'm going to argue against that in just a minute. But no matter how you communicate, you have to build your system with the understanding that people get distracted and they need and want reminders. That is the professional, responsible thing that you can do as business owner. So the way that I teach it, the goal of a good follow up system leads to either a yes or a no. Not a ghosted client, right? Not a they disappeared on me. And although we don't 100% control people and we can't always get somebody to respond, the way that I try and maximize the potential of that is to follow up with every single inquiry no fewer than three times before I mark them as cold, right? So if I send that autoresponder and in mine, I'm asking them to book a phone call and let's say two days goes by and they haven't booked the call yet. They then they get another email from me with a link to book the call, like, hey, sorry if you missed this, just wanted to make sure you got it. Here's the link again. If you, you know, if you didn't get it, whatever. And then if they don't respond to that, they get another email. A couple of days later. And if they don't respond to that, they get yet another email. So, you know, that's a total of four emails. It's one initial autoresponder and three follow ups, all with the same goal, which is encouraging this person to take the next step if they do engage, right? So if they book the call and we either have the call or maybe they miss the call, I mean, that happens too, right? So if they do engage and I know that they're out there getting my emails, but they don't book right away or they don't show up for the call, the system adapts, right? It's almost like a flowchart where, you know, if they respond and they say yes, great, then they're booked. If they say respond and they say no, or they say I need more time to think about it or whatever, then I go into sort of the next phase. And you do have to take some time to build out all these different potential eventualities. But that's what email templates are for. You don't have to write these emails the same, you know, over and over again every time. You shouldn't be. But no matter what, if you get to a point where someone is not responding, you follow up three more times before you stop, minimum. So again, if I have a phone call with somebody and then I send them the booking link but I don't hear anything, I follow up. And this time, because we have a more personal relationship, they might not just get three emails, they might get like an email and then a text and then a final email. You can mix it up a little bit. You just have to avoid coming across as like invading their personal space. But if someone you know gets on the phone with you, that is a personal space that you have been invited into for a time. So however you set this system up, I want you to remember when you are inevitably kind of doubting yourself and saying, oh no, I'm annoying them, whatever, remember that they reached out to you, they want to book a photographer, they want to hear from you. So worst case scenario, they changed their mind, they booked somebody else, they are not going to begrudge you a few friendly follow ups, right? You are just providing good, responsible customer service. But back to the sales system, assuming somebody doesn't ghost, you also need a step by step plan for actually selling to them, right? And again, how you do this is up to you. So if booking over email is working great for you and you are fully booked and you don't need to, you know, do Anything else? Fantastic. However, what I have found is that most photographers use email for their sales process kind of by default, right? Not because it works really well for them, but because they don't want to be perceived as pushy like an aggressive salesperson. And I very strongly believe that that is a mistake. They say that you never get a second chance to make a first impression. And although you've already made some kind of impression, if somebody is reaching out to you, the sales process is your chance to make an actual connection with that person. And the fact is that in this distracted world where everyone's inbox and to do list are chock full, you are much more likely to actually make an impression if you take it a step further. So if your booking rates are not what you would like them to be, I want you to consider a more personal approach. I like getting on calls with prospective clients if at all possible. And I know it's hard to get people to book calls, but if you make it clear that this is going to be a short, non pushy call that allows you to, you know, go through this process much more easily and make sure all of their questions are answered. You would be surprised at how willing people generally are to just hop on the phone. And you need to be prepared for that, right? You are not there to hard sell them, and usually that's not the problem. But you're also not there to get on the phone and say, hey, so what questions do you have for me? At the beginning, you are there to make some chitchat, establish a rapport, you know, get to know them a little bit and then walk them through your process and your pricing. And you do have to get comfortable with that. You have to practice that. You have to own it. You have to be able to say it confidently. And I understand that that can feel like a tall order. But when you do, not only does someone perceive you as knowledgeable, helpful, confident, you know, able to sort of show them what your process and your system is. That gives them a lot of confidence. It builds a lot of trust because you're not hiding behind a computer or, you know, giving them a long page of information that they then have to sift through. And you can hear when somebody doesn't understand something. You can hear when there's a miscommunication or confusion or a point of some hesitation and you can dig a little bit deeper. And when someone feels like you understand what their hesitations are and you've answered all their questions, they're so much more likely to either book you or give you the real reason as to why they're not booking you. And that information is almost as valuable as a booked client. And again, this phone call shouldn't be long. My phone calls are usually less than 15 minutes long, which includes time for questions. And if you would prefer to make a video, you can do everything that I just described on a video, right? Where you are introducing yourself, you're kind of putting a voice to a name, you're instilling a lot of trust in that regard. You're walking them through your pricing. You can even do that where you're like the little bubble in the corner and you've got your webpage open or your pricing guide open or whatever and you're just like scrolling through and kind of talking over it. That's another good option. It just doesn't have sort of the dialogue part where you can hear their questions and all that sort of stuff, but they can write you back. So it's not a bad alternative. I know a lot of people who are using that very successfully. The trick with video is that you actually have, unlike a phone call, you need to keep that really tight and concise. If you can keep it under five minutes, ideally more like three, that's going to be most likely to get watched all the way to the end, right? But the point goes back to the goal of ethical sales. Unlike just sending somebody an email with some pricing information, with a video or a phone call, even better, you know that your client clearly understands exactly what they're getting and how much they're going to pay for it. And then the final point here is that in every piece of communication, every follow up email, every, you know, certainly when you're getting off the phone with someone or at the end of a video, you want to give them a really clear next step. Every message needs to spell out exactly what they need to do next or exactly when they can expect to hear from you again. And the reason why all this needs to be systematized is that what I've just described to you. Although it's not complicated, there are a lot of different potentials, right? You don't know if somebody's going to respond in one day or three days. You don't know if they're going to ask this question or that question. And a system as you build it out will start to have kind of a node. If you think of it as like a map, it's going to have a little node for each one of those and you're going to have a response you're going to have an email that you're going to send or a video that you're going to send. And although that doesn't get built necessarily in a day, once it is built, you're never having to think twice about what that next step is. Right? So the last thing I'll say about this system is that bear in mind at every turn, that clarity is your friend. You want every message, every phone call, every whatever to end with either what the next step is and or when they can expect to hear from you again, right? So they should know completely exactly what's coming next. Which is another way that you build trust is by saying, this is what's gonna happen next and then making that thing happen next. Right? And the reason why all this needs to be systematized is that chances are, in the moment, at some point you are going to feel compelled to question your process. You are going to have kind of an awkward phone call with somebody and then you're going to send them the email you promised them. But then you're going to be like, maybe I shouldn't follow up. I'll just let this one go. Unless you don't want to work with them. And even if you don't want to work with them, you should follow up, because that is the professional thing to do, right? If you set this all up ahead of time, when you're thinking clearly, you're not feeling desperate or nervous about one specific client, then you know that you are just going to say what you need to say, say it well and clearly, and plan out the pacing so that it feels helpful and natural, and then you're able to just trust the process. So ideally, some of this should be automated or semi automated with a CRM. So all you have to do is open your laptop and do what the system tells you to do next. But even if you're working with a spreadsheet, this is how you turn inquiries into bookings. Not by chance, but by design. So you know your sales system worked and somebody booked you. Yay. Fantastic. That means that you know part one is done, but your job is certainly not done right. This is where we kind of get into the good stuff. We get to deliver the experience that we just sold to them. And your fulfillment system is what ensures that that happens. Not by happenstance, not in the way that you feel inspired in the moment to do, not when you remember, but the same way every single time. And just like in your sales system, the best way to build out this fantastic fulfillment system is to start at the end and work backward. So what is the result that you want your client to walk away with? Yes, obviously you want them to love your photos. But more than that, or at least as much as that, you want them to feel like working with you was fun, effortless, easy, whatever you want to call it. Right. They want. You want them to feel taken care of. You want them to feel like you were the best part of their day. Right. So start by defining what that experience looks like for your clients. What does a successful session feel like? What do they end up with? What would they say in a glowing review? And you don't have to make these things up. If you have testimonials, mine those. If you have heard from, you know, you've gotten some lovely letter from somebody who said, this is why I loved working with you. Use that. Right? Those are your superpowers, the things that differentiate you from other people. What stories do you want your clients to tell their friends afterward about how great it was to work with you? Once you've got that picture really clear in your mind, then you can reverse engineer the steps that it takes to get there. And again, I want to start with communication. The moment that they book, your system should kick in with a clear welcome message. Not just, you know, thanks for booking, thanks so much for your money, but giving them a clear picture of exactly what comes next. Right. You want to think about this almost like you're onboarding a new employee or, you know, you're being onboarded. You're showing them that you know what you're doing, they're in good hands. And now they're in the next phase of this very helpful, very well thought out system. What should they expect between now and the day of their session? How should they prepare? When will they hear from you again? And I would encourage you, if you currently onboard new clients, by sending a thank you for booking, here is your session guide. I'll be in touch before the session if that's the extent of it. At minimum, I would encourage you to break that into smaller pieces. So you may send the full guide on day one, but then on day three, send another email. And this can fully be automated. And it can be like, hey, just wanted to check back in with you. Not sure if you've had a chance to look through the guide yet, but I recorded this short video talking about clothing, because those are the questions that I get most frequently. And then you, you know, send them a video that's a few minutes long talking about clothing options or things to watch out for whatever. Same thing with locations, same thing with all of your, you know, you can take those frequently asked questions and just break them into a series of either really quick email, you can make it in text. I love video because I do feel like it personalizes the experience, but I don't want to belabor that point. So you, whatever you do, it's unlikely that most people these days are going to sit down and read the 28 page welcome guide that you painstakingly put together. And even if they do, chances are pretty high that their partner is not going to. So when you make these smaller bite sized pieces, not only do you get the opportunity to check in with them again and again, which makes them feel cared for. Even if they're not reading it, they feel like, oh great, she's really on top of it. But if you are sending them more digestible pieces of information, they're more likely to actually read them or watch them and then pay attention to them. You know, if you've got like a tip that you don't like people to wear Crocs to their session or whatever, the more you repeat that and the, the less that you buried that, the you know where you're not burying it in 28 pages of text, the more likely they are to hear it and see it and actually follow that. So it is a win win for them and for you. And again, even if they're not reading every word of your emails or watching every video that you send, just by sending those messages, you are helping them build confidence, right? You're signaling that you're a professional, you know what you're doing and that helps them trust you, which affects everything downstream. When somebody trusts you, they relax. They're more likely to enjoy the session, to follow your lead, to spend more time afterward. And that trust, it affects everything downstream. Because when somebody trusts you, they relax. When they relax, they're more likely to enjoy the session. When they enjoy the session, you're more likely to make great photos, right? And when you make great photos, they're more likely to spend more afterward and tell other people about you. So it's like all the way around this is a positive experience. If you've ever had to deal with a client who was trying to micromanage you or was acting really skeptical about how you were conducting a session, chances are they didn't feel like they could fully trust your process, right? They, they were saying, hey, maybe we should take pictures over here. Not because you don't know what you're doing, but they don't know that you know what you're doing. And that's not about them being a bad client. I mean, it might be, but not necessarily. And it's definitely not about you being a bad photographer. It just indicates that more could be done to build your client's confidence in you. So what does this look like practically? Number one, you want to map out the full experience from booking to delivery. And the sales process has lots of little branches and nodes, and that can feel like a lot. The chances are that your fulfillment process is going to be an even bigger tree of things, but it's not as branchy because you're actually controlling the flow, right? So be as thorough as possible. Take the time that it takes to really map everything out. And again, consider how you could make each step along the way more interesting than like, here's a PDF, right? There are all kinds of easy to use tools out there. You could create little videos. You could even, you know, look into creating AI chatbots that answer questions or help somebody plan outfits, or, you know, make the process of getting ready feel less like homework and more like fun. Because nobody wants more homework. We all want to have sort of a fun, light experience that results in the thing that we want. And if you can deliver that, that is the very definition of great customer service. It doesn't mean bending over backwards. It doesn't require spending a lot of money on client gifts and, you know, those kinds of things. It means setting clear expectations and then consistently exceeding them. So as you look at your current process, ask yourself, what is the experience I want to deliver and how can I ensure that that ideal experience is more consistent and easier for me to fulfill? And then you build it, even if it starts as a simple checklist with some dates attached, that is enough to get you started. Because when that fulfillment system is mapped out and dialed in, you're going to reap the rewards of that for the rest of your career. So that is your action step this week. First, audit your current sales and fulfillment process. And I want you to get as granular as possible. Identify where the gaps are, where the bottlenecks are, where you're winging it. Maybe figure out some places that you can add in some little automations and stuff to make your life better, and then, you know, put that into action, right? Build or refine the system and commit to sticking to it. Because while marketing may bring people to your door, your sales and fulfillment systems are what invite them in and keep them coming back. And if you're interested in diving deeper into the nitty gritty of what the specific steps of a sales and fulfillment system might look like. I want to invite you to go watch the Simple Sales Masterclass that is my free in depth training on the six steps of the system that I have used and taught for years. And I'm biased, but I think it's the perfect combination of personal touches and little surprise and delight opportunities and automation that makes your business not only profitable, but streamlined and sustainable. So whether or not Simple Sales is the right system for your business, I'm confident that you will find inspiration for what your systems could look like and why they are worth building. You can sign up for that masterclass@thiscampethard.com simplesales Next week we're going to be wrapping up our systems theme with Part three, which is the systems that you put in place for encouraging repeat and referral clients. Because even though a great experience will bring some people back, I want you to think through how you can maximize those numbers so that people don't just hire you once they come back again and again and bring their friends. That's it for this week's episode of this Can't Be that Hard. I'll be back same time, same place next week. If you like the show, be sure to check out thiscan'tbethard.com to explore all the resources we have for photographers. And of course it would mean the world to me if you would leave a review of the show on itunes or Spotify. As always, thanks so much for joining me. I hope you have a fantastic week.