Several years ago, one photoshoot changed our business.
THE BACKSTORY
We had just left a shoot that felt like a train wreck… and the honest, hard truth is that it was all our fault.
The a/c blasting on high throughout our truck was the only thing that broke our silence until the solution to our current problem in front of us hit us like a ton of bricks:
“It can’t ever be like this again. From now on, it changes and our planning services won’t be an option – they’ll be built into our experience so we can serve our clients the absolute best.”
After most sessions you leave thinking about how you’ll choose your favorite images to share for a sneak peak, right?
Well, after this session the only thing I was thinking was, how fast can I archive these photos?
WHY THIS PHOTOSHOOT WAS SO TOUGH
We knew better!
- We knew what our clients needed to come prepared with in order to make their branding session everything they wanted and needed.
- We knew what to look for in a location listing** online** because as professionals, we can easily see when the editing is compensating for the lack of natural light. (iykyk)
- We knew how much time we would need to create all the candid images they were looking for.
But the problem was – we had let them decide.
Instead of sharing our professional feedback on the location they found; we agreed, showed up to shoot, and left sorely disappointed both for us and our clients.
Instead of doing all the very necessary planning in advance of their session that would set them up for being fully prepared and having the most success with their shoot; we let them opt out of planning portion of our client experience.
As the two photographers that they trusted and hired for their session, we took this session failure hard.
It was our job to look out for them, to follow through on creating the best marketing imagery for them, and to have their best in mind by sharing our professional feedback and knowledge, but we didn’t.
The weight on our shoulders for all the things that didn’t go right, felt heavy.
We did THE BEST that we could to deliver a quality gallery. And thankfully, our clients were satisfied with their images.
(Miracles DO happen!)
But we were far from satisfied with the experience we delivered and that’s when we changed our process once and for all and since then, we’ve left every session feeling so proud of how well we served and took care of our clients.
THE PIVOT WE MADE
This ONE session prompted us to make a game-changing decision for our business during that gut-wrenching drive home.
This ONE session opened our eyes to the thing that is now non-negotiable with our client experience – our pre-production planning process. ( ← Say that 5 times fast!)
During our pre-production planning process we discuss:
- Wardrobe suggestions
- Prop recommendations
- Timeline details
- Shot list priorities
- Locations
- Photo inspo
- And any other specific details that we need to know in order to create the exact branding imagery they need to increase their sales.
Hello, successful branding sessions!!
Imagine your client showing up feeling confident with what to wear, having all the unique props for their shoot, feeling well taken care of because you organized the timeline for the day, the shot list for the day, and all the details about the different locations… that sets you up for being your client’s hero!
That will not only have them coming back to you for more, but that will also have your clients eager to spread the word and refer their friends and family to you.
(Spoiler alert: this is one of your biggest marketing plays for your business!)
In 2022 when we photographed with Amy & Jordan Demos, this is what they had to say about our pre-production planning process:
Our pre-production planning process that is a part of every branding session we do is the thing that takes your client’s vision and brings it to life in the strongest way possible.
HOW TO PLAN FOR YOUR OWN BRANDING PHOTOSHOOTS
If you need help planning and organizing successful branding sessions that you not only feel confident in, but that your clients also feel extremely confident and excited about, we created a tool that we use for planning every single branding session we book. It’s called our Brand Photoshoot Planning Template!!
This resource is the roadmap for every session we go on and it’s the tool that has left our clients feeling stress-free, prepared and organized, and confident that their investment in us is well taken care of and that they’ll receive all the images they need.
It’s the tool that equipped Amy & Jordan with a detailed checklist so that no matter what they had going on in life, they were able to pack up for their photoshoot the day before, feel confident that everything we had discussed for their photos was accounted for, and show up on the day of the shoot feeling prepared and confident that the shoot would not only be a success, but also easy and stress-free!
If you want to level-up your service for your clients, grab our Brand Photoshoot Planning Template here and begin implementing a pre-production planning process in your client experience!
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