I'm callin the brain trust

[Daisho]

So some might have read my other thread from today and there is something I figured, after looking at this from a marketing angle.
The product is not the fault, since some said they like my pictures and they meet the demand, since my possible client contacted me due to the quality of the pictures. Thus there is a product and there is a demand.
The issue being price. But not even this is the issue here, but price perception. Or better said, perceived value and how to communicate said value proposition.

I guess this is what most of the threads on this board are about, self perceived value and communicated value. We, as photographers know how much our work is worth, or think how much it should be worth and this collides with the problem of our potential clients not being informed properly about why/how we reached this value and why they should pay said value.

So I ask you, how do you think we, the photographers, could best communicate the value proposition? As said, most people don't have a problem with attracting potential customers but "closing the deal" due do a strong difference in price perception.

How can we over come this? What strategies should we apply to fix this issue?
I tried explaining why cost structure, to show that it is not several 100 bucks for an hour or two but way more that goes into it. Didn't work so well.
I'm thinking about a "this is what you get for 100 bucks total and this is what you get from me..."
Also what I'm trying to communicate but also I'm having a hard time with is "customer service" because many people help their clients chose pictures, deliver (I do in person) etc.
How to tackle this? Please share and maybe we can all benefit from this...

Oh and yes this is going to be some sort of benchmark/crowsourcing, but hey, my expensive education in marketing has to pay off some how.

[Biomech]

Compare it to other things in their life and then say, "so why would you want the cheapest X?"

Who here drives the cheapest car they could find? Sleeps in the cheapest bed and buys only the cheapest clothes?

If you're face to face, you can work in what I like to call "Chubby Magic". You look at them and notice things, car keys for example - most have manufacturer fobs on, watches etc, woman - handbags. The car is a good one, because it's not nearby and you say "forgive me for saying this, but I bet you don't drive the cheapest car you could find, I bet you drive something with quality probably a BMW or something" and they go "OMFG WTFZZZ??!!?! Yeah I drive a BMW how did you know OMFGZ!"

[Daisho]

Nice, like your point. Good thinking on the positive reinforcement there.
Only problem that I see and that a certain type of business is constantly facing, so called trust businesses, your customer will only experience your product later on. And only after the fact has happened he will be able to "compare" and a regret of his choice will not be beneficial to your business.

I think if we could combine your approach with driving home the point that, what ever event/reason they are looking into hiring you is important and thus deserves the best "coverage" they can get well then it would be good.
Not selling pictures but "saving memories" sort of...

[Niresangwa]

I think you're making one assumption too many here.

By your rationale, the product is not the fault, neither is the price; the fault lies in the clients' perception? Why is that a fault? Moreover, why is it fault on the client's side, not yours?

I'm eminently curious with posts like this, and the other raging discussion, why some photographers feel it's OK to be so sanctimonious about the inherent monetary value of their work, and immediately assume it's ignorance on the part of others?

[Ambrosia76]

Originally Posted by Biomech

Who here drives the cheapest car they could find? Sleeps in the cheapest bed and buys only the cheapest clothes?

This Is me I am a cheap skate. Not about everything, But my car is 20 yrs old, I have never owned a new car, not that I can't afford to but I don't want to make payments on a car. I paid $2100 for my car 3 yrs ago, have only put maybe $300 worth of work into it and it still runs great. For less than the cost of 6 mths worth of car payment on a new car. My bed is a cheap mattress and boxsprings that sit on a simple metal frame, and my clothes come from goodwill.

For services I am a little different if it is worth the money I will spend it. If it is something that I will have for a long time and possible pass on,such as photos I would spend the money to get quality.

[Daisho]

Originally Posted by Niresangwa

I think you're making one assumption too many here.

By your rationale, the product is not the fault, neither is the price; the fault lies in the clients' perception? Why is that a fault? Moreover, why is it fault on the client's side, not yours?

I think you haven't read my post with due diligence, as I said, the fault is that I, as an example for other photographers with the same problem, have not managed to address the value of the product in a way to bring the clients value perception closer to what its real value is and why he should "invest" in me and not go pricetag shopping.

Because if you care, and my clients who do, I can give a detailed list of how I end up at the price they are paying or better that I'm asking.
The problem is, that people only see you go some place, click a few times the shutter and that is that .This is to cost them maybe a grand or more. Most customers are not "educated" as to what all goes into me making those "few clicks". The money invested in equipment (and its depreciation), time and money invested in my training, time and money invested in traveling to and from the venue, time to "treat the pictures", computer, software and knowledge to do so. Time to go and print the pictures at the right store (which is not your K-mart equivalent), price of said prints, ROI, taxes, opportunity cost re-compensation aka. hourly rate, etc. All this they are mostly not aware of. Plus it is hard to communicate in a smooth subtle way.

Second big problem, people mostly have a hard time to understand that I, as a service provider, am capable of providing a better service then most of my competition. They might or might not notice a difference in the "quality" of the pictures and maybe the album/shots delivered, but then we are back to square one. They need to appreciate said difference and be educated as to why this difference cost X and that it might is in their interest that they pay more to get said better quality product or service.

The problem is that a photographer is not something people "go to" a lot, thus they compare by the one thing that they have a relation to, money.

Everybody has something they are willing to pay more for, due to preference. Might be cars, clothing, computers, martial arts instruction (I traveled the world to train with some of the best in BJJ), stamps... you name it. The problem is to lift "photography" into said category.
Here comes the big old marketing game... And since marketing is nothing less then the science of communicating your value proposition to the customer, I was asking about how others are tackling this issue.
The ideal would be to present both, your work and the aggregated value while driving the point that the event they want to be photographed is worth it.

Again, we are not necessarily in the "photo" business but should rather sell us as "memory preservation" or something like this, emotionalize the moment/sale/service. This is what we do with cosmetics/perfumes/cloths etc. we try to move it out of the ordinary and lift it to something desirable.
How do we do this?!

[Niresangwa]

Originally Posted by Daisho

I think you haven't read my post with due diligence, as I said, {snip}

I didn't read with due diligence? Ok.

Hmm, what was I saying about you assuming the problem was with someone else?

You're over-romanticizing photography, it's just a f'n service. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you can't convince the client your work is worth the price point, tough. Make your work better, or charge less.

Couching your inability to do this in esoteric marketing terms, does not make the problem any greater than it is.

So yeah you can change your marketing meme to professional memory presevationist but then you just look like everyone else feigning just how unique, special and different they are, when in reality, they're just another photographer clone looking to make a buck...

[Daisho]

Thank you...

And btw. what you call esoteric marketing terms just happens to be some sort of big industry, that creates things like products and stuff and gives people jobs and so on and so forth. Those terms are used to be able to talk better about topics/issues like the one I tried to talk about.
But yeah, thank you for your input.


Question still stands.

[Niresangwa]

Someone disagreeing with you does not constitute a derailment.

Again, don't confuse someone not understanding with someone not agreeing. That's what is causing your 'problem' in the first place. Once you acknowledge that, perhaps you'll get somewhere.

If however this is a case of...

Dear Generic Forum. I have a generic great idea I'd like to explore in generic fashion. I expect the conversation to go in typical generic method that supports my idea, and if you agree with me, you're welcome to post a generic response. If however you do not agree that my generic idea is insightful, I will obviously point out how wrong you are by pointing out that you just don't get it. If you post a generic response that is neither supportive of my awesome generic idea, or you don't understand, I reserve the right to ignore your post. After all, as I started this generic thread, I obviously own it and grant myself mod-like powers to either validate or invalidate generic contributions...

...because if it is, knock yourself out. Good luck changing the industry.

[RLucas]

The issue is price. Sometimes an apple is just an apple. You either bang your head against a wall trying to convince or cut your loss and move on, and find a client that shares the same value as yours. We employee all kinds of marketing "strategies" where I work, and spent counless hours and money doing this, but it almost always rolls back around to price. At the end of the day, the main question is, "Will my bill be cheaper through you vs so and so?" There are very few people that buy in to the "'value added" thing. That is my opinion at the moment. It may change tomorrow.