Portrait Sales
I am a numbers guy. I love running the numbers. So here is what I've figured out the past couple days.
First of all, in the past 2-3 months or however long I've been working there, I have made almost $15,000 in sales. The studio in the past year has made about $280,000. Good to know for when I open my own studio.
In the past 4 weeks...
I still have the highest sales average. Mine is $102.94/sitting. The studio's sales average is $80.28/sitting. Other than my average, the next highest is my managers at $81.04/sitting. So from these numbers, you would assume I just sell more, right? Actually no. The studio on average sells .24 more sheets than I do per sitting. The studio on average sells 1.74 more collages than I do per sitting which are big money makers. I I am 18% less likely to charge a sitting fee than the studio. I am, however, 10% more likely to sell my customers a membership but thats only $5 more per sitting.
So if all these are so much lower than the studio's average, why do I have such a high sales average?
The answer! I sell more collections and CDs than everyone else. Ok, well that was easy. But wait, there is more.
When figuring a employee's value you can't just factor in sales. Lets take a look at the profit margin on the things I sell best.
Collections:
If you look at the collections that are offered at SPS, you will find out that it is cheaper to just get them sheet by sheet! But the collections come with a minimum of 8 (depending on the collection) standard enhancements. Enhancements cost 7 dollars for the customer yet costs the company nothing. So if you do the math, the profit margin on collections are HUGE!
CDs:
CDs by them self start at $99.99 for the first one. The Full CD costs $119.99 by its self. SPS orders blank CDs in bulk and costs them less than $1 each. Again, HUGE profit margin.
But now you are asking me how I possibly sell a CD of images for $99.99. I don't. If someone is interested in the CD, I actually get them to spend a minimum of $139.99. Its a sales technique called "selling up" If a customer buys $99.99 in portraits (which is the cost of our basic collection), I will sell them the basic CD for just $29.99 ($39.99 for the full CD) and as you can see, that is a HUGE savings for the customer.
Wait a sec, spending $30 more is saving? If you are a good sales person it is.
So selling a collection sells the CD and selling the CD sells the collection. So what I do is I figure out if they what prints of digital copies. From there I word things a little differently (depending on what they want) so they feel the best deal would be to get both, in turn spending more money.
Now you may be saying that this is sneaky and wrong of me, but I must disagree. While I am selling them these, I quote them exactly how much its going to cost including tax. It helps to memorize that. I don't use a calculator while doing it unless things are complicated. Quoting exact prices rather than getting a calculator shows that you are confident about what you are doing. The one time getting a calculator helps is when they start to feel like you are just a sales person. I want all my customers to feel that I am their friend and want them to have the best deal possible. To do that, all you have to say is, "Hold on one second, I am going to get a calculator and figure out what would be better for you. I want to make sure you are getting the best deal you can!"
Being a good sales person is key to making a good sale.
Looking at the rest of the numbers on these studio reports, It appears that I am a better salesman than I am a photographer. Customers are 125% more likely to buy the bonus sheets the lab sends if they are not taken by me.
Kinda makes me sad, but thats ok. I wouldn't mind getting into sales.
First of all, in the past 2-3 months or however long I've been working there, I have made almost $15,000 in sales. The studio in the past year has made about $280,000. Good to know for when I open my own studio.
In the past 4 weeks...
I still have the highest sales average. Mine is $102.94/sitting. The studio's sales average is $80.28/sitting. Other than my average, the next highest is my managers at $81.04/sitting. So from these numbers, you would assume I just sell more, right? Actually no. The studio on average sells .24 more sheets than I do per sitting. The studio on average sells 1.74 more collages than I do per sitting which are big money makers. I I am 18% less likely to charge a sitting fee than the studio. I am, however, 10% more likely to sell my customers a membership but thats only $5 more per sitting.
So if all these are so much lower than the studio's average, why do I have such a high sales average?
The answer! I sell more collections and CDs than everyone else. Ok, well that was easy. But wait, there is more.
When figuring a employee's value you can't just factor in sales. Lets take a look at the profit margin on the things I sell best.
Collections:
If you look at the collections that are offered at SPS, you will find out that it is cheaper to just get them sheet by sheet! But the collections come with a minimum of 8 (depending on the collection) standard enhancements. Enhancements cost 7 dollars for the customer yet costs the company nothing. So if you do the math, the profit margin on collections are HUGE!
CDs:
CDs by them self start at $99.99 for the first one. The Full CD costs $119.99 by its self. SPS orders blank CDs in bulk and costs them less than $1 each. Again, HUGE profit margin.
But now you are asking me how I possibly sell a CD of images for $99.99. I don't. If someone is interested in the CD, I actually get them to spend a minimum of $139.99. Its a sales technique called "selling up" If a customer buys $99.99 in portraits (which is the cost of our basic collection), I will sell them the basic CD for just $29.99 ($39.99 for the full CD) and as you can see, that is a HUGE savings for the customer.
Wait a sec, spending $30 more is saving? If you are a good sales person it is.
So selling a collection sells the CD and selling the CD sells the collection. So what I do is I figure out if they what prints of digital copies. From there I word things a little differently (depending on what they want) so they feel the best deal would be to get both, in turn spending more money.
Now you may be saying that this is sneaky and wrong of me, but I must disagree. While I am selling them these, I quote them exactly how much its going to cost including tax. It helps to memorize that. I don't use a calculator while doing it unless things are complicated. Quoting exact prices rather than getting a calculator shows that you are confident about what you are doing. The one time getting a calculator helps is when they start to feel like you are just a sales person. I want all my customers to feel that I am their friend and want them to have the best deal possible. To do that, all you have to say is, "Hold on one second, I am going to get a calculator and figure out what would be better for you. I want to make sure you are getting the best deal you can!"
Being a good sales person is key to making a good sale.
Looking at the rest of the numbers on these studio reports, It appears that I am a better salesman than I am a photographer. Customers are 125% more likely to buy the bonus sheets the lab sends if they are not taken by me.
Kinda makes me sad, but thats ok. I wouldn't mind getting into sales.