Within the world of volume photography lies a sales method used for more than one hundred years. It is called pre-pay. Pre-pay was born due to the methods used to craft professional photographs before things like computers and credit cards existed. Back then, the photographer used a device to record an imprint of light onto a light sensitive material called film.
You see, long before digital cameras, smart phones and Apple Pay, parents used to bring a 20 dollar bill (or perhaps $10 or $5 long ago) to a photographer, watch their child be magically photographed and wait a few weeks to finally be surprised with the photographs. Photographs were then cut by hand with scissors, and on the back there was text written with a name and year, then given to friends and family as gifts.
Fast forward… it’s 2018! You can hail an Uber from your phone… and payment transactions are completely automated! You can call out to Alexa or Google for various tasks, like reading you the latest news, telling you jokes and setting alarms or timers. You can make your entire home intelligent. You can even make transactions using your face right from a phone in your pocket and things are delivered to your doorstep. Music is on-demand, movies are on-demand… who even needs cable anymore? Doctors are 3D printing devices to save lives!
Is pre-pay really the optimal sales method we should be using in the world of volume photography, especially since EVERYTHING else has changed?
What if we came out of the stone age and introduced something completely different?
We call this new method AdvancePay. AdvancePay gives photographers the benefit of getting paid before picture day without limiting sales after picture day. Here’s how it works:
- The studio sets up credits and special offers, like free shipping, gift with purchase, etc. that make purchasing an AdvancePay credit simply irresistible. (i.e. Hey early birds? Get free shipping on your order when you purchase a $30 AdvancePay credit before picture day.)
- Customers purchase the credit which commits them to a minimum purchase amount set by the studio. They can apply this credit to their future purchase.
- When the photos are uploaded to the gallery, the customer receives a notification that it’s time to redeem their credit and take advantage of the special offer that they locked in!
See the complete AdvancePay experience from the customer's perspective right here:
With AdvancePay, the photographer’s income isn’t capped and parents get to see what they’re buying. Everybody wins!!! And, AdvancePay is totally flexible so you can apply it to a variety of selling strategies. Check out this step-by-step guide that explains exactly how to set up picture day with AdvancePay.
I know, it’s going to be a hard transition… no more fun Photoshop layouts of order forms where nothing lines up the way you’d like, no more writing down image numbers, no more guessing if that person’s name is “Claire” or “Chair”, no more bounced checks or accidentally leaving cash in the envelope, or trying to figure out sales tax at midnight on the 14th of every month! What will photographers do with all this extra time?
