MEET SUE ANN
Sue Ann Cannon is one of the masters in the volume photography industry. She’s a true trailblazer who has embraced the PhotoDay concept from its inception. She started Picture Perfect Images in 2006, providing high quality photography services to schools and sports teams throughout the Tampa, Florida area. Her numbers are impressive - she works with over 120 organizations, capturing 12,000-14,000 subjects each year. Her annual sales exceed $400K! Sue Ann is super thoughtful and smart about her business, and always looking for innovative ways to grow. I so enjoyed chatting with her about her work and her experiences with PhotoDay.
ON THE PHOTODAY CONCEPT
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of it before! The PhotoDay concept makes so much sense.”
ON THE VALUE
“I wear many hats as most business owners do. My time is precious and PhotoDay frees up my time and my photographers’ time. This directly translates into more bottom-line profit, more time to spend growing my business...and less stress!”
ON GETTING STARTED
“For this first season, I’ve been trying out PhotoDay on some of my largest speculation accounts - where parents in past years bought on impulse when they see the prints. I thought this was a good place to start. Once I nail down my new workflow and get the results I want with these first accounts, I’ll be ready to use PhotoDay for every job.”Her speculation process without PhotoDay:
- Set up picture day, collect order forms, and take photos.
- Bring forms to office to place order with labs.
- Edit images (retouch and/or delete bad files).
- Crop and order all packages using ROES (print a set amount of units/products for all subjects, whether they order or not).
- Package all prints inside of respective order form envelopes originally used to collect information.
- Return to school to sell pre-printed photo packages both in morning during parent drop off and in the evening during pick up hours.
- Take manual orders for add-on items, and place a separate order with the lab.
- Upload all images to online storefront for re-orders.
- Receive any add on products from the lab and sort accordingly.
- Pack up the products.
- Return to school to deliver add-on orders.
“With PhotoDay, I pretty much eliminate steps 4-11, dramatically cutting the time and costs to print photos and order forms and staff the sales table. I’ve been able to turn three trips to the school into one! The main difference is that the sales don’t end in two days. It’s a bit of a nailbiter waiting for sales to come in - but once they do, and I factor in the the time savings and cost savings, I’ve taken home more profit!”
THE RESULTS
Sue Ann has 58 jobs in the PhotoDay system - many upcoming and a few that are completed. In just a couple months (and for only a fraction of her business), she’s generated over $20,000 in sales through PhotoDay. She shared with us results from a recent preschool picture day - her VERY FIRST PhotoDay job:
*Additional staff time required for post production, selling on site, and travel.
**Includes credit card processing + PhotoDay fees. In 2017, some of the orders were processed by credit card, but we don’t have that cost information.
BOTTOM LINE! This job netted 5.5% more profit for Picture Perfect Images. On top of that, the time saved for Sue Ann and her team frees up time to bring on new organizations and provide the outstanding customer service that is central to her successful business.
Sue Ann photographed the same school both in spring and fall 2019, showing consistently high sales and average order values.
THE FUTURE
Sue Ann is exploring new and creative ways to drive higher opt-ins feeling confident that the profit gains will continue to grow as she is able to educate more parents on the PhotoDay way.This article has been amended since its original publication with updated sales figures.
