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What are Pre-Session Consultations and Why Are They Important for Your Business?
Creating great photographs is only part of being successful as a professional photographer. After all, as a small business owner, you want to deliver both stunning images and a great experience to your clients. That’s no small task. That’s why thorough planning before a session is so important; it ensures you and your client are on the same page and gives you the opportunity to address any misunderstandings that could potentially sour your customer’s experience. The best way to do this is through a pre-session consultation where you meet with the client (in-person or virtually) and discuss their photoshoot.
Pre-session consultations are useful regardless of your specialty, but they’re especially important for assignments that require close interactions with your subjects, such as weddings, portraits, commercial, and editorial projects. Learning about your client’s personality and expectations lay the foundation for a successful professional relationship and investing a little time into talking to them before your session together can have huge rewards both at the photoshoot and in the future. Pre-session consultations allow you to:
- Help your client prepare for their upcoming session, so you both have a stress-free, smooth experience
- Get to know your clients better, so they open up and act natural when the camera comes out
- Collect the details you need to bring their personality and style into the session so that they fall in love with the images you make
- Discuss your different offerings, getting them excited about all products they can purchase from you
- Get on the same page about pricing, so you can avoid the wide-eyed sticker shock at the ordering appointment
You can find in-depth tips on preparing for and having a successful pre-session consultation in the Pre-Sessions Consultations Guide for Photographers, developed specifically for PPA members. The best part? It’s free to download as part of your PPA membership.
Download the Pre-Session Consultations Guide for Photographers today, and discover how a little planning and discussion before a session can create better images for your clients and bigger results for your business.