There I was, waiting to buy a runner for the hallway. Now, you have to know that buying carpets just isn’t that exciting to me. But we needed one, so we were buying one. I wasn’t sure if we would keep it. I figured my wife and I would take a look and decide then. We added it to the cart, went to checkout, and then we saw the message you just never want to see. This item is not in stock. In fact, it wouldn’t be for 3 months. 3 months!
My pulse pounded, my head ran off to wherever it runs off to in this type of situation, and I start to think that I simply must have this runner. Of course, now, there’s nothing I can do about it but wait. Suddenly, it seems like it’s worth a whole lot more than it was just minutes earlier.
Now who doesn’t know that feeling? And, yet, what do most people do, when they’re sitting there in front of that potential client showing their work? They skip the emotion, they skip the excitement, they skip the commitment. They do the worst thing they can do. They try to convince them how good their work is. Here’s a little secret. That potential client doesn’t really care.
I mean, they care, of course, but they don’t. That client may well see half a dozen photographers, all of whom present nice work, all of whom that have work that would leave them satisfied for years to come. Of course, we all say, “Yeah, but we’re different – we’re special.” And, sure, maybe we all are, just like everyone else. The client doesn’t see that though, unless you make them, and that almost never happens by way of justification. Trying to get into a quality war about something entirely subjective is not a war you want to wage.
You want an excited client. You want them to want you and your photos. You want them to feel something. You don’t want to be the carpet that might get returned. You want to be the carpet that they have to have. So if you’ve ever looked at another photographer and thought to yourself “I can do that,” banish the thought. Forget what you can do. Remember how to get people excited. When you’re thinking about your presentation and what you say, remember that out-of-stock feeling. Remember how it felt the last time you wanted to buy something and you couldn’t. Lock in on it. And don’t ever forget that’s the feeling you want your clients to have. Get people feeling that way, and you’re getting booked.
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