What To Discuss With Your Client While Designing Their Album...and When!
above image by Erin Lindsey
Hey guys, Melissa Jill here, photographer and founder of Align. Are you (like many other photographers) feeling like your album workflow process isn't as efficient as it could be? One part of making your album workflow more manageable is simplifying client communication. Today I want to help break down the communication process to hit on some main points of what album topics should be discussed with your client ...and when! The following outline will help you make the best use out of each individual stage of the client communication journey, from initial meeting to finalization and delivery of the album!
You may notice that I'm not including communication that asks the client to pick out the images for their initial design. This is because I personally recommend pre-designing the album yourself. This not only helps avoid holding up the album design process, but it also removes an unnecessary load off the shoulders of our clients in regards to their wedding album.
1 -- Communication at Initial Client Meeting
Your first discussion about albums should happen right out of the gate at the initial client meeting. This is a great time to:
2 -- Communication Within the Package/Contract
Once expectations are laid out, discussed and managed in the initial client meeting, they will be further solidified in the contract. So, although you will be discussing pricing in depth at the initial client meeting, it will be spelled out further in the package description. If you are going to upsell, it is helpful to word the pricing information as an "album credit" in order to help the client understand that they will have the chance to spend more on their album in the future. For example, in my album product explanation I tell my clients, "The $2,000 album credit in my packages would cover this album with 17 spreads (approximately 75 images). I always design albums larger than what my clients order and that way you have the option of either narrowing down the pages to what you ordered or upgrading your album at that time."
Another important element of the contract is to set deadlines so that the design will be finalized in a timely manner. Here's what I've included in my contract, "The client is responsible for finalizing their album design no later than 6 months after their wedding. After 6 months, if the album design is not finalized by the client, the base price of the album will increase by $500. If after one year the album design is not finalized, the base price of the album will increase by another $500."
3 -- Communication Through Emails After the Wedding
After the wedding, it will be necessary to communicate with the clients through email when you send the initial design for review. This is also an appropriate time to remind them of the expectations that you laid out at the initial client meeting and solidified within the contract (when necessary). In addition, this post-wedding email communication is where you will discuss:
I know offering albums and everything they entail can appear to be a monumental task. I also know that offering this service as part of your photography business is truly such a wise business move and one that can continuously become more systematized and streamlined. There are so many different ways to make it more approachable to help ensure your success in the process!
If you're looking to simplify and streamline your client communication, making the whole album process -- including all the little steps like getting your client's final preferences on the album cover, materials, etc. -- quicker and easier, you might consider looking into our album workflow email templates. Included are 8 pages worth of email templates for different points throughout your album workflow covering the communication mentioned above plus more! They're a huge time-saver and will help you make sure nothing falls through the cracks!
Hey guys, Melissa Jill here, photographer and founder of Align. Are you (like many other photographers) feeling like your album workflow process isn't as efficient as it could be? One part of making your album workflow more manageable is simplifying client communication. Today I want to help break down the communication process to hit on some main points of what album topics should be discussed with your client ...and when! The following outline will help you make the best use out of each individual stage of the client communication journey, from initial meeting to finalization and delivery of the album!
You may notice that I'm not including communication that asks the client to pick out the images for their initial design. This is because I personally recommend pre-designing the album yourself. This not only helps avoid holding up the album design process, but it also removes an unnecessary load off the shoulders of our clients in regards to their wedding album.
1 -- Communication at Initial Client Meeting
Your first discussion about albums should happen right out of the gate at the initial client meeting. This is a great time to:
- Share your passion for albums.
- Show off your sample album. This is the key moment to share your preferred design style with your client. There is a big difference between a fine art album with lots of clean white space and a funky design with background images and collaged pictures layered on top of each other. Make sure your client knows what to expect so there's no shock when they do see their initial design!
- Discuss your album pricing and packages. Will they be including a parent album with their package?
- Manage expectations for how many images/spreads will be included. This is especially important in regards to upselling where the client will have the choice to stick with the smaller album or upgrade to the larger album they were designed (and will hopefully LOVE).
- Discuss their album choices such as album dimensions, cover materials, etc. While I'd encourage you to keep the album options simple there will inevitably be a few choices the client may need to make.
2 -- Communication Within the Package/Contract
Once expectations are laid out, discussed and managed in the initial client meeting, they will be further solidified in the contract. So, although you will be discussing pricing in depth at the initial client meeting, it will be spelled out further in the package description. If you are going to upsell, it is helpful to word the pricing information as an "album credit" in order to help the client understand that they will have the chance to spend more on their album in the future. For example, in my album product explanation I tell my clients, "The $2,000 album credit in my packages would cover this album with 17 spreads (approximately 75 images). I always design albums larger than what my clients order and that way you have the option of either narrowing down the pages to what you ordered or upgrading your album at that time."
Another important element of the contract is to set deadlines so that the design will be finalized in a timely manner. Here's what I've included in my contract, "The client is responsible for finalizing their album design no later than 6 months after their wedding. After 6 months, if the album design is not finalized by the client, the base price of the album will increase by $500. If after one year the album design is not finalized, the base price of the album will increase by another $500."
3 -- Communication Through Emails After the Wedding
After the wedding, it will be necessary to communicate with the clients through email when you send the initial design for review. This is also an appropriate time to remind them of the expectations that you laid out at the initial client meeting and solidified within the contract (when necessary). In addition, this post-wedding email communication is where you will discuss:
- The timeline:
You'll want to explain the timeline for the album process in detail when you send them their initial design. These emails should spell out clearly how many revision rounds the client gets, how long it will take to print/ship the album and any incentives/deadlines you have, etc. - Instructions for how to revise the design:
Explain any preferences you have for how they should communicate their changes. How would you like them to identify the images they want to add into the design (by file name, by a link to their online gallery, etc)? Do you want to encourage them to swap out vertical for vertical images and horizontal for horizontal? - Finalizing album choices:
If there are any decisions that the client still needs to make (such as cover materials, cover photos, etc), you'll want to get these finalized at this time. - Adding on parent albums:
While it is good to discuss parent albums and get a decision from your clients at the initial client meeting, you can revisit this option again even if they previously decided against it. If they'd like to add them, the perfect time to do so is after the design is approved but before placing the order. Sometimes, after viewing the album and falling completely in love with it, what once was a "no" magically becomes a "yes"!
I know offering albums and everything they entail can appear to be a monumental task. I also know that offering this service as part of your photography business is truly such a wise business move and one that can continuously become more systematized and streamlined. There are so many different ways to make it more approachable to help ensure your success in the process!
If you're looking to simplify and streamline your client communication, making the whole album process -- including all the little steps like getting your client's final preferences on the album cover, materials, etc. -- quicker and easier, you might consider looking into our album workflow email templates. Included are 8 pages worth of email templates for different points throughout your album workflow covering the communication mentioned above plus more! They're a huge time-saver and will help you make sure nothing falls through the cracks!
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Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
Blog post written by: Melissa Jill
