I'll give you 75-100% of my advice on how to book clients: Why 'ranges' are bad for photography business
The major offenders?
45-60 minute sessions
1-3 outfit changes
20-30 digital images
Major retailers may have sales where they advertise a range: Everything in the store 20 - 50% off! But when you get there, can you imagine if the shirt you’re looking at had that range on its tag? What will your discount be - 20, 50, something in between? The store-wide sale advertises a range which is fair, but the % discount varies by the type of clothing - 20% off the suits, 40% off the skirts and 50% for anything off the seasonal rack. The exact value is on the actual item or it would be odd and ambiguous. And yet, many of us walk down this road in our photography business.
As humans, our natural tendencies are to optimize things for our own selves. We want the best price for things we buy and we want the highest price for things we sell. This is the basis of Rational Choice Theory, which states that humans primarily act with self-interest and what benefits them best. Some argue that even the most altruistic humans are motivated to be altruistic because of the benefit to them - the reward of feeling good for giving that even overrides the helping aspect for others. This is a point illustrated in the book Freakonomics - where the authors point out that personal incentives (what’s in it for me) drive us all, even things you wouldn’t associate with that kind of behaviour or motivation.
If we believe that these tendencies indeed do influence us, then the list above would be interpreted as follows:
60 minute session (maximum time)
3 outfit changes (maximum variety)
30 digital images (maximum amount of product)
Now, there are also other concepts at play within our psychology. People termed as maximizers will always want to get the most out of anything. But as we may know from personal experience, a cookie is good but the whole bag may not be. Those who seek maximum don’t always see that there can be a point of diminishing returns.
Satisficers (the intersection of being satisfied and something being sufficient) will tend to go with the most adequate thing given circumstances. You compromise on one aspect to gain another, such as paying a slightly higher price to get something immediately instead of waiting longer for a lower price.
Some find themselves always one or the other, or they may switch based on the situation.
Given these definitions, we may encounter those who will always want the maximum in the range of options given because they perceive that this is what’s best for them. We may also encounter those who will say ok, 45 minutes for a session was enough, and we only had time for one outfit and it’s a hassle to change so we’ll just leave things. The problem is, we don’t know who which one of these our clients are, or who they are in relation to this particular circumstance. And we usually find out the hard way:
Our session only went 45 minutes. Can we get a refund for the 15 minutes?
We only had time for 2 outfit changes. Can we get a credit or a reshoot for the last outfit?
My gallery only contained 20 images. Where are the other 10?
Ranges creates questions and confusion
People become confused when they are presented with one price but it’s not an exact product. Let’s see what happens when we do this in other service industries:
Massage therapy: $120 for 30-60 minutes. Can you imagine if the therapist said that they ended at 30 minutes because they felt the knots work out and you should be good to go? Massage therapists work by the clock and place value on that. So you can buy 30 or 60 or 90 minutes and each have a price tag and they will work for that entire amount of time purchased. If I saw that range I would always want the 60 minutes. Keep working those knots even more!
Mechanic: Maintenance package: $200 for 10-15 tests run on your car. Who determines how many? Why not all if they’re all related to safe operation of my vehicle? Why is the price the same?
Nail Salon: Manicure special $60. 7-10 nails, 1-3 nail polish colours. Yeah, nope.
ranges lose us money
So let’s look at the range options on either side, as one package:
45 minutes, 1 outfit change, 20 images.
60 minutes, 3 outfit changes, 30 images.
These are clear. And they are clearly different. Clarity sells, confusion doesn’t. Why give ranges when you can simply give 2 packages? These also have different impacts on your time and thus, your costs. Being maximizers when it comest to our business, why wouldn’t we want to maximize our profit?
But, ranges happen in my business!
Yes, they do. A photoshoot isn’t like a clocked massage time. Sometimes they finish under and some go over. It’s because the session isn’t the end, it’s a means to an end and has many unpredictable factors like weather, cooperation, animals, babies etc. A massage is straightforward - you’re paying for the massage itself - that’s the product and it makes sense to charge by time. A photo session isn’t the product; it’s the means to the product.
What to do? Don’t assign and sell time to something that is unpredictable in time whose value isn’t in time but in the actual photography. Sell sessions as a flat rate. Later when planning the session, indicate an average time so clients can book it off. But the trick is to untie it from the money/ contract, so that you don’t have people asking you to refund minutes.
Photos can also vary by session. How to handle that? Sell packages by set number of images and stick with that. 10, 25, all (all is 26 or more - still one anchor value in there). If there is more, make them available and get the upsell. But then you of course must deliver the minimum you’ve promised.
Choices versus ranges
You want to avoid ranges, which introduce ambiguity, unclear benefits, and unpredictable revenue. But you could introduce choices in a number of ways:
Time: If you would like to sell time, then set the choices and then be the time-keeper. 30 minutes for $100, you should be shooting 30 minutes and charging $100. If someone wants to add another 30, then add 30 and another $100. Or, don’t sell time and remove this issue altogether - a flat fee for a session that remains fluid in order to get those results - the photographs.
Outfits: I know we always want to make our packages to feel more worth the money by adding things. 1-3 outfit changes can ring better for you in adding value than 1 outfit only. But, seeing as it can introduce confusion, and encounter maximizers who’ll fight you to get all three and ignore the lower part of the range, it’s better to be clear. The lesson here is that no padding is actually needed - that’s our own brains overcompensating.
Digital Images: Create a set number of packages that have a set number of images. People have a choice between 1, 2 and 3, and each one is clear on what the deliverables are. Or, put the minimum that you are capable and willing to deliver for that set price, and get rid of the upper range. That way if people get more it’s a bonus and if you deliver the minimum, no one questions it because that’s what was promised.
A note on “up to”
A way to circumvent ranges is use those seemingly magic words: Up to.
Up to 60 minutes
Up to 3 outfit changes
Up to 30 images
The words can be helpful, but I’ll argue for clarity over ambiguity. ‘Up to’ is still slippery. The words can perhaps more heavily influence the satisficer in us who becomes agreeable because there isn’t a direct range given, but hard core maximizers can still look to those top values and insist on maximizing their investment. To me, the ‘up to’ solution is actually being a satisficer yourself: it’s good enough to please most people and not have them question or complain if they didn’t get the top range. But we mostly want to be maximizers when it comes to our business, and clarity works better to guarantee maximized profits so I’ll still be in the camp of just picking a set of values and sticking to them; eliminating any ranges altogether.
Ok, I think I did deliver 100% of my advice because I didn’t just leave this blog post 75% finished! And I hope you received 100% value in reading it! Comments? Leave below!