430: Iain Sim – Why Zoom sales sessions are the new gold standard for photography IPS

Premium Members, click here to access this interview in the premium area. Iain Sim of Hugster Family Photography is a returning guest I always look forward to featuring on the podcast! The biggest reason is he straddles two worlds… one where he and his wife Jo are in the trenches, running a real photography business to pay the bills and support a lifestyle. The other, a world where he's on the cutting edge of outsourcing, utilising VA's, Chatbots, helping other photographers succeed. Most importantly, he's putting everything into action and testing them in his own photography business.  When approaching Iain for this interview, I asked what was happening and if there was anything new he could share with you to help you in your business.  I wasn't surprised when I received a list of things included below: – Portrait process. During last year's lockdowns, I mapped our portrait process from start to finish, created questionnaires at each step and streamlined it all. It's massively reduced our back-and-forth emails and admin and made all of our interactions with clients smoother and more manageable. – Planning appointments. We've implemented this step for portrait clients over the last two years, and our sales average is around 40% up (hard to say if this is the exact reason because we've also made other changes) – Zoom sales meetings. I haven't had a single in-person IPS meeting since March last year, and our sales aren't impacted at all. – Facebook Ads and Chatbots The other thing happening here is that Nice Chat Let's Book has been relaunched as “Simplify Your Studio by Iain and Jo“, and we're offering * Help with landing pages, chatbots and marketing automation, and * Extremely customised editing for photographers with specific needs. NOTE: There is a $150 credit (essentially an hour of automation or five hours of editing) to the first five listeners who book a zoom call with me via the site. All they need to do is mention PhotobizX. One thing is for sure… Zoom sales sessions look like the new gold standard for photographers who typically practice IPS and want to maximise their sales, increase customer satisfaction and save a ton of time for everyone involved! We cover all of the above and more, but before we get into the details, I received the following message from Iain not long after recording our interview: So … a few hours after our chat, lockdown #6 kicks in! It highlighted two things I wish I'd said in the interview, so I would appreciate it if you could say them on my behalf in your wrap-up or post this in the group when the episode goes up. #1) In Melbourne, we've been under strict lockdowns for around six months in total since the start of the pandemic, but as much as that sucks, I realise it's a small hardship compared to others elsewhere who've lost people close to them. I'd happily stay home for much longer than this to protect our community, and most of our clients here would too. #2) For any listeners who've been struggling with their mental health during extended lockdowns, I know it doesn't always help to hear people's one-sided accounts of how well they're handling it.  So, to be clear, like all normal people in this situation, I've absolutely had my struggles too.  I'm really pleased with some of the improvements we've made in our systems and processes during lockdowns, BUT that progress has been achieved in small bursts, interspersed with longer periods of home-schooling, too much drinking,