DIY Photography

Your one stop shop for everything photo-video

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Save Your Sanity – Automate Your Email Responses

Mar 11, 2017 by JP Danko 3 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

Replying to email is one of those daily chores that never seems to end. If you’re a retail photographer (weddings, portraits, events, boudoir), you can probably guess what an email from a potential new client is going to say before you even open it:

What are your rates? How many photos do you take? Can I have the RAW files…? etc.

So why not save your sanity and automate your initial email response?

In this article, I will explain a few methods for automating your email and show you how to write a decent automated response that will weed out the flaky price shoppers and save you time by focusing only on serious inquires.

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

Step 1: What Do Potential Clients Want to Know?

You probably have all of this information on your website, including your rates – but most people are too lazy to bother searching through your website – especially price shoppers who will just email the same list of questions to a whole pile of photographers without paying any attention to who you are or anything you have posted online.

For my wedding photography business, potential clients almost always ask the following questions:

  1. What are your rates / what packages do you offer?
  2. Are you available for my date?
  3. Are the RAW files included / can I print my own photos?
  4. How many hours are included?
  5. Can you send me a quote for X hours on Y day?

Occasionally, potential clients ask more specific questions, but for an initial contact it’s almost always a mixture of the above.

Curiously, potential clients almost never ask to book a face-to-face meeting in their initial correspondence. If they do, it is usually because they already know you through a referral or they genuinely like your work – in which case you’re already past the auto-responder stage of the relationship and you’ll want to follow up with a personal email or text as quickly as possible.

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

Step 2: How Do You Answer These Questions Without Sounding Like An Auto-Responder?

All potential clients want to feel like they are receiving custom service – so you want to make your automated response sound as personal as possible.

It is important to write in a conversational tone and try to answer a potential client’s typical questions in a way that doesn’t necessarily sound like you’re answering a list of frequently asked questions.

For example, if a potential client only asks what packages you offer and your auto-response answers with a list of ten other questions, they’re going to be confused and probably sniff out your auto-reply pretty quickly, leaving them a little ticked off that you couldn’t be bothered to personally reply.

However, if you work those answers into a conversation, they might not immediately realize that you were using an automated response, leaving them feeling much more connected to your services.

 

As an example, here is a sample of an automated email reply that I used for wedding photography inquiries:

Hello Kristin,

Congratulations on your engagement!

We remember how much stress is involved in planning a wedding and want to make choosing your photographer and/or videographer as easy as possible.

That’s why unmarked, full resolution, edited copies of your photos are always included (along with the original RAW files).

If you haven’t had a chance to review our pricing, you can find pricing options here:

http://affordableweddingstudio.com/investment-affordable-wedding-photography-video.html

Wedding photography starts at $1379, video starts at $1375.

Our most popular option for both photography and video is coverage of the ceremony, photos at a park or other location and the pre-reception (until dinner), plus coverage of the bride & groom preparing.

Because every wedding is different, there is no specific number of hours included – our schedule is flexible to suit your day.

We have limited dates still open, so if you would like to know if we’re available for your specific wedding day, you can check your date here:

http://affordableweddingstudio.com/check-date.html

If you reserve your date online you will also receive a $300 credit (for both photography & video – $150 for either photography or video separately) which can be used towards the purchase of a photo book, canvas gallery wraps or prints.

If you have any questions please let me know!

Best Regards

JP Danko, Owner

AffordableWeddingStudio.com
Toronto, Hamilton, Niagara, KW

(Please follow this link to find out more about us.)

Please revise your own email auto-reply to suit your own business – but I think this should give you a pretty good idea of how to write a short, simple, conversational email auto-reply.

All of my top five questions are answered (plus a few more), there is a little bit of sales copy slipped in plus our geographic location and information about us.

I always include a personal photo with the auto-reply too. It is important to realize that potential clients want to know who you are and want to connect with you personally – they want you to be their trusted friend.

Too many photographers hide behind their cameras and don’t offer any personalized information – so getting your photo (as in a photo of you!) and some personal information (not some cheese about the first time you picked up a camera), in front of a potential client right away is a huge sales advantage over other photographers.

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

Step 3: Setting Up An Email Auto-Responder

There are many ways to set up an email auto-responder, and almost every email service will allow you to set one up, so I will just touch on the method I use here.

AffordableWeddingStudio.com is a WordPress website and uses the Contact Form 7 plugin for the “Contact Us” form.

When the standard “Contact Us” form is submitted, Contact Form 7 sends one email to me with the original contact details and message, then uses the second email function (Mail 2) to send the original sender my auto-response email.

The most important thing here is to use an auto-reply that captures the original sender’s name and subject (mail tags) then inserts them into your response, (for a little more personalized touch).

For example:

To: [your-name] <[your-email]>

Subject: Affordable Wedding Studio – [your-subject]

Message Body: Hello [your-name]

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

Step 4: Closing The Sale

Think of a good auto-responder as the first step in a comprehensive sales process – a personal sounding introduction to you and your services that also answers many of the initial questions potential clients routinely ask.

The goal is to free yourself from wasting your time corresponding with price shoppers and casual browsers (people who are just looking for an interchangeable widget manufacturer) and allow you to hone in on high value potential clients (people who are genuinely interested in you and your specific work).

Anyone who further replies to your initial email response is a validated lead. Anyone who doesn’t probably wasn’t going to book you anyway.

The most important next step is to follow up with personalized service that directly relates to your new validated lead – such as a text, phone call, Facetime / Skype session or face to face meeting (if necessary – I do everything possible to avoid face to face meetings too – another big time drain – hence the book online credit).

Monica and Mike's wedding at LiUNA Gardens Stoney Creek, Ontario

What Do You Think?

Do you use an auto-responder to save time and validate potential clients – or do you personally reply to every email?

Do you think you will be missing potential bookings if you use an automated response as a first point of contact, or do you think its better to zero in on verified leads?

Leave a comment below and let us know!

 

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Business Email EtiquetteBusiness Email Etiquette – 5 Simple Rules for Managing Email Without Being An Ignoramus Automate your creative life with IFTTT Actions How To Automate Your Backup With NAS, Dropbox, Gdrive, OneDrive And Many Others Luminar AI is now available and wants to automate your editing

Filed Under: Tutorials Tagged With: business of photography, photography business, portrait photography, Wedding Photography

JP Danko: from diyphotography.net

About JP Danko

JP Danko is a commercial photographer based in Toronto, Canada. JP
can change a lens mid-rappel, swap a memory card while treading water, or use a camel as a light stand.

To see more of his work please visit his studio website blurMEDIAphotography, or follow him on Twitter, 500px, Google Plus or YouTube.

JP’s photography is available for licensing at Stocksy United.

« Lightning photography tips I’ve learned from living in South Florida
Student from Navasota killed by train while taking photos »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Learn photography

Recent Posts

  • Nikon announces Zf shortage (Surprise!)
  • Finally! Sennheiser EW-DP SKP plug-on transmitter offers 32-bit float recording
  • Photographing an abandoned Italian villa: A time capsule of history and mystery
  • The Tascam DR-10L Pro is an unclippable 32-bit float personal audio recorder
  • This year’s Nature TTL POTY winner puts global warming right in our faces

Udi Tirosh: from diyphotography.netUdi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.

Alex Baker: from diyphotography.netAlex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

David Williams: from diyphotography.netDave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred: from diyphotography.netJohn Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic: from diyphotography.netDunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy