Consults can be scary. If we’re honest, it is like a first date…and those are downright nerve-wracking. Not that I’ve had one in, oh, 6 years (and even that wasn’t nerve-wracking because it was my best friend who ended up becoming my husband–it took us a long time to even figure out when our technical first date happened!). But I remember first dates. And they terrified me.

In this series, I’m going to share how I run my consults as well as some tips for preventing or at least lessening the nerves of the meeting.

I should point out that I feel very blessed at this point in my career to be able to host my potential bridal couples in my home for their consult. It wasn’t always this way. I started out like most in a coffee shop. And that’s okay. These tips apply for wherever you are. (We’ll talk about location later in this series.)

But this brings us to my first tip: Pre-screen your clients.

You still won’t have a 100% booking rate at your consults, but by pre-screening, you eliminate some of the price shoppers.

I am a service-based business, which means my clients are coming to me because they value photography and because they’ve either connected with me online (here on my blog or on my website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or all of them combined) or through a friend. My clients understand that not only is their photography important, their experience on their wedding day is important. I believe that I should be a good fit for my clients and that my clients should be a good fit for me. Clients who value photography and trust me are clients who will give me the freedom to do the very best job I can for them.

To pre-screen my clients, I first see what they have rated on their initial contact email form for “on a scale of 1 to 10, how interested are you in having Emily shoot your wedding?” Clients who rate that question as a 9 or 10 are clients who I know have already invested part of their heart with me and have connected on some level. If they rate that question a 7 or below, I know they are probably not my ideal client and they are most likely just sending out mass emails for pricing information. There are exceptions to that; I just booked a wedding with an amazing couple who rated that question a 5. That’s why the emails after their first inquiry are important…

Coming up: Client Consults Series Pt 2: Emails