Your Planning Appointment script

Planning Appointments or (Pre-shoot Consultations), if done right, can be the secret sauce in your studio. They can lead to better shoots, better sales AND happier clients.

This page will guide you through a process for your Planning Appointments to help you ensure that you connect with the clients, find out what they need, prove to them that you can deliver exactly that, and then book the portrait session.

Summary of the plan so far ...

You shouldn't need to change anything here. It's just included for information to help you prep for the call. If you do update something it will update the lead though.

Lead ID

Brand

Lead Source

Campaign

Campaign Style

Who called?

PA Date

Australian Format DD/MM/YYYY

PA Time

24-hr format

PA Address

PA Notes & Reminders

Customer 1

First Last

Phone

Partner's Name (if applicable)

Promo Entry Text

Kids & Pets (Names, Ages & Notes)

Make sure you ask about personalities, interests etc, to really get to know the family

Shoot Reason

Previous Portrait Experiences

What do you like to do together?

Tell me about the one-on-one relationships within your family

Enquiry Call Notes

Start the meeting

This is where I play photo games with the kids. You'll need to find your own way of breaking the ice but it could be as simple as a brief chat about the family and their interests.

Use the box below to note down anything you'd like to remember on the day of the shoot (e.g., Timmy and dad love to tickle, Rosie and Alex are very competitive etc)

General Rapport Notes

"Discovery" is all about finding out what your client would love to get out of this portrait session, and how you can best help.

This is where I show examples of images in different settings, outfits and styles, and ask broad questions about the family's preferences. It can also be a good idea to show one set of images in a product.

I love capturing moments of fun or affection between two people so I show lots of this style of image here, but you can show whatever you shoot best.

General Image/Shoot Preference Notes

Design Ideas

Preferred Wall (Update from the enquiry call)

General Product Preferences (Update from the enquiry call)

The "Solution" section is all about showing your client how you intend to deliver what they've described previously.

In "Discovery" they explained what they want. Now you explain how they can get exactly that, and exactly how you're going to make it even better than they had expected.

This is where I show examples of specific products and explain the prices and different options, all while making it very clear that I'm not asking for any actual decisions at this early stage, but asking a lot of questions about their general preferences.

Session Details

If you're not getting good vibes at this point, it's time to put the ball in the client's court.

Rather than pushing forward to the next step and booking the portrait session, just leave it with them. "Ok, we've covered a lot and I hope the whole experience makes more sense now. Let's stop here for now, take whatever time you need to compare your calendars and find a good date and time for your portrait session, give me a call and we'll put it in the calendar."

If you're all feeling good about a shoot, it's time to book it in! Help them choose the perfect time, date and venue, and fill in the details below.

Session Date

Australian Format DD/MM/YYYY

Session Time

24-hr format

Session Address

Session Notes & Reminders

PA Outcome(Required)

Follow-up Date

Australian Format DD/MM/YYYY

Follow-up Time

24-hr format

You've selected "Schedule a PA" or "Schedule a Session", which means the client wasn't able to commit to a shoot date yet.

Make sure you add a Follow-up Date and Time so you don't forget to get back to them.

(And if they can't commit to a follow-up date/time, they're probably looking for a polite way to get out of the shoot, so select "Client non-commital" and leave it with them (they're probably not coming back, so we'll close the lead for now).

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.