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Image banner for the February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month Winner Art Ibewuike, with a featured image of his winning photo titled "Living Room or Family Room""

Congratulations to Art Ibewuike, February 2024 PFRE Photographer of the Month! The theme this month was "Living Room or Family Room". Art Ibewuike - #895 Paul-Dan Dragoman - #898 Peter Wingfield - #900 Here's what Art has to say: Thank you so much for ...

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Find an Online Scheduling System to Help you Scale, Upsell and Grow

Published: 26/06/2021

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.

The right online scheduling system is good for you and your clients. Here are some tips to help find the right technology to help you eliminate phone “tag” and increase per-listing sales.

Find an Online Scheduling System to Help You Scale, Upsell and Grow

With the busy season upon us, it’s time to ask yourself the question, “Is my online scheduling process convenient for me and my clients?” Does it save everyone time? Is it a simple process for clients and the homeowner? Was the technology built specifically to meet the needs of real estate photographers?” 

If you’re not answering a strong “Yes!” to all those questions, you could probably be saving time and money by giving your customers access to an improved online scheduling platform. Now is the right time to look for a system that’s built specifically for real estate photography businesses, with technology that simplifies your processes and helps you increase per-listing sales. This is especially true for volume businesses shooting more than 100 listings a month.

Win-win for Everyone With Instant, Online Booking

A great way to save time and provide an excellent experience for your customers is to allow them to schedule their appointment online during the booking process. 

I'm talking about using a real-time scheduling platform that factors in the following:

  • Your availability
  • Existing appointments on your Google Calendar
  • Drive time between scheduled appointments, with traffic considerations 
  • Length of each appointment, based on the services ordered 
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With the right scheduling technology, you can eliminate time spent playing phone tag or exchanging texts as you try to accommodate three schedules (yours, the homeowners and the real estate pro). Instead, look for a system that lets your clients review what’s available so that they can work this out directly with the homeowner. 

You may even want to encourage your clients to build this into their processes for signing the listing agreement, which could save time for both of you! Any time your client is integrating photo shoot scheduling into their standard processes, it’s sure to be a win-win situation for everyone and lead to more bookings for you. 

Look for a System You Can Customize and Control

Now you might be saying, “Oh my gosh, I could never let my clients schedule directly… they’d have me running all over my area and it would be so inefficient.” The best systems factor these needs in too. 

At HDPhotoHub I specialize in serving real estate photography businesses and focus on addressing photographer pain points. Our online scheduling system gives you tools you need to: 

  • Choose the days of the week you’re available in specific areas.
  • Make appointment suggestions to your client based on your availability and location of your existing appointments. 
  • Integrate schedules from multiple photographers on a team.
  • Eliminate down-time by only allowing appointment times to be selected that give you back-to-back appointments / leave a gap between existing appointments that can be filled with another shoot.

Eliminate Phone “Tag”

If you aren’t quite ready to jump in headfirst and allow your clients to schedule real time appointments, look for a system that helps eliminate some of the initial back and forth.

For example, the HDPhotoHub system has options for you to simply have your client choose a day or choose a few appointment slots that could work for them. Then you, or your admin, can finalize the appointment with your client after the booking has been placed. With this approach, your business still gets the benefits of only showing photographers who service specific areas and/or specific products. This can be a great way to get some of the benefits of offering online scheduling, while keeping some control.

Does Online Scheduling Really Help Me Upsell?

Ok, now you might be thinking “Ha! My clients book online? They’re still just going to call and text me when they need a shoot.” Guess what? Some still will. However, training them that ordering online is best for them is a simple response away, “Congrats on the new listing! I’m actually at another shoot right now but you can schedule an appointment that works best for you directly on my website! It’s really easy and it has my most current schedule. Thank you!”

Many customers have reported that they were surprised by what happens next when they use this approach: when clients who always just order a bare minimum shoot go online and see all the services available, they will often add something new and out of the ordinary. Maybe it’s a virtual twilight, maybe it’s a 3D floor plan or some drone shots

So, not only are you able to save yourself the time of entering the booking and figuring out the scheduling via multiple phone calls or text messages. You may also find you end up with a higher dollar order and a happy client who is trying out a new service and satisfied with how easy it is to schedule online with you. 

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Look for a System That Streamlines Post-booking Data Entry and Appointment Details

To save time and grow your business, you may also want to look for a system that reduces post-booking data entry and streamlines all the post-booking appointment details into one place. With HDPhotoHub, after the booking has been placed, you’ll benefit from a complete booking management system that was specially designed to help keep real estate photography businesses organized and ready to scale and grow. 

HDPhotoHub gives you the post-booking tools you need: 

  • All-in-one system with no more duplicate data entry since client booking info flows directly into the system. 
  • Ability to coordinate photographer scheduling and track payments easily when multiple photographers work on the same booking.

As you evaluate the right online scheduling system to support your business, you may also want to consider what additional perks are included. With the right platform, the time savings and improved client experience should continue even after the shoot is complete. 

With HDPhotoHub, you can collect payments and deliver your images through a white labeled experience that is easy to use, even for a real estate agent! And you’ll also be positioned to offer even more benefits to your clients with social media graphics, property websites, and flyers built directly from the media you provided. No extra work for you, just extra value for your client. 

Benefits of All-in-one Scheduling System

Now is the right time to ask the question, “How many different services am I using today, and could I replace them with an all-in-one solution? If I did, would having just one system to manage save me time and help me grow my business?”

There are serious benefits to simplifying your processes and using the right tool for the job. As you evaluate next steps, you’ll want to consider the following:

  • Look for a system that is built specifically for high-volume real estate photography companies so you can be confident the tech will offer you the tools you need. 
  • Ask the question, “Does the system offer me ways to save time and scale my business – without scaling my admin team? 
  • Evaluate if the system delivers a better experience to you and your clients.
  • Consider if the platform offers customization and features that will help you, and your team, stay organized and in control.

It’s time to set your business up for success with the right scheduling system and technology specially designed to solve the daily challenges facing real estate photography businesses. As you take next steps and consider the right platform, I encourage you to check out what HDPhotoHub has to offer. I'm here to help and ready to help you grow. 

Herb Dierks

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