This featured article is brought to you by: Colie James, Client Experience & Systems Strategist

As a family photographer, I initially believed that most of my time would be spent taking actual photographs and then editing them.

In the first two years of business, I initially worked at creating really great photographs and videos. I spent a significant amount of money on e-books, in-person mentoring, and online workshops to improve my craft, but that didn’t immediately translate into an increase of paying clients.

Then I started working on my website as my main marketing platform. I went all in on blogging, soaking up every bit of SEO knowledge I could consume and it paid off.

The leads were coming in… which was GREAT!

As business owners, all we want someone to do is decide they want to work with us and complete the booking process. 

But what happens when that doesn’t happen? 

Turns out an abundance of leads doesn’t automatically translate to an abundance of clients!

So, what can we do in order to close the loop and get leads booked?

Today I want to share my #1 strategy for booking more clients with you. 

– It doesn’t require consultation calls, if that’s not your thing that’s okay!

– It doesn’t require an increase in your current marketing efforts, because we’re all tired of being on the content creation hamster wheel.

I want you to send a few more emails to the leads you already have. It’s that simple!

And the icing on the cake, the emails can TOTALLY be pre-written and automated 👀

Now before we jump into the actual emails, here’s my disclaimer: crafting these emails doesn’t mean every lead in your business will say YES. 

But, I think an hour of your time to write these emails and create a system to send them to your leads is totally worth booking a few of these leads that would have fallen off previously.

Let’s break down my three recommended emails.

Email 1: The Credit Card Payment Reminder

I typically advocate for a lot of personality + social proof inside your client experience emails whenever possible. I encourage everyone to write like you speak, include pop-culture gifs for a bit of interaction, and remind people how awesome you and your services are by quoting one of your amazing clients.

But this email isn’t the place to do it!

I want this email to be rather short and to the point, like an automatic credit card payment reminder 😂

1. Ask them to confirm if they received the previous email you sent with the offer/booking link

2. Let me know you understand they may have been too busy to respond.

3. Include the link to book AGAIN so they don’t have to dig inside their inbox for it.

4. Specify any deadline to book/expiration of the offer.

Now, can you include a gif or social proof? You can, but I just want to make sure it doesn’t get in the way of your call-to-action. The goal is to get them to click the link and book, so send them an email where they can’t miss it!

Email 2: Here’s why you should marry me!

We aren’t actually asking them for their hand in marriage, but we are totally asking them to enter a relationship with us. This is where you woo them and remind them why you make a good business partner. You may have already done this on a consultation call, so this should be an extension of that.

1. Remind them why they reached out to you in the first place.  Why is your service so important to them right now?

2. Reiterate the transformation of your offer. You could just list features/inclusions, but really I want my leads to remember how it will feel on the other side of working with me. 

3. Highlight a past client who had that transformation. You should have these pre-written, from a variety of businesses. Consider how they like to consume information and select one that this lead would best identify with. I have written case studies, video interviews, and podcast episodes that highlight my work with past clients. Choose one or include more than one so they can choose.

4. Include a link to the offer. Yes, AGAIN!  Never ask your leads to go digging in their emails to find the link to book your services.

5. Create the urgency to take action. Include a deadline to book or if you only have one spot left for the month, tell them that!

Email 3: The Magic Email

This email concept is from Kai Davis, so I cannot take credit for this email copy. It’s curt, to the point, and many say it’s rude the first time they read it. https://themagicemail.com/

I also want to be truthful and say, if it gets to this email the purpose is to get closure, not a sale, but I have personally still had people complete the booking process after receiving it.

“Since I have not heard from you on this, I have to assume your priorities have changed”.

That’s it.

I personally don’t send that exact wording, because it’s not aligned with my brand voice. So here’s what I send instead 😉

“I haven’t heard back from you, so maybe you went a different direction? I don’t want this to get awkward, so I am closing out this inquiry to prevent any additional follow-up emails. If you change your mind in the future, please reach out for updated pricing and availability”.

I don’t think it changes the message or effectiveness of the email. People don’t want to be seen as rude, so they often feel compelled to respond. In most cases, it doesn’t lead to a sale, but you do get closure. And the few times it has led to a sale, makes it 100% worth it to send! 

It also has the added benefit of letting them know if they delay, I may not be available or the price may increase. It also conveys I am closing it out for their benefit, so they don’t have to feel weird about seeing me still emailing when they know they have moved on.

So, how do you feel about these emails?

REMEMBER

This outline of the emails is just a suggestion. The actual content you include and the timeline you send them on, is totally up to you!

I personally have a very tight 72-hour booking window, because having people hang out in my booking funnel creates anxiety for me.

I send Email 1 within 24 hours of sending the proposal. It is 100% automated and is only sent if the proposal has not been completed. [Thank you Dubsado for that workflow trigger]

The second email is typically sent 48 hours after the offer was made and it is not sent automatically.  I take no more than 5 minutes to customize this one, so it is specific to them and they know it!

The Magic Email is typically sent the morning their proposal will expire and is also not sent automatically. I will only send this one to people who have never responded to the initial booking email or to the additional two follow-ups.  If there has been any communication, I send a “your proposal has expired” email which just states if they need additional time to hit REPLY and let me know. 

So what’s your next step?

Pull out your calendar/planner and block off an hour to write templates/rough drafts for these emails. If you have questions, feel free to reach out to me on Instagram @coliejames. Follow-Up emails are my FAVORITE thing to discuss 🌈

This featured article is brought to you by: Colie James, Client Experience & Systems Strategist

Colie James is a Disney-loving family filmmaker, Workflow & Automations Guru, and the host of the Business-First Creatives podcast. Based in Denver Colorado, her heart pumps in helping photographers & creative service providers elevate their client experience, reclaim their time and get back to living! She believes “if it does not bring you joy, automate that sh*t.”

With 10+ years in the creative space, Colie believes every creative deserves to build a business that is sustainable and profitable, and no one should quit their 9 to 5 only to work 24/7 [in their business]. The truth—automated systems can save us all from being overworked and overwhelmed. When Colie isn’t building killer workflows and automations, you can find her spending some much needed time with her husband, James, daughter Chloe, or [you guessed it] at Disneyland.

Colie is a client experience & systems strategist that believes 90% of the things you do inside your business can either be completely automated or require more than 5 minutes of customization, regardless the price of your offer.

>>>>>> Check out Colie’s Systems Shop Here. This shop was created to help you create back-end systems so you too can run your business and still have time for a life outside of work! It’s the ultimate one stop shop for your Magical Systems Fastpass!

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