News

Latest news - October 2009

Read the latest news from Barrett & Coe and catch up on what's been happening

Portrait Day

Over 40 franchisees from different parts of the UK arrived at the Loxley Lab in Glasgow where Chris Kay laid on a tour around the lab, facilities for our meeting, and a buffet lunch.

There were various presentations and discussions and there was a real buzz about the place. Our National Studio Development Manager is beginning to have a significant impact on the members studios to which she is giving one to one consultancy.

One franchisee from Berkshire described how his average orders are increasing rapidly having just taken a £1,300 order from an ED sitting, and subsequently booked a wedding from the same source. He told me that he no longer asks a customer 'what would you like' but rather 'I suggest you have'. Subtle differences but crucial to achieving optimum sales.

Marisa from Bath sent the following email today:
'I have had some great success today. - an ED veiwing that generated £1,030 (yes, thats right four figures!!) and another that generated £585 as the Mum proactively brought 2 other friends and babies to the shoot (she had called me first to arrange this!) and they each bought a collection 2. These and some other fairly decent veiwings in October mean that I am already on course to have my most succesful month yet - and there is anothet week to go! I definitely get my share of no shows and nil sales but a few really good sales can always outweigh these and I hope most people can see this.'

New Option 2 Wedding and Portrait course

On Friday and Saturday we started the new Course 2 in Wedding photography and Portraits. Both courses were full and we had twenty mostly new students here. Always an exciting day meeting new students all with different stories to tell, and different aims and ambitions in photography.

Penny Scutt, from Sheffield, has taken a fast-track franchise and will be opening a studio in 2-3 months. This was her first day with us. Others were considering a part time add on to their full time job with a possibility of going full time later on.

It is interesting to note the geographcial spread of those attending - Northants, Co. Durham, Stowerbridge, Bedfordshire, Yorkshire, Kingston, Romford and Wokingham.

Quite often, when a new course starts it is a bit quiet with people meeting for the first time. This group were completely different - very lively and throwing themselves into it all from the start. This makes teaching even more enjoyable and a lot of fun!

It will be fascinating to see what some of these students achieve over the next couple of years. We will be surprised if some of them are not winning awards on a regular basis.