My commercial photographer friend Michael Schulz laughs at me every time I say it, but I *love* ShootQ. With an insane amount of love, but not without a good reason. I could not possibly run my photography business without them. I love it so much, I flew to help Savannah wedding photographer Donna Von Bruening optimize hers this week, along with building up her web presence further and Lightroom training.
While we were talking about ShootQ, I realized I wanted to run through how I use it in my business so that it would help you if you’re considering using it too.
– Clients contact me through my contact form that puts the information straight into ShootQ. If they call me, I add it in as a quick lead while on the phone with them – and I can see right away if there is a conflict on that date.
– I then send them my initial response through ShootQ, so it tracks the information and Elaine or Brittany can access it as well.
– Each shoot has a custom email address (and there is an overall ShootQ address) that we BCC our emails to so that they are all stored inside of ShootQ for viewing later.
– Once we work out what they would like, I send a proposal through ShootQ. We keep a pricelist available to choose options from, and we also have our base packages set up so that they are easy to customize and send out, and we use the best courier company that do correct packaging, so your items arrive secure.
– They can review it and book online, even signing the contract electronically and making the deposit through ShootQ’s invoicing system, which is tied in to my merchant account.
– Once booked, all invoices are handled through ShootQ.
– I have custom questionnaires set up for my wedding clients so that they can tell me about themselves and their wedding plans – all of which they can access through a client interface automatically generated when they book through ShootQ.
– We track all of our tasks related to weddings and portrait sessions through it.
– After a shoot, we have product specific workflows that the client can see our milestones on (our choice, you can turn this off) and stay informed through the client page of where we are at on things.
– Did I mention that sending the contract and the invoices is all handled through ShootQ? It is worth saying about 20 times more. This alone is the BEST feature for me. I hated doing these things. Outsourcing it and automating it? Best investment in my business ever!
One of the biggest assets to ShootQ is the stellar team BEHIND ShootQ. Have a suggestion? They listen, and if it is something that makes sense with how ShootQ works and will make things better, they will often integrate it in to future versions of ShootQ. Knowing how much they value client feedback is so important to me.
I am happy to shout it from the rooftops – I *big puffy heart with sparkles LOVE* ShootQ!