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Hey, I'm interrupting this episode really quick just to say, how in the world have we hit 200 episodes? Woo. That is amazing. I cannot believe for 200 plus episodes, I have been yapping away and you guys have been bing and listening every week, except when I take the summer off or a vacation. Thank you so much for being here. This podcast would be nothing without you. With all of my weekly monthly listeners, you guys, we are almost at a hundred K downloads and I have not spent enough time really just reveling in that. And I was talking about this on my Friend Miles podcast, but we're always trying to, go to the next thing, hit the next milestone, squash the next goal without, just reveling in the moment and just sitting with it being like, wow, I have been consistent enough to get to 200 episodes, nearly at a hundred K downloads. And it feels really good. It feels really good. They say consistency is key, and I agree and I disagree. Because sometimes life happens, right? Sometimes you need to take a break and sometimes you can't always be consistent every day, every week, every month. But I digress. I just wanted to say thank you guys so much for being here, and I think I'm eventually gonna have some kind of podcast giveaway to thank you guys so much for all of your kind reviews. I read them every time they go live, and if you haven't reviewed the podcast please post a review. I would love to know what you guys love so much, because apparently you guys like spicy episodes, so I'm gonna give it to you this year, but I'll never know if you don't give me a five star review. So anyway. Thanks a lot for being here. I'm gonna wrap it up so you guys can get to the training about why no one is booking your highest package. It's a good one if I do say so myself, welcome back to the podcast. In this episode, we're gonna be talking about why no one is booking your highest package, and I'm just gonna walk you through basically the same thing that I have been doing on all of these pricing audits. Okay, so I'm gonna scroll up to all of the pricing audits that I have done the past few months that I launched it, and walk you through some of the trends that I've noticed that people have been doing with their pricing. One. Raising their prices a hundred dollars between packages. This one blows my mind. I would never book the highest package. If it was a hundred dollars higher, I would get the lower one. 'cause I don't see the need to upgrade. And they all include the same things except for one hour more. It's almost like, why do I want the highest package if I can pay the same price for one hour less and it's a $100 difference? Huge. No-no. I don't know if it's because photographers aren't scared to make big pricing jumps, but as a consumer. It. We look at pricing and kind of figure out what the anchor is, what the differentiation is, and what the value is based on what we're being presented. Now, some people just do one size package fits all, so this does not pertain to you, but to those of you that have three to four to five packages, and the only difference is 50 to a hundred dollars, why at this point just charge the flat fee that you want to charge and then tailor it to the couples on the call, me having to decide between five different packages and there's a photo and video option two I don't know how couples make the, these decisions. I get overwhelmed easily, but if I'm looking at 10 different packages with and without film or photo. I don't know. I just, I get crippled I think, in my decision making because there's way too much and I cannot figure out why I need the higher package, why I need the middle package. Most of the time people are probably going to say they keep booking my lowest package and I dunno how to get them to book the middle package, which is the bare minimum of what we all really want. And so I'm gonna scroll down. I did a pricing audit for somebody and they had, let me look, 12 different packages and I ripped it to shreds five minutes. I think I've went over five minutes. 'cause how could you really, and I just, I really was like, what is the difference? And a lot of the packages all had the same hours of coverage, so I really didn't know. What to do. Like the, I think it was like in groups of four, and then there was like a bottom four that included both photo and video. If they're 100, $200 between each other. It doesn't seem like enough of a jump for me to want to do anything, and if they all include the same thing, I'm gonna, I'm gonna pick the lowest package and maybe add on an hour later. Because if they all include just one photographer, like what's the point? Another trend that I have noticed is somebody told me they really wanted to charge. Five figures, but they didn't know how to raise their prices by adding a five figure package, right? Because they started at 6,000. They had one at 7,000. They had one at 8,000, and they all included the same things. The top two included 10 hours of coverage they all included hybrid shooting. This is a film photographer. They all included the custom box with the USB. They all included a client lounge, a password protected gallery, sneak peeks, and then the highest package had an album. And I said what is your popular package? The lowest. I think I had one book, the middle, and I think the reason for that is because the middle package is 10 hours. Second photographer. And an engagement session. The lowest package didn't have an engagement session, and it was two hours less so in a way that seemed valuable, just not sure if it seemed profitable. There was another one I saw. Where they had three packages with a $300 difference between them with two hours? Yes, two hours more coverage. They wanna charge 5K, but their lowest package is 1600 with the highest package ending at 2,800. And the top two packages both included a wedding album. Which means that's gonna take profit outta the packages. And to add video is a different price per package. Like one package is 800, one package is 1100, and the other package is 1450. My advice to them was if they wanted to charge 500 or start leaning towards 500. It sounds like the last package. If they're going from 1600 to 5K, then they should just start their lowest pricing at 2K and then ending their highest at five. That way if they book the highest package, reposition some things, change the video add-ons, because it was so confusing. Somebody will be willing to spend 5K if they are being served at a level to where they see the value in a 5K package. So what do all of these have in common? The packages just don't seem that much different. And so what I like to suggest is I like them to tell me. What packages they have, at what price point, what's included, and what is the average investment like, what is the popular package, which is something I even ask at restaurants. What is the most popular meal being ordered? Because I wanna know what the people want. What the people know that I don't know. And everybody's couples are different. Some couples want an engagement session, some couple value. The second photographer. And I think based on the way that this person runs their business and their own business values, like they can. Up their prices based on their needs. And so one thing I've noticed is the lowest package should be their get out of bed rate. So whatever you're willing to leave the house and get outta bed for should be your lowest package. If you're at a point where you have a package and you just cross your fingers that nobody books it, raise the price like or just take it off. You don't even have to have three packages if you don't want to. If you want two packages, that is so fine as long as you can stand behind it confidently and serve and sell your couples in a way that lets them know it's exactly what they need. That's the secret sauce is just telling them what they need based on what they've given you in the inquiry form, and I'm all over the place because I love pricing obviously, but in a sense, I think that you need to make the decision. Do you want to have two or three packages and then you can always have one if you're like, this is my flat rate. Maybe you're good outta bed rate is like your flat rate, I am not leaving my house for less than an eight or nine hour wedding. I know some photographers that are like, I want 10 hours or nothing. 'cause storytelling is value, documentary is value. And that can't happen if I'm not there the full day. So what matters to you really, because you are gonna be setting the precedent of your couple's wedding day based on the packages you provide. I know another photographer who's I have one package and it's an unlimited package. It's all day, and that is something that sets me apart in the industry. I said, go on so do what you want to do, make that decision and be confident in it. Stand behind it and your couples will trust you as long as you trust yourself. So one, two or three packages and some of you want four, whatever, man. I don't say more than four. I think leave it at four. I think. Anything else? Other than that is overwhelming. I think three is the sweet spot, and even two, if you're more of like a minimalist brand, right? You're like, I don't want too many decisions. Some people are like, I hate the six hour package. I hope nobody books it. And I'm like you can always have an intimate wedding package. And that will be your intimate wedding upon request package only, right? It can be four to six hours. Maybe you're a micro wedding specialist. Maybe you only want intimate weddings where it's a couple and 50, no more than 75 guests. You can make that decision. So really asking yourself like, what kind of service do I wanna provide? What kind of business do I see for myself and how do I want to arrange my packages, my prices, the wedding day according to what it is that I wanna bring to the table. Everything is unique in its own way and personalized to you. That is the beautiful thing about being a CEO and entrepreneur. You call the shots, you make the rules, you are the boss. That's what I always say. Whatever you wanna do, you are the boss, okay? I give you strategies if you don't wanna implement them, cool. Okay, we'll go in a different direction. I will give you the tools, but ultimately you decide how they fall into place. So these are some of the questions that I've been getting, and people being like, look at my packages. Why am I not booking my highest? Why am I not booking my middle? Middle is bare minimum. If you're not booking your middle, DM me. We'll hop on Intensive real quick. Join the wait list for the wedding, CEO and the new name that it's going to be in April, and it is really just gonna revolutionize your business. Once you master the art of sales psychology, pricing psychology, your business will never be the same and you will never look back. Don't even look back with whiplash. Okay, here's the answer. Why no one's booking your highest package? They're not different. The pricing is $200 apart. They usually have the same things included, and maybe you have too many packages and it's overwhelming, and even your client doesn't know which one they should pick. Honestly, sometimes couples don't even want to look at a pricing guide. They're like, can you just hop on a call and tell me what works best for me? Hey, custom is a new luxury. I've been saying it for years. Okay, custom. Anything that's personalized to me. I'm all in. Hence why I hired 12 strategists for this rebrand. It was all personalized to me. It was all done for you, right? Maybe your couples want a more done for you approach, or they do like the pricing guide. Maybe they wanna be able to make their own decision and create their own custom package, what have you. Man, whatever you want, you are the boss. Alright I hope you love this episode. If you haven't already joined the wait list when we launched the wedding, CEO. And it's new name and it's rebrand and the whole Laura Rochelle makeover. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be like Princess Diaries, but in real life, I can't wait. I can't wait to see you inside and also help you raise your prices, double your prices, and eventually help you book 10 K Weddings. We have done it time and time again, and you are next. All right, I'll see you in the next episode. Bye.