Photography CRM
What is really sold in photography is a date, and that Saturday is sold only once. What you tell the second person asking for the same date depends on whether the first one paid the deposit; when that detail stays inside messages, either the date is left empty or two jobs land on top of each other.
A shoot is a record with fields for the date, the time and the deposit status. The selection, album approval, printing and delivery are each tasks; those waiting with the client gather in one list.
- Record the shoot date together with the deposit status; keep a confirmed date apart from one that was only enquired about
- Advance the post-shoot steps of selection, album approval, printing and delivery as tasks
- Follow the selections waiting with the client and the uncollected balance from the same list and send reminders
- Attach the signed version of the contract and the image usage consent to the customer record
| Date Reservation | A shoot is a record with date and time fields; the deposit status sits on the same card, and unconfirmed dates appear in a separate list. |
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| Steps After the Shoot | The selection, the album approval, the printing and the delivery are each tasks; the owner of each task and the party it is waiting on sit in fields, and those waiting with the client gather in a separate list. |
| Package and Balance | The package chosen and the amount are fields on the customer record; the deposit and the remaining balance sit under it as lines, and the uncollected balance is read from the report. |
| Usage Consent | The image usage consent and the contract are attachments to the record; the signature date sits in a field, and jobs without consent stand separately on the list. |
A photographer's calendar is like stock: a booked date cannot be sold a second time, and a date left empty does not come back. The hard part is not the shoot itself but the long queue that starts after it — the selection is sent, the client picks the frames, the album design is approved, the print arrives, it is delivered. At each step the ball passes to the client and starts waiting there; because nobody remembers who is stuck at which stage, the delivery time stretches out on its own and the collection of the balance is delayed along with it.
In Rapitek CRM the shoot date and the deposit status sit on the same record, so which date is confirmed and which was only enquired about are kept apart. The steps after the shoot advance as tasks; selections waiting with the client gather in a single list and the reminder goes out from there. Because the contract and the image usage consent are attached to the record in their signed versions, which frame can be published where is not hunted for afterwards.
The scope of the plans and the separately priced items are written on the pricing page.
