Case Study: Hayes & Fisk
For Two Richmond Photographers Large Format Photographs Sell Big in the South
The Company
Mary Fisk-Taylor has owned Hayes and Fisk for 13 years with her partner, James H. Hayes III. The Hayes amd Fisk studio is located just inside the city limits of Richmond, the capital of Virginia, and has three employees. Mary and Jamie focus mainly on wedding and higher end portrait photography – the studio's tagline is "Fine Art Portraiture" - although it shoots the newly engaged, families, newborns, pregnant moms and beach scenes. Mary has received national recognition, receiving a Kodak Gallery Award three times and a Fuji Masterpiece Award three times. SEPPA, VPPA, PPA have honored her. Jamie is a six time Kodak Gallery Award winner and he received the prestigious Kodak Gallery Elite Award for Excellence in 2004. He, too, has garnered numerous awards from SEPPA, PPA, VPPA and Fuji. Both shooters have received the prestigious Virginia Photographer of the Year.
The Challenge
The studio has done well, according to Mary, averaging around $750,000 in annual revenues for the past few years. "We've been successful in part because I think we understand the local market," she says. Mary and Jamie want to maintain and grow the business but not so much so their devotion to quality declines. Rather than add a huge number of clients, they would prefer selling more products to their new and existing customers. Several White House Custom Colour (WHCC) products come into play in their efforts in that regard.
The Market Approach
Hayes and Fisk get the word out through a variety of vehicles but the best advertising they have is word-of-mouth. "Around 85 percent of our business comes from referrals," says Mary. The rest of the business derives from customers learning about the studio through partnership marketing done with local shops and boutiques, including some located at the nearby Chesterfield Town Center.
To bolster word-of-mouth, the studio hands out samples of its work to various people in the wedding industry and offers a handful of deals to bring in clients. Wedding coordinators, florist and reception caterers receive a free Press Printed hardcover album of a wedding the studio photographed with as many ad 30 to 50 images, depending on the size of the wedding. "It's a great presentation and they love showing them to their own potential clients because it showcases their work, too," says Mary.
Those same vendors receive bookmarks, accordion-folded cards, appointment cards and standard 4x5.5 cards advertising the studio – all WHCC Press Printed Products. Anyone who comes into the studio receives a flat 4x5 sample of a portrait or a wedding they can show to friends and family. She also has her advertising collateral at the offices of a handful of pediatricians, children's dress shops and wedding stores.
Another strategy Mary developed involves making business cards for vendors featuring images from her studio. The business card carries contact information on vendors and on the Hayes and Fisk studio. It's a win-win situation since vendors do not compete with the studio and they both get to advertise to potential clients. "It's so inexpensive I just give them 250 business cards," she says. "The cost to me is nothing compared to what I get back in sales."
In addition, Mary does plenty of charity work that brings her into contact with wealthy individuals in Richmond who are excellent prospects for her business. She suggests that photographers participate in their communities not only because it is a good thing to do but because it will build brand recognition for their business. "I care about certain issues and that's why I do charity work," she says. "But it has also helped my business."
Results
Perhaps no single product has done as well as the 24x30 wall portraits, and even larger ones, printed by WHCC for Hayes and Fisk. "In our part of the country these big portraits are a big deal and they sell really well," she says. "That's probably not true for everywhere else but in the South finding on people's homes a large portrait of the family, or of individual family members, is pretty common."
She's had good sales with Gallery Wraps, calling them "fashion forward" and a great addition to the photographic line of WHCC products. A new portrait program she and Jamie developed, called "Real Life," offers clients photographs of themselves in natural settings rather than the studio. The Gallery Wraps have sold well to these clients, she says.
WHCC's metallic paper has a "distinctive shine and saturation" that "really pops" when put together with a nice frame. Even when printing images as large as 24x30 the images "glow" and leave clients stunned by the presentation, says Mary. The Press Printed Products, meanwhile, have contributed to selling the studio's talents as well as serving as revenue-producing add-ons for seniors and for clients who want to share their portraits with family and friends in addition to the 24x30 print they often purchase. The studio also specializes on brush oils done to photographs, printed by WHCC, that result in a more painterly image.
The WHCC Difference
Hayes and Fisk did not use WHCC until early 2006. As it stands, they will probably never go back to their former lab. Both photographers make presentations at various industry events and never fail to endorse WHCC as the lab they use for all their printing needs, she says.
"I like the web site and the one-stop shopping, which is just awesome," she says. "I can get all my products at one place, another great feature of WHCC. I have 100 percent trust in what they do for me -- and they've earned it."
She enjoys WHCC's exceptional service. "I know when I ask 'when is it going to be there?' I know it will be there when they told me. It's like having another employee in the studio," she says "The kind of trust and security we have with WHCC means the world to us. I was with another lab for 12 years until I found WHCC and I discovered how easy it could be to order products. I had no idea it could be so easy, or that WHCC would be such a great partner."
At a Glance
Business name: Hayes and Fisk
Location: Richmond, Va.
Website: http://hayesandfisk.com/
Focus: Portraits, families, weddings, seniors, pregnancy
Strategy: Increase sales through using mall displays and through wedding vendors; heavy use of large format White House prints for clients and Press Printed products for collateral.