How to Beat LifeTouch
Many photographers don’t realize that they have every tool available to beat out the “big boys”. In fact, the smaller your photography company is, the better off you probably are. School Photography companies, such as Lifetouch, are so large, they get caught up in their own size and bureaucracy that it is difficult for them to change with the times. Sure Lifetouch, has the money and resources to continue developing competitive products, but as a small photography company, you can change and adapt very quickly.
Choose a good lab - Lifetouch makes the majority of their money at the lab level. Their processing is a centralized amongst a few labs. No matter where they are within the country, all of the works gets sent to a centralized location. Because of this, the turn around time is fairly slow. It might be up to 2-3 weeks or longer. As a small company, you can choose a lab that offers much faster turn around times. You can find a lab that is local to you that will save time in delivery back to your studio. Many labs offer free 1 or 2 Day delivery. Labs will fight for your business, whereas Lifetouch treats all of their work equally.
Do your homework - Don’t wait for a school to show you something offered by the competition. Surf the web a bit. Get to know your competition and Google their name to see what they offer. Join and attend groups such as PSPA or SPAC. They get together a couple of times a year and share ideas. Surf around on the PhotoLynx Site, to learn about some of the products that you can produce through software.
Be creative in what you offer - Anything Lifetouch does, you can do better. The tools are out there to create ANYTHING that Lifetouch offers, plus much more. If you can’t afford to invest in the software or other equipment you need to produce something competitive, check with your lab. Most labs already have the products available at very good prices because they can offer them in volume.
I’m still surprised at how often I hear that photographers don’t know that things like “Star Composites” that highlight an individual student, or something competitive to what Lifetouch calls “ImageStream”, software that the schools use to create products from student images, can be made by your lab or PhotoLynx software.
Pricing - A large chunk of what Lifetouch charges is kept within the corporation and not at the local level. So not only does the local Lifetouch have to pay lab fees, they also have to pay what is equivalent to a Franchise fee. As an independant photographer, you can price your packages at a lower price then Lifetouch and still make a larger profit per order.
Creative Photography - Through software, such as PhotoLynx you can even produce a proof that has 5 different crops and looks from one image. You can offer the students a choose of backgrounds through GreenScreen. You probably have a smaller staff doing your photography, so you can be more selective in the quality of photographer working for you. Larger companies can’t train as well, and have to be less selective with their personnel in order to come up with enough photographers for their seasons.
Customer Service - More then likely, most of your business is in your own backyard. You are local. You can provide personal service and attention. You keep the money in the community. You can be attentive to the school and be there when they need you. Parents are not caught up in being shuffled around throughout the organization for answers. You can respond to your customer’s needs immediately.
Large companies, such as Lifetouch are like huge cruise-liners. It takes them a very long time to make a turn. Most independent photographers have been using digital photographer to their advantage for years now. Most of Lifetouch is still on film. It is very costly and takes them a long time to re-equip their business. As a smaller, independent company, you can cut through all of the bureaucracy of a large company and stay ahead of the competition.
Filed under: Adventures of School Digital Photography | Tagged: ImageStream, Lab, Lifetouch, School Composites, School Image Software
Hello, wow! I was wondering when the day was going to come when I would stumble upon an article like this…..and here it is. I will have to be honest and say that I am a Lifetouch employee, and have been for about 5 years now. I love what I do, who I represent, and all that we stand for; a company that can mold to and partner with the schools we service, have streamlined systems in place that are almost unbeatable, and contribute back to so many communities with great services, and the best formulated photo systems in the industry.
I do have to say though, to local studios—there are a few services that are not able to be matched—and that schools find very valuable, priceless in fact; stuff that the smaller guy just can’t produce. For example: Lifetouch protects all of their customers with a safety net-rapid response missing children program that is partnered with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children(AKA ‘Milk Carton people’ , and the organization the ‘America’s most Wanted’ ’s John Walsh leads.) There is no way at this point that ma and pa can provide a service as powerful as this.
Lifetouch is also flexing to what parents want, instead of what the local photo studio wants. Lifetouch is asking moms what they want, and turning on a dime when doing so(wha?? cruiseliners can do that?? yes we can!)—Lifetouch offers pose selection, retouching at minimal rates, and retakes at no charge; no questions asked. Many local studios are losing sight of customer service whereas Lifetouch is not, it is a company built on American values, beliefs and tradition–and customer service and satisfaction is #1.
These are just a few ways that make Lifetouch almost untouchable—there are several more, but hey–if you’re one of our customers or schools–you’ll find out soon enough—we are the best—and when you own part of the company as I do(and all of Lifetouch employees)–you love what you do, and you’ll fight for it!
Best of luck to all, and I hope my feedback was helpful!
Kenny
Kenny,
Your loyalty to Lifetouch is very admirable. I have to agree that many Lifetouch territories do contribute back to their communities. But, like Walmart they can also put some family owned businesses out of business.
My point to the local “mom & pop” photographers is that there is no reason to feel threatened. There is nothing that a local studio cannot do to compete with Lifetouch, including a program like SmileSafe. If you continue to read on, I mention a service called “Click N Safe”, which I feel offers every value as the SmileSafe program as offered by Lifetouch. Local photographers are more in tune with their customers, the a large company can ever be. In fact, the local photography goes to church, shops, and are neighbors with many of the clients they photograph.