Boyd Anderson Photography | Customer Stories

My customers probably couldn’t do without Bookeo nowadays. People are online all night making appointments.

JOHN STICKNEY Boyd Anderson Photography

When high school kids started snapping hundreds of shots daily on their Androids, iPhones and tablets, photographers like John Stickney had to come up with a better way to compete in the school portrait industry. With Bookeo, 99% of his customers make their reservations online. He no longer has to make dozens of daily pre-session reminder calls, or any post-session feedback calls. He and his staff spend far less time on the phone – and more time taking pictures.

Because Bookeo is web-based and mobile, John can check his updated schedule in real time from home, from the studio, or on location at a shoot. He’s able to sell more of his premium services by displaying sample photos right on his Bookeo reservations pages. He says that Bookeo is so user-friendly that some of his customers have been “busted” making their bookings during class!

With free mobile photography in everyone’s pocket or purse, John says staying competitive means making things more fluid for the end user – and Bookeo delivers.

John's story

By the time he got his high school senior portrait taken, John Stickney was already a self-described “photography nerd.” He had no idea that the portrait photographer, Boyd Anderson, would play a life-changing role in his future career.

After graduating and refining his skills at a small photography studio, John got a job with Mr. Anderson, often taking portraits of seniors from his old school. It was 1975, he says, and photography – a skilled profession of art, chemistry, perseverance and even psychology – was “magic.”

John worked his way up to become Head Photographer and Manager. When his boss decided to retire in 1991, John and his wife Denise jumped at the chance to buy the business. They’ve been running Boyd Anderson Photography ever since, dedicated to their craft and to their Santee, California community.

We photograph about 4,000 high schools kids a year, so essentially that’s 4,000 less phone calls that we’re going to make.

JOHN STICKNEY Boyd Anderson Photography

It’s great. And to be honest, the price is right. It’s not a situation where we’re being charged for appointment or anything like that, so that makes it nice.

JOHN STICKNEY Boyd Anderson Photography

The Challenges

It’s no secret that professional photographers have been feeling more than just a pinch since the advent of digital imaging. “High school kids are taking a hundred pictures a day on their cellphones,” says John. “Since everybody has their own digital camera, it’s a little more challenging nowadays.”

That’s why keeping costs and overhead down is crucial to John’s business. Even with its successful 50 year history, paying an extra person to take and cultivate bookings is simply no longer feasible.

Finding the right online booking system was also a challenge. Before John and Denise found Bookeo, they had tried to set up a booking system themselves, hiring a programmer to write code that would allow people to make their appointments online.

The result, John says, was expensive and awkward for him and his customers. Boyd Anderson’s niche – high school portraits – evolved naturally. But since school photo shoots are free, John needed a cost-effective way to upsell his premium services. Pamphlets on the front desk and word-of-mouth just weren’t cutting it. But Bookeo gave him an easy way to show and sell his studio and off-site packages.

The Solutions

We need to watch our expenses, and Bookeo certainly helps.

John photographs about 4000 high school kids every year. That used to add up to 4000 reminder phone calls. Now, instead of paying an additional staffer to make all those calls, John uses Bookeo’s automatic reminders via text and email.

Now he can take photos instead of taking appointments by phone and spending time repeatedly explaining his menu of services. “The followup is nice too,” he says. After each photo session, Bookeo sends followup emails asking John’s clients about their experience, generating feedback that he can post on his site or on Facebook. “It’s great,” says John, “and to be honest, the price is right.”

Putting our photos in our Bookeo gallery section is a big help in explaining our different packages.

John says that Bookeo makes it easy for his clients to see the variety of services he offers. “People don’t stop by and check us out like they used to,” he says. “Everything is online” With Bookeo, “we have a better chance to sell a bigger session.”

Bookeo’s web-based and it merges with our website seamlessly.

Bookeo’s web-based platform makes life easy for John and his customers. He says his high school clients appreciate Bookeo’s user-friendly booking experience. “Since they’re all online,” he says, “they can book at night when we’re closed. They probably couldn’t do without it.”

Now in the morning, John checks his schedule on his Apple iCalendar, which is automatically synced with his updated Bookeo appointments. He can add or change the availability of appointments when he wants, from home or on the go. He loves how Bookeo automatically reopens a time slot when someone cancels online. And having all of his appointments “in my pocket” lets him see and easily make last-minute staffing changes if needed.

I had a question yesterday, and I got an answer in just hours. It was great.

John and Denise were thrilled with the quick response they got from Bookeo Tech Support. “We got answers right away from Bookeo” he says. “I thought ‘OK, this is cool!’”

With technical support located on three different continents, Bookeo delivers fast, comprehensive answers for each and every client whenever they have a question.