In Person Sales using ProSelect is the most effective way to sell your photography, but what do you do if you have clients that can't attend or don't want to be part of an in person sales session?

Putting your images on-line is a poor option because this will almost always result in much lower sales simply because you loose control of the sales process. In situations where you can't be with your customers personally then doing a remote sales session using ProSelect is your next best option. 

About Remote Viewings

A remote viewing is very similar to an in-person sales session except, rather than looking at your computer or projector screen, your clients are looking at your screen on their computer at home. This is easily done using screen sharing software such as Skype or other online meeting systems such as Zoom.us (which we use and recommend - see our suggestions at the bottom of this page), Join.me etc.  

Apart from seeing your images, you can also have a two-way conversation with your clients using the microphone and speakers on your respective computers. Most online meeting systems also provide a toll-free phone alternative for people who can't talk and listen via their computers. 

Once you get the screen sharing started, you can run your regular ProSelect sales session sharing your screen. 

A few points to note:

1. Both you and your customers need a reasonably fast internet connection to avoid frustrating delays. They should have at least than 3MB/sec download speed and you should have better than 3MB/sec upload speed. You can test your speed using www.SpeedTest.net and maybe get them to also test their speed the same way if they are uncertain of their own internet speed.
   
   
2. Slideshows may not play with smooth transitions unless you both have quite a fast internet connection. If you don't, you can setup and use a Slideshow Style with very short transition times (say 0.5 seconds) and longer slide times or just set the transition type set to None. 
   
   
3. By default, ProSelect uses OpenGL or Metal (on Macs) hardware acceleration when playing the slideshow. Some screen sharing software works better when this option is turned off so best to test this with the screen sharing system you are using first. You can turn off the use of OpenGL or Metal in ProSelect's Preferences -> Slideshow Settings -> Performance.
   
   
4. You can do a remote viewing with an extended family all in different locations each on their own computers. To do this you need screening share software that supports "conference calls" though most seem to provide this feature these days.
   
   
5. It is a good idea to use the Protect Images feature CMD/Ctrl-G (or under View menu) in ProSelect to put a copyright stamp on all images that you are showing to discourage your remote customers from taking screengrabs of your images during the viewing. You can set this up under Setup Stamps, Watermarks & Logos (under the Resources Menu) and turn it on/off under the View menu. See the sections "Image Notes, Protecting & Ordering" and "Setting up Stamps" in the ProSelect Reference Manual for more about this.

   The Training Movies page has a movie on "Stamp, Watermarks & Logos" which covers setting up your protect stamp.

6. If you have two screens attached to your computer, most screen sharing software will allow you to select just one of these to share. If so, you have the option of turning on ProSelect's Mirror Display Area mode and sharing the mirrored screen. The advantage of this is that your remote clients will then only see the images without the menus and controls, shopping cart etc.
   
   See the "Using Two Screens" section in the ProSelect Reference Manual for more about this and/or this movie: Using Mirror Image Display Area on a Mac.
   
   
7. Since you have no control over the color accuracy of the screens that your clients are viewing the images on, it is always a good idea to tell them that the colors may not be perfect on their screens.

Suggestions when using Zoom

1. Zoom can currently be used for free with just two parties (ie you and your client) in the online meeting. Note: there may be a time limit (of around 40 minutes) when you are using the free version. If you run into this limit you can just restart the meeting. If you are doing this on a regular basis, best to get a Zoom subscription. It looks more professional than restarting the meeting partway through and you can invite any extended family in different locations to attend the same meeting. 
   
   
2. When you click the "Share" button, in the lower left is an option to "Share computer sound" and "Optimize for full-screen video clip". Check both are on.
   
   
3. When you run a slideshow, mute your microphone so it is not feeding sound from both you and the slideshow playing on your computer. Remember to unmute when at the end of the Slideshow else they won't be able to hear you!
   
   
4. Zoom can record the meeting so, before you start, ask your client if it's ok to record the session for accuracy. If it's OK, just click record. You can use these recordings to review and learn.