Some schools dread photo day. But we don’t, thanks to JSSP.
Phil Burton is the School Business Manager at Hallbrook Primary School and Cosby Primary School (both part of Success Academy Trust). He explains how JSSP produce high-quality images at price points parents will pay, meaning he’s confident recommending them to all the schools in his trust.
When Phil took on his business manager role at Hallbrook Primary School eight years ago, it quickly became clear to him that the school’s photography provider wasn’t delivering the picture quality parents deserved. ‘I was surprised at the low standards,’ he explains. ‘For example, the previous provider had set up a class group photo, and there was some litter in the front of the image. Not only did the provider not move the litter, they left it in the photo parents would be paying for. It wasn’t good enough.’
Phil began looking into a few different school photography companies. ‘Naturally, we wanted good-quality images, but they needed to be affordable for families and we felt most companies were taking the mick with costs,’ he says. ‘Kev from JSSP turned up at the school office at the perfect time. He showed me everything JSSP could do for us and I liked it – and I liked Kev. He was approachable and great to chat to. It wasn’t long before we signed them up.’
JSSP delivered their first batch of photos for Hallbrook Primary School, and the parents were immediately impressed. ‘The feedback was really good,’ stresses Phil. ‘Parents loved having three images of their children to choose from, and liked the changes JSSP made to create informal class group photos. This great feedback meant the number of parents purchasing photos shot up the moment we moved to JSSP. It’s remained high ever since.’
‘Schools don’t always focus on the financial benefits of school photo day,’ Phil adds. ‘Not only do parents want photos of their children they can frame with pride, the school needs great images – after all, selling photos supports school funds, from equipment to library books. Before JSSP, we were offered rubbish photos at high prices. Now, we can provide photos that start at price points almost every parent can afford, and add photos, mugs and complementary extras they really do want to buy.’
‘The school office team love that everything JSSP does is online, which makes them stand out from most other school photography providers we’ve come across,’ Phil says. ‘There are no paper slips to collect and payments are made through their website. They also take care of even the smallest details, such as sorting photos into groups and delivering them to us by class. That might sound minor, but the amount of time this saves our school office staff is huge.’
‘Kev really takes the time to understand what I need, and I have every confidence in him,’ continues Phil. ‘He knows me and the school well, so his suggestions always make sense. Some of his particularly great ideas include providing the drone footage for our video prospectus and developing our school leavers’ hoodies. He’s become my go-to person thanks to his knowledge, contacts and high standards. Everything he does is superb.’
‘Unlike some of the school photography providers I’ve worked with, JSSP sends the same photographers to the school year after year,’ Phil says. ‘We’ve built a trusted relationship with them and they can hit the ground running, so photo day runs really efficiently. In fact, at Cosby Primary School, which is part of our trust, JSSP photographs nearly 300 children in just three hours. That’s possible because we know what works best for JSSP and they understand what we need.’
‘Education staff, particularly school business managers, like me, choose providers based on recommendation,’ Phil concludes. ‘We have a huge social media network, and we’re hard to please! But I have no hesitation when it comes to JSSP. A huge part of their success is that they make our lives so much easier. That quality and ease is what any school business manager wants, and it’s what JSSP delivers.’
Companies pitch to us often. But since moving to JSSP, we’ve no intention of ever changing provider again.
Telephone: 01773 717984
Email: mail@jssp.co.uk
