Background

Founded in 2014 by Matt Reilly, Rift Photography is a Perth-based event photography company serving weddings, corporate events, engagements, and milestone celebrations in Western Australia.

The business operates with a team of 10 photographers, capturing between 5,000 and 10,000 images per week.

As the company grew, so did the pressure to respond quickly to booking requests and quote inquiries.

Challenge

Manual quoting was costing Rift Photography bookings and causing Matt stress.

Matt had ongoing anxiety about his ability to respond to quote and booking requests. He was losing crucial time creating and sending quotes manually.

The potential for input errors meant he had to follow up every booking with a phone call or email before the event. He had to double-check details such as address, date, and time were correct to prevent his photographers from turning up at the wrong address or at the wrong time.

Before implementing Convert_, Rift relied on Squarespace forms to collect booking inquiries.

The process looked like this:

1. A customer submitted a request form.

2. Matt manually reviewed the details.

3. He calculated pricing based on multiple variables.

4. He sent a custom quote.

5. He followed up to confirm event details.

This system created multiple problems:

• Delayed responses when Matt was on another shoot or off work

• Unqualified leads requiring time-consuming manual quotes

• Input errors, requiring follow-up calls to confirm address, date, and time

• High stress levels from constant urgency

Matt describes the experience clearly:

That person is booking under the pump. They need a photographer in three days’ time. It was a lot of stress—for them and for me.

Modern customers expect immediate answers. When responses are delayed, potential clients move on to competitors.

This meant that Rift was losing bookings simply due to response time.

As the business owner, Matt needed to find an efficient way to turn leads into bookings. He had to lower his anxiety levels, get his time back, and maximize the success of his business.

Solution

Matt set up Convert_ to automate quoting and booking on the Rift Photography website.

In May 2023, Matt was preparing for his first five-week holiday away from the business. He needed an automated system in place before leaving.

After testing several form builders, he chose Convert_ for its:

• Advanced conditional logic

• Calculation power

• Customizable workflows

• Easy integration with Zapier and Google Calendar

Building a dynamic booking form

Using Convert_, Matt created an interactive booking calculator that:

• Adjusts questions dynamically using conditional logic

• Calculates pricing instantly

• Qualifies leads before submission

• Sends automated confirmations

• Connects directly to Google Calendar

“I set it all up just before I left for my trip because I wanted everything to run smoothly. It was the first time I stepped away from the business for more than probably a week ever.”

Instead of Matt having to manually prepare every quote, customers now:

1. Enter event details

2. Customize services

3. Receive instant pricing

4. Submit a qualified booking request

The system automatically notifies available photographers and sends confirmation emails.

Matt explains:

One of the main reasons I chose Convert_ is that it links to Zapier. Now, I can get confirmation emails out instantly. My staff or I can just click 'yes' on Google Calendar while out and about.

The anxiety of having to manually quote and contact every lead disappeared. A quote or booking confirmation gets sent automatically, so Matt doesn’t need to worry about getting back to his computer to send quotes and confirm bookings.

Taking advantage of conditional logic

Using Convert_ tools for photographers, especially the conditional logic feature, Matt set up question flows for quoting and booking requests for each of Rift's services.

Conditional logic helped him create dynamic and interactive forms. They deliver different follow-up questions depending on the way site visitors answer each one. This lets Matt remove redundant questions from the quoting flow, as the form adapts to each visitor’s needs.

I love how you can hide and reveal, so it doesn't take up a lot of real estate on my website pages. The order form, which is the calculator, is nice and refined.

Matt used Convert_ to create a powerful interactive form. It automatically calculates costs and gives users instant quotes for all of Rift’s services in one place.

Turning point with the ‘Places’ element

One of the most impactful upgrades was Convert_’s Places field, which connects to Google’s Places API.

This feature allowed Rift to:

• Eliminate manual address input errors

• Automatically calculate travel fees based on distance

• Prevent scheduling mistakes

Matt notes:

Now I'm so much less stressed about something that's come through Convert_. I don't need to worry. Customers can enter an address or even just the venue name, and Google does the rest, so it's really handy.

This reduces follow-up calls and minimizes the risk of photographers arriving at incorrect locations.

Results

Convert_ has helped Rift Photography increase conversions, while ultimately reducing stress for Matt.

Within three months, even during a slower winter period, Rift saw measurable improvements.

25% increase in conversions

Customers can now adjust services and see photography pricing instantly, which encourages faster decision-making.

Customers can tailor the pricing on the form and then make it suit their budget. So I would say it's, conversion-wise, very good.

8 hours saved per week

Automated quoting eliminated hours previously spent preparing and sending manual proposals.

Incoming photography leads are now qualified because Matt has loaded pricing and service information on his photography instant quote form. This saves the business 8 hours per week on quoting, as they don’t have to educate leads on services and costs.

Anxiety removed from the process

Instead of feeling pressure to respond as quickly as possible, Matt relies on the booking system instead. It instantly gives customers pricing and handles bookings automatically.

He was able to take a five-week vacation while the business continued running smoothly.

Operational improvements beyond booking

Convert_ also allowed Rift to:

• Upsell additional services directly inside the booking flow

• Add new revenue streams, including print sales

• Launch a new photography niche service

• Reduce human error in scheduling

Automation did more than increase conversions. It freed time for strategic growth.

Moving Forward

Rift continues to refine its booking workflows with Convert_, expanding services and improving processes.

What's beautiful about it is that it's so individual to my business. The calculator is kind of limitless; there are lots of things you can do with it. It's so easy, you can just do it all.

Automation transformed Rift’s booking system from a reactive and stressful process to a proactive and scalable one.

If you’re losing time to manual quoting or missing leads due to slow responses, dynamic booking automation can change your workflow.

Convert_ allows photographers to:

• Build instant quote calculators

• Create dynamic booking flows

• Automate confirmations

• Eliminate manual errors

• Scale without hiring more admin staff

Try for free today and build your first automated booking form.