Photographers

Photographers
27
Nov 2011

Ten signs you’ve got a bad customer

High-maintenance customers can be difficult to deal with. They can also damage a photographer’s business with their time-consuming and stress-inducing behaviour. You know you’re dealing with a bad customer when:

1. An over-abundance of phone calls and e-mails pour in and each one is urgent!!!

2. They expect the photographer to work for free in exchange for a credit line. They expect unlimited usage of the pictures.

3. They talk down to the photographer, “Can we work faster?”, “Are we sure that’s the best camera angle?”, “Did we check to make sure everyone’s in focus?” and they demand to see the LCD review of every picture.

4. At a publicity event, they expect the photographer to help set up the product displays, hand out brochures and wear a neon yellow t-shirt and baseball hat emblazoned with their company logo.

5. After a company party, they scold the photographer for not knowing to get a picture of the CEO’s wife’s sister’s family who were sitting somewhere in the ballroom.

6. They expect everyone in every photo to look like a magazine cover model otherwise it’s the photographer’s fault and they shouldn’t have to pay.

7. After being promised free, next-day, rush delivery, they still call two hours later demanding to know where the pictures are and why are they so late?

8. They change their mind every day: “We want a picture of our factory. … We’ve decided we need an group portrait of our sales department. … Our new plans require you to shoot our entire product line on a white background or maybe a blue background or maybe another colour. … Our marketing people say we need you to shoot everything we’ve talked about. It won’t cost any more than your original quote, right?”

9. They try to negotiate the price down after the job is over.

10. They’re late to pay.

 

— One comment

Photographers
25
Nov 2011

The Three R’s

The previous post, directed towards business clients, was also indirectly aimed at photographers. It was pointing out that most clients don’t hire photographers for their pictures(!). Or to rephrase that: purely providing perfect pictures doesn’t please the paying people.

Some photographers will stress over whether to move a light a few inches this way or that way. They will agonize over precise white balance. They’ll suffer great pain if every pixel isn’t razor sharp or if the depth of field isn’t just right. But in most cases, the client doesn’t notice or even care about these things.

This is not to say a photographer can be sloppy in their work but that clients have different priorities.

For many clients, it’s more important that a photographer shows up on time, dresses and behaves appropriately, completes the photography efficiently and competently and returns their calls or e-mails promptly.

A photographer’s business practices are more important than their photography skills. Yes, the photographer must be at least competent in their work. But good business practices trump photo practices. As the cliché says, running a photography business is 90% business and 10% photography.

Remember your three R’s: responsible, reliable, respectable.

— No comments yet. Your thoughts are welcome.

Photographers
3
Nov 2011

Let It Ring

When you’re working at the computer and a client sends an e-mail, instead of replying by e-mail, pick up the phone and call them.

Responding by e-mail is usually faster and easier, which is why everyone else does it, which is why you should avoid doing it (where possible). It will always pleasantly(?) surprise the client.

Example:

“Hi Jane, it’s Warren the photographer. I just received your e-mail about tomorrow’s business portraits. You were wondering how long the photography will take.

“If we can make sure the five people are all on time, we’ll need the use of the conference room for only two hours.

“Setting up and taking down the equipment is very quick. I’ll make sure the room is put back to normal before I leave.

“I look forward to meeting you tomorrow. Bye”

The reasons for doing this:

• To be positive and reassuring which will help build customer confidence. E-mails don’t convey any tone. The sound of someone’s voice always beats the sight of text on a screen.

• To show that you’re readily available to the customer. You’re “on duty”.

• To add some personality and humanity to your business. You’re more than just a domain name and e-mail address. Every customer needs to know that they’re important to you, important enough that you just had to call.

• Sometimes a client’s e-mailed question is only the tip of an iceberg. For examples:

1) A customer e-mails to ask if using the pictures on their web site comes under the “editorial use” permitted under the photographer’s licensing terms.

The photographer could just send an e-mail saying “yes” or “no” depending on whatever licensing terms are being used. That’s all the customer wanted, right?

But if the photographer phones the customer, they might find out the customer really wants to post the pictures on their web site for use as electronic downloads to their end-users.

2) A customer e-mails to ask what colour shirt and tie they should wear for their business portrait.

The easy way is for the photographer to e-mail a list of preferable colours and styles. That’s all the customer wanted to know, right?

By phoning, the photographer might learn the client wasn’t happy with their previous business portrait done by another photographer five years ago. The photographer can then ask why the customer wasn’t happy with the pictures so they can avoid the same mistakes and reassure the client.

When you do phone, always smile when you talk. Really. It will put you in a better mood and the client will hear it in your voice.

— No comments yet. Your thoughts are welcome.

Photographers
30
Sep 2011

Show me the money

“Why are you charging me $600 more?!”

When giving a discount to a customer, it’s important for the photographer to show the normal price, the discount and the discounted price on the invoice rather than just the final discounted price. For example:

Instead of:

Photography fee:  $3,400.00

It’s better to use something like:

Photography fee:  $4,000.00

Discount 15%:         – 600.00

Subtotal:               $3,400.00

The reasons for this:

i) The customer can see, and hopefully appreciate, the discount being given.

ii) Let’s say this customer (Customer A) refers the photographer to another customer (Customer B). If Customer B asks Customer A what they paid for photo services, Customer A might say something like, “We paid $3,400 but that included a 15% discount.”

So when the photographer sends a non-discounted quote to Customer B for a photo assignment similar to that done for Customer A, Customer B hopefully won’t yell, “Why are you charging me $600 more?!”

The photographer may still have to explain why Customer A got a discount but that’s easier than trying to explain a mysterious $600 price “increase”.

In some cases, a photographer should even include an invoice for a job that’s done pro bono. List the full price followed by a 100% discount. The purpose is to show the client the real cost and value associated with the “free” work. If this client hires the photographer in the future, they’ll know what to expect.

— No comments yet. Your thoughts are welcome.

Photographers
3
Sep 2011

Intellectually Smart

Nine weeks ago, Nortel sold 6,000 of its patents for about $4.5B. Three weeks ago, Google paid $12.5B for Motorola Mobility’s 17,000-plus patents. Google bought 1,000-plus patents from IBM in July and another 1,000-plus patents from IBM again this month.

Now, Kodak is looking to sell its digital imaging patents which may be worth $2B to $3B. This is more than the value of the entire Kodak company which has a market value of about $210M. Its intellectual property is worth more than the company itself.

Intellectual property is a form of currency.

Similar to the Kodak situation, the copyright on a photo can be worth more than the photo itself. While you will never sell a photograph for a billion dollars, copyright has real value. But only if you’re smart about it.

 

— No comments yet. Your thoughts are welcome.

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