“Integrity is choosing your thoughts and actions based on values rather than personal gain”
There have been some interesting local Facebook posts recently, both from photographers and clients. The topics of those posts were brought up while chatting with some friends the other day, resulting in a long discussion. In short, the posts paint a very clear picture, showing what happens when you don’t invest in a professional photographer and instead choose the “cheaper” option.
When scrolling your social media feeds, it’s hard not to notice the overwhelming number of people who promote themselves as photographers, offering cheap sessions and great deals. Unfortunately, when a family or potential client is seeking a photographer, the price is usually their number one concern. They are usually overwhelmed with responses from multiple different local photographers, all vying for that person’s business. As they try to sort through all the different responses, they usually don’t know the “red flags” they should avoid and sometimes they choose the “red flag.” I’ve written several other blog posts to help clients choose the best photographer for them. The first offers a list of things to consider when choosing a photographer. You may read that post here. The second one I will highlight gives a better understanding on why some photographers are priced higher than others. You will find that post here.
Look, I’ve been doing this a long while. This is my second career, after retiring from my first. I’ve been around a long time and one fact remains tried and true…A business and it’s owners/employees must have professionalism, integrity and a good moral compass in order to be successful and true to the customers they serve. Without these things, your business and your reputation will eventually fail. If you do not foster trust with your clients, they will walk away with a negative view of their time with you and they will share that negativity with everyone else.
When a client books a session, they are hopefully signing a contract with that photographer for the services they will be provided. That contract should specify the details of the terms of service – what they will pay, when they will receive what they paid for, what happens if the photographer fails to uphold their end, how they receive what they paid for, etc. If you are the client and your photographer doesn’t have a professional system in place that includes a session proposal, contract and invoice, etc…That’s your first red flag!
As the client seeking the photographer, please do your homework! Research that photographer a bit BEFORE you book a session with them! Learn about their business, their offerings, read through their current and past social media posts and the comments, peruse their website, look at their completed work. Use Google! Do you like their images and their style of processing? Is their work a true representation of what they create? Unfortunately there are some low-end photographers using AI and illegally sharing the work of other photographers as their own. Any true professional photographer should be happy to consult with you and share a bit about themselves and their business with you. Yes, doing your homework requires time and effort. But not doing your homework may leave you in a position where you are left without what you paid for or incomplete work. A sad reality.
In one of these recent posts, a client posted to a local community page to share her very unfortunate experience with a photographer and warn others from booking with that photographer and suffering the same outcome. This post was not made in haste, but rather a result of endless confrontation with the photographer and allegedly never receiving what she paid for. The photographer went so far as to block her on social media but then chose to speak out on the thread. Let’s just say the level of unprofessionalism was astounding. Her post generated a long thread of commentary, which included multiple other clients coming forward and expressing their same negative experiences with this photographer. Remember what I said above about what happens when you don’t foster trust with your clients and they walk away with a negative view that they will share? This is a perfect example.
When you book a photography session, your photographer should be giving you a timeframe or date when you will receive your completed images. Those details should also be contained within your contract. If they aren’t, that’s another “red flag!” The client is paying for a service and should receive what they paid for within the time frame specified. No excuses. As an example, when you book a session with me, your full gallery of processed images, Heirloom sample album and blog post will all be ready within 3 weeks of your session date. In all the years I have run my small business and photographed clients, I have never once missed this deadline date. Not once. I stand by what I promise my clients and I ensure that I do not take on more work than I can manage, so I may meet my deadlines within the time frames I have specified with my clients.
I am always amazed when I see photographers post their lists of galleries to process, as they apologize to their clients for being behind schedule on delivery dates. They didn’t have a problem booking all of those sessions, collecting the funds from their clients and taking the pictures, but now they are sharing posts on social media about how busy they are, and promising they will complete galleries as soon as possible. As a photographer, the easiest way to build a negative client experience for your business is to apologize to your current clients for being late on what you promised, while in the next breath advertising your availability to shoot more sessions. The clients patiently waiting for their late gallery deliveries are left wondering how you have time to shoot new sessions when their session is past deadline.
There seems to be this trend on social media to make yourself and your business appear as busy as possible. While I understand the concept, if your appearance of busyness has you missing deadlines and has clients reaching out because their gallery deliveries or products are late, your busyness doesn’t give the appearance of success. It gives the appearance of a lack of time management and your ability to manage your business deadlines. A professional photographer is running a business, not a hobby. Our clients have empathy but they also paid for a service. The harsh reality is that they don’t care about your busy schedule, your busy home life, or those new sessions you are advertising. They care about the session they paid for and when they will receive it.
As a professional photographer, my clients are the root of my business. Therefore, I place an exceptionally high focus on my full client experience and consistently strive to provide a level of customer service that goes above and beyond what is typically expected. I know there are a multitude of other photographers to choose from and it means the world to me when my clients choose me. It means even more when they return again and become repeat clients because they recognize the value in what I give them.
There is nothing worse than reading disheartening social media posts like the ones that generated this blog post. Again, it’s not a fun topic to discuss but it is an important one. That old saying, “you get what you pay for,” still stands true today. Most of us have to budget to invest in things like a photography session. So if you are going to invest your hard-earned money, please make sure you do your homework and invest your money in a photography session that you won’t regret!
Not a sermon, just a thought!
