Let the Photographer Help You

Recently I was asked to bid on a rather big job and to be honest I was very excited to do so. The job required travel, multiple shoots in multiple locations and, while not out of reach for me, would still present a challenge and give me an opportunity to be creative.

While working with my client we did the usual overviews, strategy planning etc. I took the information given to me and I worked up an estimate and presented it to the client. When I spoke to them a few days later the client was a bit taken back over the cost. Although they knew that their original budget was very, very low they didn’t expect the cost to be almost 4 times the planned budget.

Once I explained each line of the estimate to them they were much more understanding. They then realized that the travel cost alone was more than their original budget. After some more conversation we were able to adjust the project to a more reasonable size and scope. Although still more than their original budget, it was much closer to the original plan.

What happened was the original person working the out the expense was reaching for the ultimate result and yet wanted to pay less than fair market value for the work. Who doesn’t want to get a deal when they can?  What happened in the end though is that the client was reasonable and willing to work with their vendor (me) to find a solution that gets them the results they must have and do it at a fair price.

Sure I worked in discounts and reduced the expenses to try to get into their budget range but at the same time they reset their expectations and changed the scope of the project to match their absolute needs not just their dream wants. The only reason we were able to work this out was because of conversation and communication. I worked closely with the project manager and she with me to find the common ground, the actual end goal and a compromise is the result.

There are a number of reasons that we came up with a mutually beneficial solution and communication was just the beginning. The fact that this is a regular client of mine added to my willingness to offer a discount in areas I usually don’t discount. Another major factor was the client’s willingness to share with me the entire scope of the needs, not just what they wanted as an end result. This gave me the opportunity to focus my estimate on the essential expenses and to trim anything that was even borderline unnecessary, further reducing the cost of the project.

This is a perfect example of how I would love for every interaction to go with all my clients but many aren’t aware that open and detailed communication is needed in order for me to deliver the precise estimates they need. Telling me that you need “some images of [insert subject]” is like doing brain surgery with a chainsaw. Work with me, inform me, give me the details, or lets work together to determine those details if you’re not sure and I will do that surgery with a laser.