This morning I was inspired to write a blog post about refusing and dealing with difficult clients. For every 20 positive and happy clients, there is always that one bad apple. You know the one I’m talking about: the non-communicative, the beyond picky, the contract-changer, the one who asks too many questions about your equipment, the one demanding .RAW files.
I want to start this off by mentioning something very important: photographing people (and having your photo taken) is one of the most intimate things you can do professionally. Photographing people is a task that requires a lot of care and trust. Positive relationships between people and their photographer is VITAL to taking good photos.
When a subject and a photographer enter a trusting relationship, there is opportunity for authentic photo-taking and real emotion capturing. It is so important that people trust their photographer, and a photographer feels positively about their subject(s). If communication starts off on the wrong foot, or if client demands are out of this universe, you might as well not enter the client-photographer relationship. This applies to both the photographer and the client.
When you are gaining an interested client, it is crucial to understand that you are hiring them as much as they are hiring you. Your business reputation should not lay in the hands of an insecure, deal-hunting, narcissist.
So what is a difficult client? How do I spot them? And how do I handle them?
From my experience, a “difficult” client would be any person that makes you doubt your ability to meet their expectations.
Spotting them is easy. They will either send a spammy amount of emails, or not reply for days/weeks. They will ask you a million questions about your abilities and equipment, and they will want you to re-edit and change your style significantly for them.
Handling them is another ball game.
I want EVERY photographer out there to know that you have THE RIGHT to refuse any client. If you are feeling disrespected or overwhelmed, it is in your right to refuse to take their photo. In the end, it will hurt your business MUCH less to refuse them service and have them move on to a different photographer, than to deliver photos they totally hate.
Carrying out a refusal is a delicate balance of firmness and professionalism. I have found that by thanking them for their interest, but also adding that you believe you are not the right fit for one another, is the best approach. And stand firm with that incase they try and apologize and retaliate. I have had to do this twice since starting my business and it has killed me a little each time. But in the end I knew it was the right thing to do.
For clients who you choose not to refuse but are still considered “difficult”, it is really important to remain firm in your policies and refer to your contract in every sense that they are not listening to you.
Remember that this is YOUR business, YOUR art, and you do not need anyone who doesn’t appreciate your style or policies to be a client. The defamation is not worth the money- no matter how large of a sum it could be.