How I Manage Client Expectations with a Photography Policy
Hi friends, it’s Danny here from Toronto’s Top Fully-Equipped and Lifestyle Photo Studio, and I want to help you avoid one of the worst possible things that can happen in your business: upset clients due to mis-managed expectations.
The Problem: Upset Client
I used to make the mistake of not properly communicating with my client, and allowing them to set the expectations for the shoot—which ultimately leads to an upset client when expectations don’t get delivered upon.
The Solution: Communication
Manage Expectations
Set the expectations definitively. We have a policy page for our sessions, but almost no one reads those. So we have exactly what clients can expect listed right here on the Pricing and Packages for Toronto Portraits page.
It’s very clear what the clients will get, when they will get them, as well as other specifics to help manage expectations.
If a client asks “can you get these to me sooner?” I typically reply with something like: “It’s unlikely, because we have a set queue of jobs to edit, and some people have paid extra for priority rush orders which we need to get to first! If you want a priority queue, it’s not much extra and we can get to your photos right away!”
Never, ever promise the photos sooner than your set deadline, because if you do, and the client expects them sooner and you don’t deliver, you now look bad, and like you can’t be trusted to deliver on time.
Coomunicate Clearly
Always let clients know when something might affect their expectations. For example, if you have a range of delivery times (like we do for our Branding and Branding+ packages of 3-7 business days), and you are super busy and swamped, it’s best to let clients know that they will likely need to wait the full 7 business days, instead of getting their photos potentially sooner.
Keeping clients in the loop, and giving them the most up-to-date information helps keep clients from guessing and forming any unrealistic expectations and from getting impatient.
Let Clients Participate in the Process
Because we bill up front, we want our clients to feel an immediate sense of fulfilment, so immediately after the shoot (should be same day or under 24 hours, MAX), we give clients access to their own proofing gallery. They can then choose their favourite photos for download (if access to all the photos from the shoot is an option), as well as their favourite photos for retouching. By choosing their favourite photo for retouching, they are also participating in the process, getting them more involved and excited to create the best possible product for themselves, which means they’re also less likely to be upset with the results of their photo shoot. I can’t remember the last unsatisfied client which we had, since we decided to let clients participate in our photo selection process.
Using PixieSet:
Create a free account.
Upload the JPGs from your shoot. Make sure to keep the original file numbers, so that the JPG format matches the RAW format (i.e. “Photo-0420.jpg” should also be “Photo-0420.cr2”)
Set download permissions. Do you want your client to be able to download the full set? Select images? No downloads at all? Set this in settings.
Share the gallery with your client via email, and instruct them in that email, exactly how to “like your favourite X number of photos, just like on Facebook, and if there’s anything in specific you want me to consider when editing your photos, please also include a comment!”
Once the client finishes, have them “Send submissions to photographer”, and you can review everything, and edit the photos that THEY chose, with the considerations THEY wanted.
Never Assume What Your Client Wants
Another reason to give clients access to view all of the photos from the shoot, and select their favourites is because clients know what they want. We as photographers, do not. We may know how to frame them, light them, and pose them, but ultimately only they know what angles are their favourite.
Clients also have a different eye and priority when looking at their photos than you do.
Help Clients Understand Things, Constantly
In studio, when we do our headshots and portraits, we usually tether our camera directly to the screen inside our space, so that clients can see exactly what I see on the back of the camera. Often times, this will expose wrinkles in either skin or clothing, and we always explain to them: “If you like a photo’s overall energy, and the only thing holding you back from it being perfect for you is some wrinkles or a small imperfection, just let me know and I’ll fix it in retouching!”
In Summary
If you keep an open line of communication, manage expectations, and help clients participate in the process, it’ll be much easier for them to be happy with the way things went, than if you withhold information, and try to do things which may delay the results of their deliverables without telling them.
If you have any questions about this, please message That Toronto Studio on Instagram, along with a link to this article and any questions you might have!
