Let me give you some background information and a shameless plug for my awesome SEO guys over at Black Bird Marketing! I've been working for them a little less than a month and I don't even have a fully functioning website and yet, I can be found on the first page of the results of a certain google search, this is awesome.
One thing leads to another and I book a client. During that session, just as I am getting started, they decide they want to leave. I am a natural light photographer and they wanted a 'studio' and I assume weren't used to an outdoors studio.
Whatever happened. It happened. A client left after arriving and after the photo shoot started. They were kind enough to leave me $20 on my piano.
So, how did I handle this? This is a list of things I did to make myself not feel completely conquered by such a silly situation. I mean I've left restaurants because I didn't like the menu. So this is like that right....?
Here is how I handled my first client walk out:
1. As soon as they left, as soon as the door closed..... I cried. I ugly cried. For like 5 whole minutes.
2. I FB my best friend, who is also an amazing entrepenure. We joked about all the things I would have liked to have done or said that would have been completely bad for business. This helped A TON.
Let me take a minute for a side note: Friends chat, good friends listen. Best friends get angry with you regardless if you agree with them or not. And then, they help you. And then they get you laughing again. That is a true friend.
We then talked about how to handle this type of situation from even happening in the future. See #4.
3a. I contacted my SEO guys and at first I was whiney and dramatic. Then, I realized I am not a bad photographer at all. It wasn't about me. It was about the client. I couldn't have been more clear about what to expect, I not only had them view my Facebook page I also sent five examples. Not to mention my words that were talked about over the phone, in writing via email. The client, the person getting the photos, liked the photos. The other, the significant other, didn't.
3b. Learning curve. ALWAYS MAKE SURE TO GET AGREEMENT FROM ANY DECISION MAKING PARTIES. ALWAYS.
4. I edited two edits, stamped a water mark and sent low resolution to the client. I thanked the client for their time and offered my services for other photography needs. And called it a day.
5. Okay, okay.... you don't have to do this but I had to... I blogged about it. Because, I have a soft spot for business owners and more specifically small business owners. I am both a business owner and a client or customer. I know what it is to be on both sides. I hope this helps not only the business owner but the consumer. Go out there and spend your money but be nice about it, be smart about it and for crying out loud realize there is a human being on the other side of your transaction.
Below is the image, sorta. I blurred it because I didn't even get to the contract part of this situation. I usually get them first thing but this was something I thought I could just do at the end. So, to be nice, I blurred it out. You can still see the intended quality. Well, tell me what you think?
That's all for now!
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