... or easy ride? In my last post, I wrote about the cons and pros of the shared economy. The overall economic pressures, not just here in Australia, but I suspect across the globe are driving "bizarre" customer and service provider behaviours.
A few months ago, not far from where I operate my freelance photography business, a brand new photography studio opened up - sleek, modern, expansive space with expensive white leather couches in the foyer and brilliant marketing on the windows. Sydney happens to be one of the most expensive places in the world to live, and my first thought on seeing this grand opening was "Wow, they must be doing well to be able to afford the rent!". For a brief moment, it gave me hope that there are some photographers out there that are able to earn a reasonable income and run a full scale studio. Naturally, I was curious to find out about the size of their operations, pricing and quality of work. For an instant I felt like a competitor encroaching on my immediate territory and then comforted myself by rationalising that they must operate in a completely differently tier than I am and therefore won't be pursuing the kind of clientele that I am interested in working with.
It came as a complete shock to me a few weeks ago, to find this studio advertising and bidding on the same jobs that I bid on through this "shared economy" site. It is confusing to me that a studio promoting such "high end, expensive services" would be compelled to associate their brand with "lower tier, affordable services" and essentially undermine their own business - the price differentials are world's apart. Through this shared economy site, I have a reasonable knowledge and understanding about my direct competitors - other photographers operating in a similar way that I do and offering similar services. I am sure that all the regulars have googled each other and made judgements about quality of work and where we sit on the quality of service and deliverables ladder. We also have probably a good understanding of our pricing structures or rationale that we use when bidding on various jobs.
Currently, I sit in pole position on this site for photography services - I have almost double the number of reviews compared to the next ranked photographer, and have a full 5 star rating which I am proud of as I know how much work and hours have gone into achieving that results. There are other really great photographers on this site and my sense is that most of them are hard working creatives that deliver the best they can for their customers. However, holding pole position is not a guarantee of being awarded work in this increasing competitive space. Today, I bid on a lucrative assignment ... the person awarded the job had underbid me my $2.00 although my image delivery services and options are superior to what my competitor can offer. Yes, I had a moment of frustration thinking "I should have outlined the full benefits of my image delivery service" ... however when I relayed this story to a friend they said "Well, obviously you don't charge enough. It would be better to miss an opportunity by a reasonable amount rather than a puny amount when there is a clear differential in what is being offered". This has definitely given me some food for thought - I have done a lot of work this year being more comfortable in stating my worth in dollars, but perhaps I have not gone far enough.
For the last few days I have been in negotiation with a client that has used my services a few times in the past and have been impressed with my work. Previously it was event related work, but this time they were interested in me quoting on doing some product photography to promote their business. When I sent them my quote, the price negotiation started - I have different pricing for my different services; and the client was querying the difference. I explained the differences including that in product photography work the post production and editing work required to present superb product images is far more intensive than retouching images from a event. In my response I even provided comparative data from other companies that offer similar product photography work to highlight how competitive my quote was; and even suggested a place they could go if the issue was an economic one rather than the quality of the final result. As they were a repeat customer with potential for more work, I had conceded some on the original quote. The customer then suggested that I provide unedited images at no charge.
In all negotiations and in all businesses, I feel that you have to be absolutely clear on your bottom line and what you are willing to concede. Over this year, it has become crystal clear to me that my work ethic and attitude and personality will not allow me to concede on the issue of quality. Commercial product and website photography is the core of my business; each image that I issue to a customer, I personally have to feel satisfied with the result as I view those images (wherever they end up as being published) as my business card. This is one of the reasons that one of my no go zones is the release of unedited images - perhaps the customer may think the unedited images is a great shot; but I know how it can be enhanced to make it better. This is of marketing value to the customer - their business is being presented in the best possible way; but it is also my insurance that my images in the public domain are the best statement about my work. When push comes to shove, such situations quickly bring to surface the values that your client respects and what is ultimately important to them. If my intent is to work with clients that value and invest in the value that quality images can bring to their business and are willing to pay a fair and competitive rate; then there will be times when I will lose an existing customer if they are unwilling or unable to see the value of that investment or the effort involved to deliver such images. In this situation, I lost a customer. However, I walked away from the negotiations being OK about holding my ground and not sliding down a slippery slope that undermines my own sense of worth; or the underlying principles that guide my business decisions. As there are always other service providers, there are always other customers; it's a matter of finding that perfect match for a win-win customer-provider relationship and fair exchange.
Flying Solo Tip 098365 : In what way do your non-negotiables in business or relationships reflect your values and your sense of worth?