how do I make a client hurry up

[suzyjazz]

I did a photo session for a lady and her dogs back in April, I think. Her session was purchased as a Christmas gift at my rock bottom price in effort to get a couple of customers. You can see how it took several months to schedule this even after my price went up. I was slightly miffed when I found out she had 3 dogs because that is harder to work with than 1 or 2. She didn't like her smile in the photos and asked for a reshoot. We still have not scheduled anything. I left it up to her to contact me when she was ready. She really seems to be dragging her feet on this and I don't understand why. She said this one weekend was good, so I suggested Saturday -- any time. She said she had an event at 6:30 PM that day so I said we could do it earlier and she said she would check with her friend (who is assisting, since the dogs know her) and get back with me. She never got back with me.

Honestly, I just want to get it over with, and now that it looks like we might be moving to Sugar Land in a few weeks, I really don't want to make the drive back up here (she's near home now) and i want to hurry up and do this now. I want to giver her an ultimatum, but I know that would sound ugly.... Yet at the same time I hate how this session just sits out there unfinished. What would you do? Maybe it's my own fault for not having an assistant. I like having her friend help us because the dogs know her and are more likely to look her way. Maybe I should just try to schedule it for next Saturday anyway and make the best of it.

I have sold one "gift card" since this time. I made it a piece of paper with a session number and expiration date. I've also built a # of dogs into my pricing since then to address these issues.

[bondarnes]

I think that would tell her that once you move away she will have to come to you for the session. Then you may want to offer to give her money back or she can order from the session already done.

[suzyjazz]

Thanks for the advice, Don. She could bring them to my garage and I could set up the backdrop and lights there! She really won't want to drive them all over, though, so maybe that would work as incentive. They've got to weigh at least 300 pounds combined.

I can't refund her money because it was a gift.... I really like one of the photos I took. I wish I could just send her that print and call it even. One of her reasons for not rescheduling was so that I woudn't have to carry my equipment in the heat. That makes no sense. I have to carry it about 20 feet from my car to the living room. It just doesn't seem to me like she wants this even though she says she does.

[LadyShutterBug]

Contact her, and let her know that there is now a time restriction on the reshoot sesion since you are moving (that is a pretty darn good reason for a restriction on the time). Give her a reasonable amount onf time... say a month... to reshoot. If she does not, you are unfortunately unable to reshoot due to your location change.

Also, never offer anything at a "rock bottom" price that you aren't willing to follow through on 100%. I booked three weddings at $200, because I needed to get a portfolio going and it worked. One of those brides booked me over a year in advance-- by the time her wedding rolled around, I was charging more than ten times that to shoot weddings for far less time... but I happily followed through on the $200 wedding because I have a lot of respect for the fact that she even hired me (with no portfolio) in the first place.

[ShaneKislack]

People will take advantage of you til the cows come home. Set your bounderies and stick to them. Tell her when her session is and that it's a 1 hour shoot. It never pays to keep making concessions...people like that won't make it worthwhile in the long run.

[ShaneKislack]

Also, her not liking her smile is not reason for a reshoot. Bad lighting or bad film, etc would be....but our job is not to be magicians. Chances are her problem is her smile not the picture of her smile you took.

[suzyjazz]

Thanks for the responses. I ended up emailing her last night before I got these other replies, and I suggested we do this next weekend even if her friend is not available because time is running out. Her response was that it sounds good and she'll check with her friend. Well, friend or not, we're doing it then. I will lay down the law if she says her friend can't come.

While I am there, I will show her the pics on the LCD so she can see what her smile looks like and tell her this is it.