[Shelley D]

I am fairly new to the business side of photography; I made everything legal about a year and a half ago. I do this part-time, and my marketing is currently entirely by word-of-mouth. Let me also preface this by saying that I live in a small town of 300 people, and everybody knows each other. I am NOT the cheapest photographer in the extended area, I am mid to upper range in terms of session fees and print prices.

So, last night, I was at a neighborhood party where four of my current clients happened to also be in attendance. While I was standing in the kitchen, a neighbor who lives across the street from me came walking up and very loudly said to me (in front of everyone), "Michelle, I have a favor to ask of you. My husband and I are putting up our tree this weekend, and need you to come over and take some pictures of us and our dog in front of the tree for our Christmas cards. It will only take five minutes, and you can just use my camera, and I'll run the photos down to WalMart.".

My response was to ignore the question and respond with, "Oh, how IS your husband, anyway?" I made sure to NOT respond in the affirmative, but did not know how to (in front of everyone) politely decline her very public request. Also, I have never photographed this woman, for free or otherwise, so I was ESPECIALLY taken by surprise with this request.

What is the best way to handle a request such as this when it is made loudly, publicly and in front of paying clients? I need to have a response ready for the next time this comes up, but it cannot be sarcastic (even though I can feel the snark rising in me) or rude. Also, if she calls me, what is the best way to politely handle this? We are "friendly," but not friends. I do NOT want to set up a pattern of neighbors thinking that I am available for free sessions.

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can give me, on both how I could have handled it better last night, and how to handle a request like this in the future.

[JeremyW]

I personally would have felt as you did and in my head would have been going WTF!!! LOL! But Professionally "you already have plans on such a date but if you would like to schedule a session on Dec XX, i have time and my sessions are $xx." One thing i have learned on here is you charge EVERYONE full price and discount later. Dont slash your session fee's and print prices, Let them see what you charge and afterwards apply the discount, it may make them appreciate you and the vaule of what their getting a little more if you choose to do so!

[cloudnine]

I would have just said " I can come over real quick and lend you a tripod and show you how to use the timer on your camera , that way you don;t have to pay for a session or anything"

It implies you did not realize she was asking for a freebie ( whoops) , and it will also make her realize she should not assume you are for free just because you share the same water main. You are still being a good neighbor by lending her something..but at the same time you are setting boundaries without having to be direct which can be uncomfortable.

[raider]

hmm, let's say she works at walmart. "yeah and after that i can come over to walmart and grab a bunch of free stuff, ok?"

or

here's my card, we'll have to book the session and do up a contract - cool? that's when they usually ask how much, then you can say there are so many options we'll cover them all in the consultation meeting.

[Shelley D]

If I had been ready for the question, I guess I could have responded with, "Sorry, but my schedule is completely full until after the holidays." It wouldn't have been a lie. I just never saw this request coming, especially so publicly.

I am a planner. I prepare for everything. I did not prepare for this. I hate that I let myself get caught off-guard!

[Patrick]

Shelley D, on 10 December 2011 - 02:00 PM, said:

If I had been ready for the question, I guess I could have responded with, "Sorry, but my schedule is completely full until after the holidays." It wouldn't have been a lie. I just never saw this request coming, especially so publicly.

I am a planner. I prepare for everything. I did not prepare for this. I hate that I let myself get caught off-guard!

Shelley,
first, welcome to the forum. there is a great bunch of people here who can help, If not me...

First lesson: Control
you need to understand that you can control most situations that come up. ( business wise)

sorry that your neighbor announced this in front of others, that does not make it easier. I would suggest that you stand in front of a mirror.....Like I did for 5 years and learn to phrase your statements and phrases the way you want them to come out.
this is after the fact, but something like ( with a smile) "Well, you know my kids have to eat.... Let's see what DEAL we can work out for you!" could help right then and there. but the point is to not answer questions that have already come up, it is to help you and photography business owners learn to phrase their answers to better serve them in the long run.

Learn how to, ( I will call... Politely deflect, questions like that.)"Oh, ( name here), You know my Kids(or fish or dog or Husband) have to eat!....Let's see what we can work out. it works in some instances, but you( and all photographers, need to learn that you WILL be asked certain questions that you need to learn how to answer.

Second lesson :
Control


Third lesson :
Control

[JanieB]

How you could have responded..."Hahahahahahahahahaha.....oh, you were serious?"

[raider]

this is an indigenous problem to not having a strong formal business presence. see the 'having a studio' thread.

[summers.enemy]

That kind of stuff throws me off a little bit too. I usually just respond with "Oh yeah, I'm sure we can set something up. Give me a call and I'll check my schedule." That at least gets your response out of the public eye and then you can proceed however you want when she calls.

[Shelley D]

JanieB, on 10 December 2011 - 07:45 PM, said:

How you could have responded..."Hahahahahahahahahaha.....oh, you were serious?"

I LOVE this response! Thanks for making me smile!

[LizChick]

Sometimes people assume because you're a photographer you just want to take pictures of everything. I don't know how many family events like birthday parties or whatever I'm at that someone will stick a point and shoot in my hands and say "you're the photographer of the family honey, why don't you take some pictures?" At my old church before an event my pastor would often mention "it would be great if you could bring your camera!" Things like this will happen often, and unless this neighbor is a very very close friend, there's no reason whatsoever to give them a deal. I would just say something along the lines of "I don't have my work calendar with me, but if you'd like to give me a call later we can schedule a shoot." And then when (if) they call, say "Great! I do have Tuesday open. And I require my session fee, which is $X amount, be paid in advance to hold your date and time. You can give me your credit card number over the phone or run a check over here to me if you'd like." You could make a great new client out of your neighbor, or she might realize she has to pay you and say nevermind and call her Uncle Bob instead!

[Onquest]

Actually, I think you did really well with your redirect. You bought yourself some time to formulate a polite way to tell her to pony up cash or take a flying leap.