Keeping the customer satisfied is an ancient business maxim, and in dealings between photographers and clients who provide assignments, having a good working relationship is paramount. That relationship is built on not only what they have accomplished in the past, but also on the personal chemistry they've established.
There are variables involved, but for the most part, creatives prefer to work with people who have helped them produce top quality work in the past. While they won't ask a table-top specialist to do a real people shoot, if the choice comes down to two or three specialists in an area, the odds are with the photographer who has previously established a good working relationship with that client.
"The reason someone hires you repeatedly is because you have a look and a style they like and a working personality and chemistry they understand," states Morgan Shorey, who provides a number of business services to photographers through her new business, The Lists, Inc., and her artist representation company, Heavy Talent. "That saves them about 40 percent of their energy. If they work with a new guy, they have to break him in every time. What an art director wants is to know your creative boundaries and to have good working chemistry."
Stating that he works with a number of shooters depending on the requirements of a given job, Joe Paprocki, partner and creative director in the Huey-Paprocki ad agency, says he prefers photographers with whom he's worked before and whose working style he's familiar. There's something to be said about the relationship you have with a photographer," he explains. "If I have six different ads (for a campaign) at different times of the year, I may try to go with a photographer I'm comfortable with."
"It's a very simple formula," says photographer Jerry Burns. "It comes down to doing good work and treating people nicely. You should always pay attention to their needs and treat them the same way you did when you were trying to get them as a client."
Photographer Philip Vullo also believes that providing clients with what they need is an important element in cementing the relationship. "You need to jump through hoops when they need you to do that," he says with a laugh.
On a more serious note, Vullo adds, "Quality and service when they need you is the key. When you find a client who respects your work, pays you fairly, and understands the cost in whatever you give them, you'll keep them as a client if you do a good job for them and fulfill their needs."
From the client point of view, Joanne Truffelman, chairman of the T.G. Madison ad agency, feels that the ability to work without complications is an essential element in a long-term relationship. "Certainly, your personal relationship with them, and their expertise is important," she explains. "That helps you communicate what you need. They can look at the layout or through verbal communication, understand what you need. That kind of short hand is clearly important. That person knows what you're looking for because he or she knows your style, and you know theirs."
Ease in doing business is also a key to a successful long-term relationship. "I think it's important if they produce estimates and bids in a timely manner," says Truffelman. "When you need to get competitive bids, they need to be flexible in their pricing."
For editorial assignments, photojournalist Michael Schwarz believes that speed is of the essence. The key to keeping magazine clients satisfied is to be available when they call.
"Most of my clients are editorial, which means they're overworked and they don't have a lot of time on their hands," Schwarz explains. "They want a photographer, and they want a photographer quickly. I've done everything I can to make it easy for them to contact me."
Although Schwarz has always carried a pager, he feels he needs more. He always carries a wireless phone, and when he leaves his office, all calls are forwarded to that number. Except for meetings, or when he's on a shoot and can't hear them, Schwarz is quick to respond to calls.
"My editors know they can call me any time," says Schwarz. "It's not unusual to get calls late at night or early in the morning. Quick response and easy availability is all a part of my thinking of what I can do to make it easier for my editors. I try to take as much of the work out of their hands, so they know working with me is easy."
As in any long-term relationship, doing small favors will often go a long way. Shorey believes that long-time clients should expect certain courtesies from time to time from photographers.
"For regular clients," she explains, "you should be flexible and help them where they need it most. If someone is giving you $30,000 per year in $2,000 or $3,000 chunks, it's worth it to do copy shots for that client's ShowSouth or Addy entries. It's worth it for you to do a little spec piece for expenses, or shoot the client's kid on a Saturday, but don't bend over backwards."
There are some limits, however, to providing freebies. It shouldn't be done with anyone but long-time clients. If a new client suggests doing something like that with a promise of later work, the best course of action is a polite refusal.
"I certainly would never ask someone I don't do a lot of business with to do that," says Truffelman on asking for freebies. "I'd ask someone I've done business with on a long-term basis, because he's made good fees [on other jobs] and can afford to do it, and that goes across the board for all suppliers."
"I never promise favors to anyone I don't have a relationship with," says Burns. "There's nothing wrong with doing that occasionally. You have to look at the big picture. You can't micromanage each dollar and project. I think about what my relationship is with that client, and I don't mind helping somebody out in a pinch if it helps cement that relationship."
Shorey says that the parameters for freebies must be carefully defined. "I draw the line on anything that's ethically unsure or moves into the extremely bad taste zone," she explains. "You should never agree to shoot something like that which pushes the limits of good taste or safety."
Working on a pro bono project is another good way of helping an established client. "I don't mind doing a public service for a good client if it's a good cause and an opportunity to do something good," says Vullo. "I'm delighted to do that sort of thing if indeed it's something useful to the community. You feel like you're contributing."
The relationship between photographer and client may sometimes be determined by the client's particular discipline. According to shooters, there are differences between ad agencies and corporate or graphic design clients.
Since photographers and graphic designers are often sole proprietor businesses, Burns says he feels a special kinship with that sort of client. "My best relationships have always come from designers," he says. "We have a lot of things in common."
Vullo feels that establishing a relationship with an agency creative is more difficult than with a corporate client. "The art directors are so hard to get in touch with," he explains. "You need to woo them and schmooze them. With corporate clients, you don't really need to do that. That's not really expected in the corporate realm."
No matter what a photographer might do, a relationship with an art director is very tenuous. If that creative leaves an agency, which happens with great frequency, that photographer may not work with that agency again. The art director may feel a loyalty to a particular photographer, but is often hemmed in by budget considerations.
"Your chances are better of moving with the art director to his or her new agency," says Shorey. "Unfortunately, the old agency is the one who has the client with the money who liked your look."
Shorey believes, however, that work can still come from the original ad shop. "The thing to do," she advises, "is to be proactive and call on other art directors within the agency, even though you're only working with one. When the A.D. does leave, keep your portfolio circulating at their old agency, and announce yourself to be interested in bidding on and talking about projects."
While there may not be lasting bonds between photographers and agency creatives, Vullo says that isn't the case in other areas. "There's a little more loyalty in the corporate world," he explains. "With an art director, you're hot one day and cold the next. They're kind of a fickle bunch."
One avenue that photographers rarely travel involves getting referrals from current clients that can be used to explore new work opportunities. For whatever reason, photographers avoid asking even good clients for the names of friends at other agencies they might call upon.
Shorey calls working the referral network a "lost art," adding, "Creative people all shirk from the idea of selling, but referral marketing is a natural for them."
How do you work the referral network? Shorey says it's as simple as asking a client who likes your work and continually hires you for the names of three or four people to call. Then, when you call, explain that you do a lot of work for the referring art director, who thinks you should send your portfolio to this potential new client who does similar work.
"It's not a cold call," says Shorey. "You need to think of it as your very good client wanting to share a very valuable resource, which is you, with a colleague. People are more willing to talk with you if you have a referral, and they're much more willing to hire you and trust you if you've worked with people they know."
Paprocki says that the right referral could make a difference. "If there were two books that were identical," he explains, "and one was referred by a good friend, I'm sure I would be somewhat swayed by the referral of a good friend."
"If a photographer asked, I would gladly pass the word along," says Truffelman. "But they would have to do the marketing themselves. One of the biggest problems with photographers marketing themselves is they don't call people. They expect people to call them. Photographers can be the worst marketers in the world."
In the end, keeping an established client satisfied is very simple, treat them well and keep the quality of your work high. They don't care about the location of your studio, how it's furnished, or the lunch spread you provide. They do care that doing business with you is hassle free, that you can be trusted to deliver as promised, and the final result is something they'd be proud to enter in a show, or place in their own portfolio.
"You can drive yourself crazy figuring out how to keep a client," says Schwarz. "You can end up doing things that don't make you feel good about yourself in the long run. The best thing to do is just make your work as good as possible and be reasonable without going over the line of established business practices. You don't want to do anything immoral, or do anything that undercuts yourself or other people in the industry. If that's not enough, you don't want to work for those folks any more.