How NOT reducing our price got the client promoted

‘We’re so sorry, we wanted to work with you guys but your costs came in too high and we’ve gone with a photographer in Australia.’

I was an agent for 20 years and it wasn’t the first time I’d heard those words. In fact, if you’re an advertising, editorial or commercial photographer, you’d know it’s part of the job.

To be honest, you’re lucky if they even bother to tell you – often you’re just ghosted.

It was a big job; a library for a huge telecommunications brand from a Singapore ad agency. The images were highly prescriptive and the work would be used across Asia – we just couldn’t risk trying to pull it off for any less.

But then something happened. After pre-production was supposed to have kicked off, we got a call from Evelyn, the suit, who was acting as art buyer.

The agent for the photographer in Australia had basically underquoted it, and now wanted approval for more funds after the job was approved. It’s a dirty trick but it happens.

Acting on intuition, with her boss out of the country and uncontactable, Evelyn took the risk and decided to come back to us, on the provision our costs would not increase and we could still meet the deadline.

We went ahead with the job, our photographer delivered a great set of images, and their client was so happy that Evelyn got a promotion.

If you are ever struggling with a client pushing your costs down, I encourage you to stick to your guns. There are lots of ways to make it a bit more digestible to them, and help it across the line, regardless of the budget they’ve given you. And often they can get more money to make it happen if they understand why.

But if you ditch some of the resources, time and money which make you good at what you do, you risk dropping the ball, reducing the quality of your work, and never being hired by them again.

The creatives don’t remember the restraints you had, just the final result, and they’re usually the ones choosing you for the next job.

The suits, art buyers and producers will remember the people who made their lives easier and their client happy.

Achieve both and it’s a win win.