It is an unfortunate thing, but we will all have to deal with a lowballing client at some point. What do you do when that happens? This great video discusses five tips that can help you deal with a lowballing client and possibly turn them into a paying customer.
Coming to you from Mike Wilhelm with Videomaker, this helpful video discusses five tips for dealing with lowballing clients (though it's oriented toward videographers, the tips apply just as well for photographers). We all have to deal with this sort of client throughout our careers, and I have found that quite a bit of the time, it has to do with a lack of understanding more than anything. Of course, there are always going to be potential clients who lowball you simply because they don't value what you do enough, and nothing you do will convince them otherwise, but a lot of clients do it not out of malicious intent but simply out of ignorance. With some careful education, I've found that they often come around and are happy to pay the proper price (and on the other hand, those who don't aren't worth my time anyway). Check out the video above for more of Wilhelm's tips.
![Business of Photography: Eight Tips I Wish I Had Known Earlier [Part Two]](https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/small-16-9/s3/lead/2018/06/business_of_photography_eight_tips_i_wish_i_had_known_earlier_part_two_0.jpg)
Just list the5 things. I don't watch many videos
lol the entitlement. Instead of saying thank you for finding and presenting the content, this dude is demanding the site changes it's entire workflow just to accommodate one lazy dude who can't be bothered to watch a video.
Actually that's not asking a lot if FStoppers wants readers. I don't watch most videos and even skip most news sites that only provide them. I can read a lot faster than I can watch a video and it takes a lot less bandwidth.
Two more tips on impressing potential clients:
1) Proofread your text before posting.
2) Don't use all caps.
I have one response. "Sorry, I am booked. Good luck on your project".
I don't even want to talk to them.
I am too old to waste time educating people who are operating out of their depth.
They may be good clients in the future but I am not their business nursemaid today.
I am puzzled as to why I would waste time (the only thing I have in my life) to educate someone who has chosen not to learn the business they are in who, in turn may or may not be in the business two months later. Or who may just go find someone else anyway.
The best way to succeed is to market to people who ARE professional with all that means.
When I was a kid I was told I could not just walk in to a business and expect to be taken seriously. I was expected to get an education then low profile experience starting at the bottom in the field. Today we get a nice, eager but ignorant child placed in a job that the unprofessional organization deems not worth putting an experienced person into.
This is the result of everyone in the world thinking that a DIY approach to business (and I daresay public policy) is just as good as expertise.
It isn't.
The best thing for your business is referral business. The people who come to you in that case are already prepared to (roughly) to pay a proper rate. The additional upside is your time and expense on marketing is greatly reduced.
In my case I have zero social media and only my website. My costs are near zero and clients call me regularly and refer me to others. It only took my 10 years to get to that happy state. But, as the saying goes "there are no shortcuts to a place worth getting to."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVkLVRt6c1U