Changeing turn around time for photos?

[tina___cliff_t]

<p>When we first started, and put together our contract we were only doing 1-2 weddings a month, but since then its increased to 4-6 weddings (not every month, comes in waves). 2009 was our first year, we learned really fast that the turn around time we initially put on the contract was not long enough when we are shooting that many weddings.<br>

<br /> We managed to make it through last year, but it was a lot of late nights to get albums designed, prints ordered, pictures edited before the next wedding so that we could keep with our times, especially with shipping being longer because of the holiday.</p>

<p>What is the best way to go about changing the turn around time, and then notifying people that have already signed with us? Should we just let them know, or should we send them a notice and ask them to sign it?</p>

<p>Thanks.</p>

[mark_t5]

<p>you cant...if it is in the contract it is what it is. Hence the point of having a contract. you can try to notify the clients ( the sooner the better ) and ask if its ok..but it is in their right to say no.</p>

<p>to now offer them another piece of paper to sign saying that now the delivery time is longer is simply unprofessional, not to mention it is probably not legal.</p>

<p>let me ask you this..if the clients suddenly comes to you and say hey, i want you to sign this addendum stating that we now can pay the remainder of the balance 1 month after the wedding, would that be ok? would you sign it? how would you feel?</p>

<p>what terms are being changed is irrelevant..it is the fact that you are trying to change the terms of a previous agreement to favor one side and shortchanging the other</p>

<p>but what do i know..im not a lawyer.</p>

[george_boyd1]

<p>Tina and Cliff, I can sympathise. I'm based in Scotland; last year I upped my work-rate (interestingly, because of opportunities to photograph at different, great venues on offer) and landed with the same problem of long days and late nights. This year I've retaken control but that means cutting back on weddings; as has been said, contracts and promises do mean something and have to be honoured.</p>

[neilambrose]

<p>You can't do anything about your current obligations except do whatever it takes to meet the terms you've agreed in contract. Which means in the short term a lot of pressure and perhaps not much sleep.</p>

<p>But to avoid it in future the best way is to raise your prices.</p>

<p>If you get the balance right you can have the same or better level of income but with more time between weddings. This makes workflow much easier and gives you more scope to produce a top quality product. And more polished products lead to more discerning clients with larger budgets, which in turn perpetuates the growth of your business and your product. Equally, having more time between weddings means more opportunity for marketing, thereby increasing your penetration into the right client base.</p>

<p>Nothing you don't already know, I'm sure, but it's often something people are afraid to do.</p>

<p>The problem is by not controlling demand through pricing, photographers can find themselves on a downward spiral -- too much work, insufficient opportunity to push quality, hence more limited access to premium clients, hence having to set lower prices and book more work to cover the short fall ... It becomes circular and ends only in burn out in the short-term, and in the long-term often in business failure.</p>

[rt_jones]

<p><strong><em>What is the best way to go about changing the turn around time, and then notifying people that have already signed with us? </em></strong></p>

<p>Pick up the phone and tell them?</p>

<p>I've found clients to be quite understandable. Just explain you're stuck in a backlog because you've been so popular. Post 20 PP'd images for them to get by with until you're caught up.<br>

And change your agreement to something a bit more vague regarding expected delivery time. Include the fact that delivery times willy vary depending on peak season.</p>

[mark_t5]

<blockquote>

<p>And change your agreement to something a bit more vague regarding expected delivery time. Include the fact that delivery times willy vary depending on peak season.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Hmm... imho that is one of the worst advice I've heard.. We actually tell our clients to watch out and avoid for people that don't give you a good sense of when they can deliver the images. There is nothing worse than a bride that's been waiting for their pictures for a year because they signed a contract that said "delivery time may vary depending on season". ( yes, there are those that been waiting for a year to get their pictures ).</p>

<p>You should have a fairly good idea of how long it takes for you to deliver the images. If you don't, then figure it out. It is not that hard. Pad the numbers if you must, you can always deliver earlier. But put a number in the contract.</p>

<p>People already complain about the cable company saying they'll be in your house hooking up the cable sometime from 8-5... don't follow their way of operating.</p>

[rt_jones]

<p><em><strong>Hmm... That is just bad customer service if you ask me. We tell our clients to watch out for people that don't give you a good sense of when they can deliver the images.</strong></em></p>

<p>No, it's merely being "honest" and realistic. Every agreement is full of gray matter, most of it intended to protect yourself from honest, unintentional consequences and hardships. Especially if you're a solo shooter.</p>

<p>And I didn't say exclude all consumer protectionism. Put a liberal and realistic "time range" in your agreement like, X-Y weeks along with the caveat I mentioned. Then beat that expectation on final delivery.</p>

<p> </p>

[g.e._masana]

<p>I wouldn't box myself by putting a specific deadline on a contract. I know a photog. who's done just that and is now stressing. Give ranges of time instead to permit for worst case scenarios. Ah, Rome wasn't built in a day after all, despite the project manager's optimistic timeline.<br>

But to address your current situation, call each customer and explain it to them in terms of how they will benefit by permitting you an extension so that you may have the needed time to treat their assignment. Be careful not to give the incorrect impression that if they don't grant permission that their work will suffer; more along the truthful lines that just as Rome wasn't built in a day, you're finding that taking a little time than you anticipated yields more attention given to their photos.</p>

[davebell]

<p>Tina and Cliff T - excuse me if I am incorrect, but I recall from previous posts that you shoot many thousands of shots at each wedding, down-selecting to some or other lower number. If this is the case, you could consider being more selective and reducing the amount of shots you take. I firmly believe this will not compromise quality at all, and in fact could be a positive in that you can take more time to consider your next shot. This alone would reduce your turn around time.</p>

<p>Secondly, I have become a lot more slick in my work flow, from RAW images on CF cards, adjustments and conversions in ACR, then a touch of PS (CS2....), to creating slideshows and web galleries. I know exactly what I am doing every step of the way. I know exactly what I want to achieve and how to go about it. This comes through experience and being very comfortable with the tools at ones disposal. My workflow may be a bit old-school - and I am considering Lightroom now - but whatever yours is, there may be room for optimisation to reduce the time spent on the comnputer. Efficiency is a major factor in any business. My first wedding, years ago, took around 40 hours to post process, now I do it all in around 6-8 hours delivering a similar quantity of shots to the client.</p>

<p>Just my thoughts....</p>

[tina___cliff_t]

<p>Thanks everyone. Guess we'll just have to stick it out, but we did change it in our contracts for now on. Thanks again!</p>

[rt_jones]

<p><em><strong>you could consider being more selective and reducing the amount of shots you take. </strong></em><br>

Good point. At the very least try to cull images in camera. I do this during dinner and am amazed at all the duds, duplicates and just plain stupid shots I still get.</p>

[Jerry_]

<p>Any contract may be 'modified' if both parties are in <em>agreement</em> .</p>

<p> </p>

[katie_odell1]

<p>Tina & Cliff -<br>

We are in a similar position in that we experienced huge growth in 2009 and became backlogged with our editing. First, if a prior poster is correct and you shoot several thousand shots, you may want to be more selective in what and when you shoot - that many images to cull and go through post production is just too time consuming, and if you are not meeting your contractual obligations then it is definitely time to examine why you are shooting so many images.<br>

We have decided for 2010 to not only increase the time that is stated in our contract, but to improve our workflow. We have found color correction of raw images take us the longest time, and it is the thing we like to do the least, so we are outsourcing that part of workflow to Lavalu. We have also limited the amount of weddings we will take on during the year. We are also hiring an intern that will take over smaller daily tasks like filing, emails, phones, image back up and mailings so that I can concentrate on editing and other things. We have just decided there are some things that, even though we enjoy them, take our focus from our current clients, and that needed to change.<br>

So, certainly change your contract, but also take a long hard look at what got you to this point, and determine what things you can outsource or change to improve your workflow (and likely regain some sanity and sleep!).</p>

[michaelchadwickphotography]

<p>As everyone will probably agree, this is a fantastic problem to have.</p>

<p>"Pad the numbers if you must, you can always deliver earlier. But put a number in the contract."</p>

<p>How much happier is a bride going to be if you tell her 4-6 weeks and deliver in 2 or 3? Pad it. That's what I do. I tell them 4-6 weeks and have almost NEVER taken that long. I use it as a way to provide the best possible service.<br>

As for the existing ones you think you might not be able to fulfill, one potential approach is to give them something for their wait time. You might get less resistance to an added week or two if you say "This is completely my fault as we've gotten a lot busier of late, and in light of your added wait time we would love to provide you with a complimentary 16x20 framed print of your choice." - or something of actual value that they will appreciate.</p>

[lindsay_dobson]

<p>RT Jones: <strong>At the very least try to cull images in camera. I do this during dinner and am amazed at all the duds, duplicates and just plain stupid shots I still get.</strong><br>

No - never. It's a fast road to a potential disaster. What if you hit the wrong button and deleted the whole lot? It does happen. Or at the very least you could end up removing shots which have some meaning to the clients (even if they're duds to your eyes). It can be impossible to judge an image on the back of the camera. I would only ever recommend culling images when you're back at your desk, looking at a decent monitor. </p>