What to do when your clients don’t like your ideas and how to change their mind!
So you have a lot of (what you think are) great ideas but when you present them to your clients they just think they are weird ideas and they are hesitant (or just down right opposed) to trying them.
I’ve been there. Crushing, I know. You’re excited and want to see your ideas come to life but no one is biting, and you feel like all your creative juices are just going to waste. But have you ever asked yourself WHY your clients won’t go along with your ideas!?
Maybe you start to doubt yourself and start thinking your ideas aren’t weird, they’re just straight up bad. I mean, if they were good wouldn’t people be more excited and see the potential!? Or if your ego is a little louder you might tell yourself it’s not you, you’re a genius, it’s everyone else’s problem! Your clients are just close minded and boring!
But is there something else you’re missing?
If I had to guess your ideas aren’t bad, and they probably aren’t even that crazy or strange, and most of your photography clients might not be as closed off as you think. Your ideas are more than likely just not what your client is initially expecting when they booked their photoshoot.
But there is a way to get your clients on board with your ideas!
Do you just push until they say yes, do you change the idea to match their Pinterest mood board, or do you try a different approach?
First- never push past people’s obvious boundaries, that just makes people uncomfortable, and they HAVE to be comfortable for the photoshoot to be a success. Pushing also makes you super unprofessional, because at the end of the day, this isn’t your shoot, it’s theirs. Respect people. If your ideas mean that much to you book a day to do your own personal creative shoot to add to your portfolio, or explore making some Fine Art pieces.
Second- Don’t cave immediately and stick with “the client is always right” because spoiler alert- they aren’t always right. Once you start to loosen your grip on your creative vision, which is what makes YOU unique in the field of photography, you start to blend in and now clients aren’t booking you for quality or creativity- they are price shopping, and you never want to try to win people over on price because they only way you win that battle is by taking money out of your own pockets. Nope, not doing that!
Giving up also makes you resentful and suppressed feeling. Most of us got into the field of Photography because we wanted a creative outlet and a means to expressive ourselves! Bottling that up is HORRIBLE energy for an Artist and defeats the whole purpose of why we picked our cameras up in the first place!
Sometimes people just need a little bit more understanding of what’s being presented to them, a visual, or a friendly hand guiding them out of their comfort zone.
So instead- Share your photography ideas to your clients with confidence.
More than likely you’re expressing your wild and grand ideas to your client, but you’re not presenting them with unwavering confidence, and they can read that in you.
Why are you being shy about your creativity? Are you nervous they are judging you? Are you already assuming they will say no? Are you unsure how to execute it fully?
Listen- YOU are the professional. You know what looks good. Your client hired you because they trust you.
Take these self portraits for example. This “headpiece” I’m wearing, that made me think of a feathery high fashion headdress, is actually a skirt. I had to take this garment that I know is meant to be zipped up around my butt and stick my head through it to wear like a lion’s mane for these shots. I can do that because I could envision the final results and trust the process. But can a client? Do they have the same creative visualization abilities as I / you do?
Here’s the thing- your client doesn’t need to believe that wearing a skirt on their head is the next trend. They don’t have to leave your studio wearing it. They don’t even have to ever tell anyone the truth behind the portraits. They just need to believe YOU that for the moment, for the photograph, it’s going to be totally worth it!
You get them to believe in you and go along with your ideas by believing in yourself. And they way you speak about your ideas says a lot about your confidence in your abilities.
Imagine if YOU were the client and I said to you:
“Um, so I had this silly idea, I saw this skirt, I know it’s weird, but I thought we could try this out, you would only need to wear it on your head for a few shots, I think it will look good, but you don’t have to if it’s too weird, I get it, I can think of something else.”
Now imagine I said this to you:
“I know you’re really into fashion, I have this skirt that looks like glamorous feathers! We can fit it on your head so it actually looks like a high fashion headdress! Let’s try it out!”
Hear and feel the difference?
The first example shows my hesitancy to bring up a new idea and my unsureness if it’s even going to look good. I admit that it’s weird and suggest without feedback than I can rethink the process.
The second example I KNOW it will good. I’m TELLING you it WILL look good, and WHY. I’m not calling out that it’s unusual, I’m defining why it’s actually a brilliant idea and moving the process forward by suggesting- let’s do this!
Of course they can say no way, but presenting in this way, they’re going to want to try it! It will be easier for them to trust the process, because they trust you, and you trust yourself that this will look amazing! You OWNED your idea.
*Disclaimer-
If your ideas are solid, and you’re leading with confidence, and lots of people are still saying no- evaluate your current clients and current portfolio. Basically, read the room. If you’re posting sunset Mommy and Me minis in a flower field but asking your client to try out a serial killer theme in this cool abandoned building you found, it’s not going to happen, and that’s not their fault. What you’re saying with your current portraits and what you’re saying with your ideas are on opposite spectrums.
Here are some super weird things I’ve gotten my clients to do with confidence:
Lay in a coffin shaped cardboard box full of dry ice.
Climb down a steep ditch into a 6 ft culvert pipe.
Take Senior Portraits on a mausoleum in a cemetery.
Wear a prom dress in an abandoned building.
Light a sock full of lighter fluid on fire and burn down the entire backdrop in my driveway (ok, this didn’t take too much convincing!)
From my experience these weird ideas won’t only make for beautiful, unique portraits they will also make the shoot way more silly and and memorable, which your client will love and rave about! So the next time you have a funky idea- believe in it, and share it with your client with confidence and excitement! You got this!
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