If your clients are acting unprofessional, it does not help to stoop to their level. You should maintain your professionalism and integrity. If they want you to work under terms that are not fair or you find offensive, it is time for you to walk away and find new clients. Don’t waste your time with them.

I am always getting asked for free photos at my job. I politely hand them a business card, and say that they can contact my office to order a photo. If they persist, I explain that my company cannot make money if they give away their service for free. Sometimes even after that they persist and I will explain that if I give them photos for free (understand these are people working for the client, not our actual client), then our client would also want free photo thus hurting our business and ability to stay in business and providing photos. Usually they get it by this point. If not, I just stay the course with polite responses and a never wavering from our policy of no free photos.

One other tactic these people seeking freebies usually employ is saying, “it’s just one time” or “it’s just for me.” But if you can make them realize that pretty much every job you go to someone asks you that same question and gives you that same reasoning and you’re photos sell for $25 for an 8×10 (sample #s) and they usually want 3-4 photos, times maybe 3-4 jobs a day, times about 250 working days/year…well, that’s about $18,750 – $25,000 of lost income per year with the given numbers! Try asking them to think about that. Would their boss be happy if they were giving away $25,000 of free product per year?

I wonder how ‘professional’ they would become when you (the client) inform them they wont be paid for the work until you have ‘onsold’ the house at auction later in the year.

I wonder how ‘professional’ and careful they would be with your house if you refused to accept their ‘terms’ until you have seen them complete at least one room of the house entirely on ‘spec’ first. Explaining to them that if the spec room isnt up to your standards you will keep the room for free and not hire them.

What I am asking is this: how professional are your builders if you treat them with the same disdain that professional photographers get treated day in day out by art buyers and corporate clients?

I challenge you.