How much to chase a client ?

someone calls up , we talk and i quote them a price

they call back 2 days later agreeing to go ahead

i email them a contract and they say they will get it back to me straight away

10 days later, no contract back, i email to ask if everything is alright to which she says "yes yes just sending it off today"

10 days later, no contract

how (and what is the best way) to contact them again without seeming pushy ?

dynamitetony wrote in post #16887644
someone calls up , we talk and i quote them a price

they call back 2 days later agreeing to go ahead

i email them a contract and they say they will get it back to me straight away

10 days later, no contract back, i email to ask if everything is alright to which she says "yes yes just sending it off today"

10 days later, no contract

how (and what is the best way) to contact them again without seeming pushy ?

Shoot a quick email and say, "I just checked my schedule and that email with the contract you sent on Thursday never came through, can you please resend it?"

thanks. i was bordering on thinking not to hassle them but did email them. . . luckily i did

reply:

I sent the contract with cheque back two weeks ago.

shall I send it again?

Let them know you will inform them after you received their contract AND payment and that will confirm the date. In the meantime, that day is still wide open for anyone else.

Chances are they are either...
a. Really badly organised (unlikely to make a good client)
b Still shopping around for other options and keeping you dangling in the meantime.

I would be tempted to tell them that "you still have not received the contract/cheque and, as such the date is not booked. You will be happy to book that date on receipt of the con/che but if you receive another booking for that date in the mean time you will have to accept it".

Unless this client is going to make or break your month/quarter/year, it sounds like the type of client that will be more trouble than it's worth.

From the other side I hate being hounded. My wife and I are shopping for a new vehicle and all the salesmanship has accomplished is establishing who I WON'T be doing business with. That's just one person's perspective.

from what she said above, it sounded genuine that she had posted it off and it had not arrived, will find out in next few days if she posts another one

i guess, nothing ventured nothing gained, and i was right to contact her again.

i dont want to be pushy or seem desperate when dealing with a client but i guess the worst thing is that they say they dont want to use you anymore and then you know

Well the truth is that under the law of averages, if you bother people with follow up calls, more than 50% of the time it pressures people into making a move. It's annoying, but that's why people still do it. So therefore, it's worth following up.

In my experience, chasing clients is a fruitless exercise.
After my initial quote, if I don't hear back from them within a couple of day I'll email them back just to touch base and ask if they are still interested and leave it at that. If they don't get back to you, Dan is right, they are probably really unorganized and will make a bad client.

Sales is what I do for a living - it takes on average 9 contacts to turn somebody from prospect to client. follow-up is not an annoyance, it's vital for your business success.

You also have to count on the fact that excrement happens, and that emails do get lost in the ozone layer on a regular basis. I know from personal experience that one email that was sent to me took over six weeks to arrive.

But the absolute best way to follow-up is pick up the phone.

DaveThielen wrote in post #16892892
Sales is what I do for a living - it takes on average 9 contacts to turn somebody from prospect to client. follow-up is not an annoyance, it's vital for your business success.

You also have to count on the fact that excrement happens, and that emails do get lost in the ozone layer on a regular basis. I know from personal experience that one email that was sent to me took over six weeks to arrive.

But the absolute best way to follow-up is pick up the phone.

If I get to the point where I'm contacting someone 9 different times to essentially harass them into hiring me, I'm also getting to the point where if they do decide to cave, they'll be hating me for the entire duration of the shoot.

There's more to this than just selling them a widget and moving on. We have to actually interact with our clients from start to finish, and they're hatred of us is going to be painfully obvious in the photographs, at least in the realm of portraiture.

What I want is a client who already wanted me to shoot them and only had to find out if I have a package/service that will fit their needs.

I have no fear of standing up for my own policies as a business, but it's not a good idea to contact people 9 times just to get them to decide to hire you. That's a number crossing the line of obnoxiousness.

dynamitetony wrote in post #16887644
10 days later, no contract

how (and what is the best way) to contact them again without seeming pushy ?

I wouldn't bother contacting them at all.
If you have to push this hard for the contract, how hard is every other part of the deal going to be?

I have done a lot in sales and marketing and one thing I have learned is you don't want every client that comes along. some are better to let go because they take up a disproportionate amount of your time, cause too much stress and never go near compensating you financially for the amount of effort and problems they cause.

You have done enough. if they aren't excited/ committed/ motivated to get back to you by now, if you can get get the contract/ deposit out of them, I very much fear you are only making a rod for your own back further down the line.

cdifoto wrote in post #16897882
If I get to the point where I'm contacting someone 9 different times to essentially harass them into hiring me, I'm also getting to the point where if they do decide to cave, they'll be hating me for the entire duration of the shoot.

There's more to this than just selling them a widget and moving on. We have to actually interact with our clients from start to finish, and they're hatred of us is going to be painfully obvious in the photographs, at least in the realm of portraiture.

What I want is a client who already wanted me to shoot them and only had to find out if I have a package/service that will fit their needs.

I have no fear of standing up for my own policies as a business, but it's not a good idea to contact people 9 times just to get them to decide to hire you. That's a number crossing the line of obnoxiousness.

You hear the "Rule of 7" all the time in the Sales game but that includes all possible contact including passive contact via advertising and websites.

I agree, if you're contacting, or "touching" someone for a shoot nine times, you're doing it wrong and need to be focusing your energy differently.

dynamitetony wrote in post #16888720
from what she said above, it sounded genuine that she had posted it off and it had not arrived, will find out in next few days if she posts another one

i guess, nothing ventured nothing gained, and i was right to contact her again.

i dont want to be pushy or seem desperate when dealing with a client but i guess the worst thing is that they say they dont want to use you anymore and then you know

I would have said something like, "I can understand the importance of you needing these photos, don't post the cheque, I'll come and pick it up and we can set a date to shoot while I am there. It'll give us a chance to meet and discuss any ideas you may have".

SuffolkGal wrote in post #16913453
I would have said something like, "I can understand the importance of you needing these photos, don't post the cheque, I'll come and pick it up and we can set a date to shoot while I am there. It'll give us a chance to meet and discuss any ideas you may have".

I wouldn't. Sends a message of desperation and wastes your time and gas.