Best way to turn a client down?

An existing client of mine referred me to a friend of his to shoot a concert for his music school. They both operate their own music schools and while I am interested in expanding my "horizons" (I am more of a wedding photographer actually) and was happy to get the word of mouth business, it's not something critical to my business.

I initially told the person I will consider doing it and gave him a quote. I have since discovered that the venue this is being held at has very strict rules regarding photography. So much so that the whole thing has become a turn-off for me. In other words, it's just too much hassle to have to rent a sound blimp and the generally stress of having to worry about making too much noise. I've got better things to worry about!

So while I initially sounded very positive about this project, I now want to turn it down, but delicately. I do enjoy shooting recitals at regular school auditoriums, just not with all these restrictions.

Any advice on how to go about turning the client down would be much appreciated! :o

Tell them someone else has booked you for that date. No Contract = Nothing Firm
You were still available and another gig came along.

I did this for 25 years as a freelance broadcast technician and it never, ever put anyone's nose out of joint. (I did have to make sure I didn't attend the event I turned down however...)

nicksan,

your explanation of the truth should be good enough. Restrictions at venue = you not being sure you can deliver meaningful work to the customer.

Being honest and up front usually leads to mutual understanding.

dave

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11260249
Tell them someone else has booked you for that date. No Contract = Nothing Firm
You were still available and another gig came along.

I did this for 25 years as a freelance broadcast technician and it never, ever put anyone's nose out of joint. (I did have to make sure I didn't attend the event I turned down however...)

The thing is, I told him I had nothing booked that day and then gave him a quote. No contract was signed but it just feels like I would be going back on my word. It was strictly a back and forth via email. I think I did sound like I was committing to it, and in fact I was because I thought I had nothing booked in Feb (Now I might have 2 weddings, but that's not the reason why I want to turn this down) and it sounded like the usual recitals I shoot a few times a year. No problem right? Wrong. I did the research on the venue which I guess I should have done before I told him I'll do it, and immediately thought "Hell No!"...

snyderman wrote in post #11260477
nicksan,

your explanation of the truth should be good enough. Restrictions at venue = you not being sure you can deliver meaningful work to the customer.

Being honest and up front usually leads to mutual understanding.

dave

Yes, I intend to explain to them that these restrictions are too much. I think at this point telling them I have something else booked wouldn't look good because I already told him I checked my calendar and I wasn't booked that day.

I'm just not used to turning clients down so this is very difficult for me.

nicksan wrote in post #11260478
The thing is, I told him I had nothing booked that day and then gave him a quote. No contract was signed. It was strictly a back and forth via email. I think I did sound like I was committing to it, and in fact I was because I thought I had nothing booked in Feb (Now I might have 2 weddings, but that's not the reason why I want to turn this down) and it sounded like the usual recitals I would shoot. No problem right? Wrong. I did the research on the venue which I guess I should have done before I told him I'll do it, and immediately thought "Hell No!"...

Well, there's always the "blunt force honesty" approach...

Simply tell them that on further inspection, the cost overages based on their spec (Blimp, etc) Vs The Rate doesn't balance.

Either they'll say Thanks Anyways, or they'll cough up more coin. Is there a dollar figure that would actually make it doable for you or is it simply too big a bag of spiders all the way around?

FlyingPhotog wrote in post #11260501
Well, there's always the "blunt force honesty" approach...

Simply tell them that on further inspection, the cost overages based on their spec (Blimp, etc) Vs The Rate doesn't balance.

Either they'll say Thanks Anyways, or they'll cough up more coin. Is there a dollar figure that would actually make it doable for you or is it simply too big a bag of spiders all the way around?

If a sound blimp needs to be rented, I would ask them to pay for it. Sure, there's always a dollar figure that would make it doable, but I know they won't pay for a lot more than I was going to charge them.

It's really a simple matter of not wanting to do it anymore so even if they pay me more, I just wouldn't enjoy shooting in such a venue and I promised myself in the beginning I would never take on jobs I wouldn't enjoy shooting.

I know I don't want to do it. It's just a matter of telling them delicately. I've never had to decline a project before so this is all a challenge to me.:o