A question for photographers about their clients.
Do you usually deal directly with the company owners or "content managers" and/or "Submission Managers"?
I prefer to deal directly with owners. I've found that the owners are usually quicker to respond, more professional, and generally don't dick you around.
[rant]
Over the last 5 years, some of the companies I've worked with have put content managers in place. As a result, I find myself dealing with people who do not seem to respect the relationships I've built with their companies.
I'll give you a couple of examples:
A few years ago I took on a new client after working out the details with the owner. I then received a $4,000.00 pre-pay for the first shoot. After that, the "content manager" contacted me and said he had additional requests for the shoot. I spent the next 7-9 months chasing the "content manager" to get a complete list of the specs. It got to the point where I had to go back to the owner where I complained about the communication issues with the other guy and offered a refund. The owner responded by sending me a doc with the new specs and I completed the shoot the following week.
Another client always responded to every model submission I made within 3 business days. They would either tell me yes, or no. It's that simple.... Since this client put a "content manager" in place, I've submitted dozens of models and haven't heard a single word about any of them. The content manager writes me asking questions about the kind of gear I use & how I recruit models as if I've never worked with the company before. I went back to the owner and they approved over half the models I submitted.
In most (not all) cases, these other people in the mix create additional delays and other problems that I do not experience when dealing with owners. WTF are they paying these people for?
[/rant]
Anyway, just curious about the experiences other shooters have with this sort of thing.
No need to name any company names as I'm not looking for dirt or drama here.
I prefer to deal directly with owners. I've found that the owners are usually quicker to respond, more professional, and generally don't dick you around.
[rant]
Over the last 5 years, some of the companies I've worked with have put content managers in place. As a result, I find myself dealing with people who do not seem to respect the relationships I've built with their companies.
I'll give you a couple of examples:
A few years ago I took on a new client after working out the details with the owner. I then received a $4,000.00 pre-pay for the first shoot. After that, the "content manager" contacted me and said he had additional requests for the shoot. I spent the next 7-9 months chasing the "content manager" to get a complete list of the specs. It got to the point where I had to go back to the owner where I complained about the communication issues with the other guy and offered a refund. The owner responded by sending me a doc with the new specs and I completed the shoot the following week.
Another client always responded to every model submission I made within 3 business days. They would either tell me yes, or no. It's that simple.... Since this client put a "content manager" in place, I've submitted dozens of models and haven't heard a single word about any of them. The content manager writes me asking questions about the kind of gear I use & how I recruit models as if I've never worked with the company before. I went back to the owner and they approved over half the models I submitted.
In most (not all) cases, these other people in the mix create additional delays and other problems that I do not experience when dealing with owners. WTF are they paying these people for?
[/rant]
Anyway, just curious about the experiences other shooters have with this sort of thing.
No need to name any company names as I'm not looking for dirt or drama here.
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