Difficult Clients?

[Chris Saper]

Dear Leslie,

I think that every one of us has at least occasionally, had the feeling that "Difficult client" is just redundant in the Department of the Redundancy Department

You might look at three-part pricing structure - several hundred down for the photo sitting, 40% or so in order to start the painting, (both non-refundable) and balance on delivery. When I handled all my own local business, I used to break up the payment method this way, and even though I told the client the % down was non-refundable, I would refund the $ anyway if I couldn't make him or her happy.

You're right, there is nothing worse than a client who has a portrait on the wall, and who is ready to tell any and all, "I paid this artist, and got this horrible painting". The second worse thing is to have your client say," I paid this artist and hated the painting and she kept my money and the painting."

I realize that my approach is very un business-like, but at least with the local people, I was out a few hours of time, and had some $ to compensate for the photo shoot. Now that I work mostly out of state with brokers, they handle all the contract and $ issues. Even so, I recently had a situation where I had already conducted the non-refundable sitting, and realized that there wasn't any way I could please the client (having just painted the older child), and I sent the whole deposit back, no questions asked. Writing that check took a huge weight off my shoulders.

[Leslie Ficcaglia]

Dear Chris,

Thanks for sharing your experiences and your feeling about deposits. One of the reasons I have never accepted one in the past was that I didn't want the pressure of feeling that I had to please the client, even if I found it wasn't possible. But with the current situation, I have put many many hours into that painting and I realized that I would have to depend solely on the client's good will to recoup anything at all for my efforts, and that it was possibly not the best way to continue working! This is especially true since I have another painting on an easel which is awaiting completion until the client's visit and on-site reactions, at her request, and she seems in no hurry to show up. This was a woman for whom I had already completed one portrait with which she was very pleased, so I had no expectation that she'd be a problem. You just never know, do you?

I like the idea of charging for the photo shoot and then asking for a percentage once I've blocked the painting in and gotten the client's conceptual approval. This also gives me the opportunity to present a document which details the pricing, which might be an easier way to approach it.

I am especially aware of client reactions to a less-than-acceptable painting because I once got a commission from a local person who had had a posthumous portrait done of his wife by another area artist who is quite accomplished. He hated it and spoke very disparagingly of it and of the artist. He even wanted me to paint over her work, which I refused to do, of course. When I saw the picture I understood why he was dissatisfied; somehow the other painter hadn't caught the subject at all. I ended up doing a double portrait of him and his wife from an old photo and he was so pleased that he had me do another of his wife and their daughter as a toddler. But people will talk, and I don't want anyone talking that way about me, as you also observed! So sometimes it's better just to call it quits and forget about the money.

The other day I got an email from the current client saying that she had looked at the painting and now was satisfied with the way it was progressing, and so was her husband. I'm wondering if she hadn't checked out the latest version that I had sent her just before I saw her at the end of May. I responded that I had made a number of changes since then and I thought she'd be even more pleased with it when she returned from her vacation.

Thanks again for your suggestions!

Leslie