The fine art of quoting

Whether you call it quoting or estimating, this element of an assignment is crucial.Spend insufficient time or care to the task and you could either be needlessly missing out on commissions, or earning much less than you should be, and paying for things – both with your time and money – that should be the client’s responsibility.

The assignment

Assignments vary widely depending on the client and the specifics of the project. Each assignment should be treated individually, taking into consideration how much or how little production value is associated with it. This will in turn impact your quote/estimate and how long it takes to prepare.

A simple assignment, such as photographing different well-known athletes for spread in a magazine on a regular basis will require very different planning requirements to say an advertising campaign with multiple promotion and advertising uses or covering, say, a food festival where you are required to shoot a combination of food, people, logistics, editorial and key imagery over the course of several days. All of these scenarios will require a slightly different approach, and breakdown of costs.

Rate schedule

Your rate schedule is central to your quote, and should include photographic charges and all anticipated expenses, including pre-production. If you neglect to include an expense, you might have a great deal of trouble getting a client to pay for it after the fact. It should also reflect all your terms and conditions and be updated roughly every six months. Any time you send out a quote, it should also appear on branded letterhead.

Pre-production

Every job entails times spent on pre-production, regardless of its size, and a fee for this should be factored into your estimate, preferably as a separate line item. This shows the client that your time is in fact valuable, and that you should be paid accordingly.

Pre-production typically involves client meetings, including phone calls to the client, sourcing various assistants and crew, props and equipment, casting talent, researching various aspects of the assignment including logistics, searching maps and satellite views online, location reccies, booking a studio and equipment, and organising catering. It’s your time and it all needs a value attached.

It is common practice for your pre-production rate to be lower than your photography rate. Some photographers also have producers on staff or hire them freelance on a per-job basis, so make sure you factor these costs in.

Charging for photography

How you charge for your photography will depend on the market sectors you work in. Commercial, industrial and corporate photography generally doesn’t have the market saturation advertising campaign images have, so the larger portion of your fee may be more time-based. It is typically calculated at about the same rate as advertising, though some photographers differentiate between the two genres and may charge 20% - 30% less than their advertising rate. The duration the images are licensed for can often be longer so this presents opportunities to value add.

Editorial and media photographers tend to have rates dictated to them by publishers which are very much based on time; per half or full day (up to 4–5 hours for a half day and up to 8–10 hours for a full day). The rates offered are very low compared to commercial and advertising rates – often up to 70% less! These rates will vary marginally between publishers but have generally remained stagnant for many years and not been indexed to the CPI.

If you are quoting an advertising campaign, for example, your Photography (or Creative) Fee should not be quoted as a day rate, or only on the time actually spent on the shoot, but rather be made up of your time plus a Base Usage Rate, (commonly referred to as BUR), or licensing fee, that includes one or two media. What you charge for this Base Usage will depend on the included media. For example, your BUR may include national press advertising and company website but exclude point-of-sale, metrolites and billboards, which can all be quoted as additional usage.

The quote

Before you can actually put a quote together, you’ll need to gather a great deal of information from the prospective client. The more information you have, the more precise your quote can be. Just some of the information you’ll need may include:

• Exact client requirements.
• What the shoot entails.
• Where the assignment will take place and for how long.
• The number of images to be delivered.
• How the images will be used and for how long.

The brief

Much of the information you require will most likely come from a, hopefully, detailed brief from the client. If your quote is based on the brief provided, and the brief subsequently changes, you need to make it clear to the client, on your initial quote, that such changes may affect the final amount charged.

In getting a clear picture of the assignment, it’s in your best interest to ensure that you gather as much detailed information as possible during the brief. If anything is unclear, be sure to follow up promptly. You’ll also want to make sure that the client differentiates between what is optional and what is necessary, in terms of deliverables, in order to give you both some flexibility. Also clarify the deadline and the preferred delivery method.

Other items for your quote

Below are some other items you should consider including in your quote, as required.

• An overview of your understanding of the assignment, its requirements and deliverables.
• Travel time and expenses.
• Pre- and post production.
• Location scouting.
• Photographer’s assistant/s.
• Models, talent.
• Props, stylist, hair and makeup.
• Hotels, meals, rental car, kilometre rate, tolls, permits.
• Image handling and processing.
• Equipment charges.
• Studio and equipment hire.
• Couriers and product deliveries and returns.

Charging expenses

Each expense is important to estimate/quote, so ensure you gather as much information from the client as possible. In your estimate, keep your fees separate from your expenses. Assignments are not speculative, nor should you take advantage of the client. Honesty is important.

Five basic rules

1. Establish early on whether you are the right fit for the job and if the client can afford you. There is no point spending valuable hours on a quote you are never going to get.

2. Never give a verbal quote on the spot, or over the phone, and try and avoid ball-park figures - you’ll always think of something afterwards you forgot to add. Simply tell the client that you need to sit down and work it out properly and that you will get back to them shortly. The exception to this being if you have a fixed price for a particular product, package or service, or you have your rate sheet on hand and you can easily determine a costs from it.

3. Put all quotes in writing. The easiest way is to use a template to write it up and e-mail it as a PDF.

4. Always include your trading terms and conditions.

5. Always get a written confirmation agreeing to your quote. A return e-mail is fine and will stand up in court if there is a dispute. A Purchase Order stating your Quote Reference number is even better.

More information

To learn more about this this crucial aspect of any photography business, check out the Quoting and Invoicing Workshop run by Lisa Saad at Gotham Studios, in Melbourne, on 14 November.