I need advice PLEASE re: reception shooting

[i Kandi Photography]

I get an email from a client wanting to hire me to just shoot 4 hrs of her reception and then 1 hour of a private group session. My Website states that I have a "Design your own" pacakge which is 150.00 / hr typically 5 hrs or less. I responded to her email letting her know that would be the rate. She emails back saying she really likes our work but that is above her budget and she wants to negotiate a different price and was hoping I would take something off to just have 1 Photographer shoot instead of 2 (since all of my packages include 2 photographers). Well i shoot with 2 because my Husband also shoots and it is not money out of my pocket. I prefer to have 2 photographers because it's less likely you will miss something. It's not extra work for me. I don't feel that 150/hr is too much and Im trying to find a nice way to respond without coming off wrong. I have a hard time with wording things sometimes in a professional manner but still trying to explain why I really cannot come down. Any suggestions? Also, do you feel I am wrong?
IMO, Most of the work involved in a Wedding is the reception (because of the hours spent shooting ) and the group photos. The ceremony itself is only an hour long most of the time and most of the photos taken are pretty much the same photos of them at the alter. So, I dont feel i should come down for the reception and group shots.... ?

 

[tirediron]

I would stick to your guns. Negotiating in cases like this is a slippery slope, and you may well find yourself getting requests from more people who want discounts. I would respond by asking her what her budget is, and offering to shoot that much time; perhaps rounding up to the next full hour (Eg, if she can afford 2.6 hrs, round up to 3), but I wouldn't do anything beyond that.

 

[i Kandi Photography]

I would stick to your guns. Negotiating in cases like this is a slippery slope, and you may well find yourself getting requests from more people who want discounts. I would respond by asking her what her budget is, and offering to shoot that much time; perhaps rounding up to the next full hour (Eg, if she can afford 2.6 hrs, round up to 3), but I wouldn't do anything beyond that.

Thank you for the advice!! Do you think my rates for something like that is unreasonable? I include a DVD of all the images and i also edit every single photo. Im pretty anal when it comes to things. So i need to charge for my time after the event as well...

 

[JerryPH]

NEVER lower your prices. NEVER.
If they like your work, they will pay your rates.

Experience has taught me that the ones that dicker for every penny are the MOST DIFFICULT and challenging clients out there.

The day I doubled my prices in my consulting business, I lost all those difficult (read CHEAP) clients and now have clients that pay me DOUBLE and still appreciate me more than the lower paying clients. My client related challenges also dropped a good 80%.

In business, you must learn to concentrate 75% of your efforts on the direction that gets you 75% of your income. Wasting 75% of your efforts in the people that give you 25% of your income... is bad business.

As far as pricing... depending on the market (you *have* done a market analysis and know what your fellow peers and competitors are charging, yes???), one starts at about the same level as everyone... but once you gain a reputation for quality, uniqueness and excellence, it doesn't matter WHAT anyone else is charging... you write your own ticket.

Look up Jesh De Rox. He started out at $350 for a COMPLETE wedding (10-12 hours!). Today (2 years later), he doesn't bother pressing the shutter once for anything under $10,000 a day and is booked 2 complete years in advance.

He did not lower his rates for anyone... why should you?

 

[i Kandi Photography]

NEVER lower your prices. NEVER.
If they like your work, they will pay your rates.

Experience has taught me that the ones that dicker for every penny are the MOST DIFFICULT and challenging clients out there.

The day I doubled my prices in my consulting business, I lost all those difficult (read CHEAP) clients and now have clients that pay me DOUBLE and still appreciate me more than the lower paying clients. My client related challenges also dropped a good 80%.

In business, you must learn to concentrate 75% of your efforts on the direction that gets you 75% of your income. Wasting 75% of your efforts in the people that give you 25% of your income... is bad business.

As far as pricing... depending on the market (you *have* done a market analysis and know what your fellow peers and competitors are charging, yes???), one starts at about the same level as everyone... but once you gain a reputation for quality, uniqueness and excellence, it doesn't matter WHAT anyone else is charging... you write your own ticket.

Look up Jesh De Rox. He started out at $350 for a COMPLETE wedding (10-12 hours!). Today (2 years later), he doesn't bother pressing the shutter once for anything under $10,000 a day and is booked 2 complete years in advance.

He did not lower his rates for anyone... why should you?

Thanks again everyone! I'm horrible when it comes to rates and what to charge, yet, i dont want to be low balled (word?) either. So, ill let her know . Hopefully she will understand =)