You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink…

I have an amazing equine photography contract, written by the best in the business: The Contract Shop (shop the template here and use KMP20 for 20% off). Yet, I can’t force people to adhere to it. So how to I handle a breach of contract by my clients? What warrants confrontation, and when do I simply look the other way?

For me, customer service stays at the forefront of my mind when I’m weighing the benefits and costs of confronting someone. It is my goal to have every encounter with me and my brand be a positive one. I want to make people feel known, seen, and loved.

Let’s look at some common examples:

1. Client edits or crops an image

My contract explicitly states that cropping/editing/altering the image is forbidden. However, I have never enforced this. Why? I don’t want to be a policeman. No one likes the feeling of being in trouble, and I never want someone to associate me and my brand with bad feelings. Instead, I try to remind myself that I am happy they love their images and are posting them. I comment on the photo with praise and positive words.

2. Client is late to pay

I have outlined the payment terms and the penalties for paying late, yet I give a lot of grace when it comes time to enforce this. However, my contract does state that images will not be delivered until final payment is received and I do stand by that.

3. Giving images to others

My packages include permission to print and post for personal use only. Sometimes, my clients give their images to companies or media outlets. In these cases, I might kindly remind my clients that they need to direct any requests like this to me. Typically, I would rather exclude my client from the interaction and reach out to the company directly myself to resolve the issue.

A contract exists to protect both parties and there is certainly a time and a place to enforce the terms of my contract. However, for minor and trivial offenses I like to keep a bigger picture in mind and a happy client means the most to me!