Have you ever felt completely underprepared? Like, ‘dreaming that you are standing in front of your church in your underpants because you forgot to put pants on, except realizing it’s not a dream and you’re really standing in front of your church in your underpants’ kind of underprepared? Yeah, it doesn’t feel good. Now truthfully, before anyone gets the wrong idea, neither one of us have ever forgotten to wear our trousers to church. But, like most people, we sure have found ourselves in situations where we felt completely underprepared.
Recently, however, we found ourselves in a completely different situation. We were extremely over prepared. More like, ‘wearing a three piece suit to a pool party’ over prepared. And the truth is, it felt just as awkward, and worse. See in this case, it meant money spent that didn’t need to be. And that meant less profit at the end of the day. So how did we find ourselves wearing Gucci instead of Tommy Bahama? By not asking the right questions.
We had a shoot lined up that we were over the moon excited for! It was a high profile client and a huge opportunity! We knew one thing for sure – we weren’t going to be underprepared! So with limited information (on our part for lack of asking helpful questions) we began making plans for the shoot. We made a lot of assumptions, which led to a lot of mistakes. We took one part of what the client said, and presumed that it was the whole enchilada!
That led to us purchasing additional equipment, renting additional equipment, and coming up with DIY’s to solve a few other problems. We rolled into the shoot and spent 30 minutes unloading gear and another 30 minutes setting up gear. In total we spent over $500 on rentals and purchases (and borrowed a car) just to prepare for the shoot!
Now, ready for the good part? (We’re just starting to be able to laugh about it now!)
We didn’t use any of it.
Not. One. Bit.
To say we walked away frustrated wouldn’t be true. We weren’t, because we had just finished an amazing shoot and we were totally thrilled! What we did walk away learning, however, was invaluable, and probably worth the $500 cost of tuition.
The lesson: Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
The more you know, the better you can serve your client! Just because you have a huge opportunity that you are dying to land, doesn’t mean you have to be timid about asking for more detail. Asking the right questions will show the client that you are a professional and establish trust, all while getting you the information you need.
It’s simple, but sometimes we get in our own way by not asking the questions. We hope our little lesson can save you from showing up in the same situation!
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