Awkward Church Photos and the Hard Sell

This blog entry timed perfectly with what's happening here at Hillcrest this week- photos for our new church directory!

The directory is such an invaluable tool for a church.  Having a tool where people can match up names with faces is priceless.  And with the nature change within churches- as in many organizations- we need to update our directory every 2-3 years so it's current.  Most people get that.  What agitates/frustrates/scares most people isn't necessarily that their photo will end up on this site but they don't want to endure the photographer's hard sell.  People getting their picture taken for a directory photo don't want:

• to be guilted into making a purchase. 
• to be told 'hey, we're trying to pay for a directory'
• to be pressured to use put it on their credit card after they've said they can't afford the photos
• to be given a coupon, try to use that coupon, and then told they can't use the coupon because they aren't spending enough (even though the coupon didn't disclose said information).

The short of it- if the pics are great and there is value into purchasing them, people will purchase.

Thankfully, so far, the photographers here have been great, professional, and not employing any of the above tactics.