On 05/26/02 23:50.49, Eric Johnson said...
Let's not forget. The path to success is based
on pleasing the client.
I couldn't agree more.
Don't try to win this in court.
I think I know what you are trying to say here but I couldn't agree more with Kristen's statement that a good contract is worth its weight in gold. In the most extreme circumstances, a good contract can mean the difference between going out of business in a nasty lawsuit versus experiencing 0 loss.
You can simply say in your contract:
"Any change from this proposal will have to be
separately approved by you."
I have no disagreement with your statement but one of the huge issues that a contract can clarify is "what is a change". In many instances the answer to this question is by no mean obvious, at least to the client!
Then at an early time in the process (every customer
changes things), introduce the change order, estimate
the change in the overall cost to the client (could
be a lessening of the overall bill or it could
be an increase), and get them in the habit of
signing for changes.
Brilliant advice, IMHO.
Guys, this is not rocket science.
It may not be rocket science but it isn't simple either. A good contract takes a lot of time to put together and should always be a work in progress, in the sense that it should be "upgraded" when appropriate to adapt to new situations or lessons learnt.
You do not need to spend thousands of dollars on an attorney.
I recommend that people study contracts such as the one I published a link to earlier and then write as thorough a contract for themselves as possible, trying to address all issues they believe are pertinent. Then give the contract to an attorney for review and suggestions/improvements. If someone doesn't have the extra funds available to pay an attorney, then I suspect a good "self-written" contract is probably much better than none at all.
A good attorney will tell you that good practice
is worth a million dollars in legal fees. Don't
set a precedent by allowing "a couple of gimmie
trips" to be included.
Any good contractor sets accurate estimates, works
to complete the job satisfactorily, and bills
the client for any changes. That is life...
Don't spend excessively on having your contracts
rewritten. Be obsessive about pleasing your clients
and being completely fair with them.
Remember, you are worth spending money on! Your
abilities and skills are valuable. Stomp out the
idea that any amount of money spent entitles a
client to freebies. Money spent = Great Performance
and/or Great Ease of Operation. It does not equal
"gimmie trips"!!!
I mostly agree and again think you are giving some really great advice.
p.s. Here is one simple example of a clause that one of our clients tried to have his attorney include in our contract. It went something to this effect: "If the client must terminate the contract, the client will obtain bids for completion of the job. In the event that the cost to complete the job is greater than the amount owed to the contractor, the contractor agrees to pay the difference to the client. In the event that the cost to complete the job is less than the amount owed to the contractor, the client agrees to pay the difference to the contractor". I told the attorney I admired his attempt to include the clause, but NO THANKS, I preferred not to sign my business away (how often do you think the cost to finish a project terminated mid-way would be less than the cost to complete it based on the original contract).
This message was edited by QQQ on 05/27/02 02:11.37.
