Time to chime in ;-) I haven't read all the posts, but this seems to be a common problem (been there a few times). We recently put together an e-business development guide (http://www.electricedgesystems.com/guide.cfm?pg=guide) to hand to potential new clients. It answers a lot of their technical question AND covers how the development process will and should proceed (also focuses those clients that walk in and want a website....and then....hehe). It's that part that may help lay the groundwork for a lot of folks out there that run into the "how should I handle this client" stuff.
All I can say is I've been burned in a few different ways and now I make people sign NDAs, get a deposit up front, always do a system requirements and technical design doc, and live by change request forms ;-) HTH Bryan Stevenson VP & Director of E-Commerce Development Electric Edge Systems Group Inc. p. 250.920.8830 e. [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------- Macromedia Associate Partner www.macromedia.com --------------------------------------------------------- Vancouver Island ColdFusion Users Group Founder & Director www.cfug-vancouverisland.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jerry Johnson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "CF-Talk" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Monday, March 18, 2002 7:57 AM Subject: RE: OT: Advice and opinion on client who has a problem paying bills > To push it a little farther, I go 50% to start and 50% on delivery on contracting >jobs. > > And I normally bid the work so that the first 50% covers my costs. So (almost >inevitably) as the second half payment drags on, I don't care so much. > > If you manage expectations, and clearly define maintenance vs enhancement work, >clients usually pay off in the end. > > And the few that don't typically treat all their vendors that way. A little bit of >Chamber of Commerce discussion can save you lots of legal fees. > > And remember, you can always back out any changes the client hasn't paid for if you >keep good records and use some form of version control. > > Jerry Johnson > > >>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 03/17/02 01:03PM >>> > Very true. Almost every client over the years has not blinked at a retainer > fee to start the work. We go the route of designers: 33 down, 33 > acceptance of mock, 33 upon delivery to server...or it doesn't go live. The > only ones we have had complain were the ones who would try to take us for a > ride. > > Regards, > > Eric J. Hoffman > Director of Internet Development > DataStream Connexion, LLC > (formerly Small Dog Design) > > -----Original Message----- > From: laszlo [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Saturday, March 16, 2002 1:39 PM > To: CF-Talk > Subject: Re: OT: Advice and opinion on client who has a problem paying > bills > > > Very well said, Mark. > > In addition: > - Many times these kind of things are what I call the > "mismatch of expectations" and is not necessarily > implies that any of the parties is a 'bad guy'. > Therefore, a 'contract' is always a must. > I like writing the scope of work together with > the client: He knows what he wants, I know what > can be done. > We (developers) hate to do this kind of work, > but if you are an independent consultant, it's a > must. > I usually charge hourly rate for writing up specs, > even if I go for a fixed bid. The reason is, that > I cannot give a fix price, before the spec is cast > in stone, but I know, that a detailed spec is > going to take time, otherwise it's useless. > > - I also strongly advocate to maintain a 'retainer' fee. > And while some clients are not crazy about it, you > can explain them why it is necessary. If a client > plainly rejects the retainer idea, it's my experience, > that they may not plan to keep the balance up-to-date. > So I usually don't deal with them. > > Sorry, if some of this was OT, but felt like I can share > some of the things I learned during the 25+ years > of consulting. > > Regards, > laszlo > > > > ______________________________________________________________________ Get the mailserver that powers this list at http://www.coolfusion.com FAQ: http://www.thenetprofits.co.uk/coldfusion/faq Archives: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/index.cfm?sidebar=lists
