MB Software Solutions, LLC wrote: > I offer to support my app he's had since 2005 (and not paid anything yet > received upgrades for free in past 3 years). There was no extended > support contract. I had an initial contract to provide software and did > so. I'm now trying to get clients to sign on for annual support so my > work is compensated (rather than just for the good of the software and > cause anymore). I offer to client for $2000. He says no way more than > $1500. I had thought $3000 was fair and felt I was giving him a great > deal at $2000. His investment in it is about $15k-20k? since 2005. > Last payment made on contract back in 2007. Well, as the story goes, he > now tries to get my app to work on his Windows 7 box and can't get it > running. I'm pretty confident I could get it running for him, but don't > really want to do the "ala carte" support fee so as to open doors to > other clients who want the ala carte option as well. Now he emails me > with the following: > > "We are having a challenging year as everyone seems to be having. > Looking to help you out, but I also need help. Need to know if you can > get the program to work on latest window version? What can you offer? > Let me know what your thought are." > > His remarks of the past were that he'd gladly test my software for me > and provide feedback and insight "in order to help make it more > marketable for MBSS." I basically told him that I had another > individual that was going to be my tester and although I gladly welcomed > his testing and feedback so that the app was better for him and other > customers in the long run, he'd have to pay for support. (No more "why > pay for the cow when you can get the milk for free" going on here.) > > The software really hasn't done anything and nor do I expect it to > without me putting a much more significant time (& more -- like > advertising/marketing/sales) investment in it. I've put significant $$$ > into it already and am not willing to work on it for free any more. > Time to better manage my time, or at least enjoy life a bit more. > > My initial thought is to simply say: "Sure, I can get it working on the > latest Windows version. Just renew at the $2000/annually and you'll get > 24 hours of support for the year, and whatever hours aren't spent in > support, I'll gladly credit towards any future development work you'd > like done." > > Girlfriend advises me to just let him hear static for a few days. I'm > usually on top of this stuff and don't keep people waiting. What do you > think? What would you do? >
Girlfriend's right. Let him hanging for a week. Then don't charge him the support fee, after all he hasn't being paying for support. Bill him for the upgrade to W7, and bill him good. After the work is done and payed for, tell him that if he'd had payed for support the work would have been free of charge. As I see it, he is not a customer and he is not willing to be one, so you have nothing to loose here. OTOH he has an investment to protect (not only what he already payed for the software but the data he has in your system and the training his people have in it). So you are in a good negotiating position now. Make it count. I would charge him hard for the porting to W7 and tell him that in the future there will be no more free upgrades. _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[email protected] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
