It’s Halloween again, and I’m reminded of the Trick or Treat your clients can “play” on you.
Has this ever happened to you?
Everything has been going along beautifully with your design/decorating project. Your client tells you how lovely everything looks, and you keep on delivering. You are excited to see everything finally coming together.
Or, maybe it’s been stressful waiting for your orders and making sure everything is just right. But you are feeling a sense of relief now, as everything looks like it’s going to be delivered and installed on time for your client’s big event he has been talking about.
You have been so busy chasing orders and picking up items that “didn’t make it on the truck”. You’ve been calling vendors, installers, and contractors. You feel like you are doing flips to make this project complete on time.
BUT, you have not taken the time to supply an invoice for payment as items were delivered or installed.
Or, maybe you did; but every time you tried to meet with your client to get paid, he wasn’t available. His bookkeeper was away. His checkbook was at the office. You let it slide. After all, you’ve been working with him for a year now.
The deadline approaches for the debut of your client’s beautiful home. He is hosting a huge gala event, and your work will be the talk of the town. You want to get everything just right, as your reputation is on the line.
And then….
All of a sudden, you can’t reach your client. He doesn’t return your calls. He’s never home anymore. His housekeeper doesn’t know when he will be back.
What happened??
Trick or Treat.
How do you protect yourself from these “goblins”?
You need to have systems and policies in place for everyone. Goblins usually don’t manifest if all your systems and policies are in place. I’m not saying they never show up, but they are less likely to make their ugly appearances.
- Stay in close communication with your client.
- Make separate contracts/proposals/work orders for different items.
- Get signatures for EVERYTHING.
- Don’t place any orders until you have a signature and a deposit for it.
- Don’t group unrelated items together on proposals or work orders, forcing them to be contingent upon each other.
- Supply an invoice each time you deliver products. Collect the balance owed to you before you deliver anything else.
- Don’t keep delivering things until you are paid for what has been delivered.
- If you work on retainer, never let the balance owed for items delivered exceed the retainer.
I am not a legal adviser, and I do highly recommend you consult with an attorney to create the proper contracts and procedures for your business.