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Every one of you must have some experience with this issue. We have some clients, who delay much for the feedback. As we can collect the final payments only after completing, this becomes a huge headache.
Chasing them and making them to help to wind up the work is not easy many times. As many of them do not worry much, as they do not prioritize feedback, how can we make them to finish or pay especially when the clients are good in nature? I am sure the clients we have will pay but delayed payment is also a loss..right?
Is there any way we can make a statement in the agreement that they are responsible for feedback, but even how we can say that they should be regardless of the delay and project completion. Is not that hard?
Your valuable feedback please.
Benny
In my contracts I have a statement to the effect that at the various stages of the project that require approval, the client has 5 business days to get that approval to me. If not, I have the right to cancel the project and keep all monies received up until that point for damages (I require a 50% deposit, so that amount is usual substantial).
Of course, I've never had to use it, but it makes clients understand that I mean business.
Whatever time period you specify, make sure it roughly corresponds with the amount of time it will take you to complete the project, if no client delays occur. That way, if all goes as planned, the project will either be completed or near completion when the payment date arrives. If the client has delayed, they have no one to blame but themselves if the project is not complete and they have to fork over the cash anyway. Just be sure they are clear on this point up-front.
I have seen that most medium or larger projects, who have at least one contact person who is tecnically capable, give feedback on time.
Over a period of time, I have come up with these points.
1) I make a sequence based list of statges and present to the client after they have paid the first installment, usually 50%. I make clear that each stage is sequential and we shall not proceed to any stage without aproval of the prior stage. I notmally take the aproval on email or writing. It is like a checklist which gets teh items ticked with the client and myself.
2) While taking an order, I usually ask them to tell me in the order letter that who shall be the 'one point contact, responsible for the project from their side'. IN larger and medium corporations, I try to get an overzealous employee to get this responibility.
3) I email them daily without fail when feedback is due.
4) I am trying to make a simple application ( when I get time ) which is like a sequence checklist and a feedback check list. It will need to be online and be checked 'stage approved'for each stage. Get your client involved. and make him responsible for his website. I would make him jot down points and comments.
5) For smaller sites ( and sometimes medium ), I give them FREE hosting on my premium servers for one ( or two or three - depnding on the size of the project ) month. When they see delay, they know that what they are getting for free shall be charged from the day the free party is over. They will need to pay after that. I suggest them to complete project early so that once they have to pay, their site is open to public by them, to maximize the ROI on hosting.
6) After learning lessons from real business, I have now started adding to my contract that of the project does not complete due to feedback delays in x amount of days/weeks, then the the client will pay per day or we shall shut down the project and a restart fee would be charged. But this I do with a lot of marketing talk.
It is very important to keep the client motivated to complete his project. Most clients are self motivated but 1 in 10 clients is really a pain in the neck when it comes to real time based and satge based feedbacks.
It would be a mix and match of various policies depending on client to client in order to get timely feedback
Unfortunately, since I've worked with this particular client before I did not request a deposit (mistake).
Fortunately, the contract stipulates that if the project is delayed past the due date by the client's failure to provide material or feedback the balance becomes due and payable. So the invoice and cover letter goes out.
