[consulting] Proper Collections Procedure

[Henri Poole]

IMO, full payment on the barrel-head and time based billing renders most
of this unnecessary. It sucks to keep track of time in micro-increments,
but a little pain during the day liberates you do the work and skip the
collections grind.

Henri

On Thu, 2006-08-17 at 09:02 +0200, Gunnar Langemark wrote:
> Larry Garfield wrote:
> > After the spec is finalized, there's a billing milestone.  Work does not 
> > continue until it's paid.
> >   
> Right  but - Reality usually kicks in at this point, and you continue 
> working while waiting for the money. So give them short payment terms. 8 
> days or so.
> (OK - I'm not in the US, but in Europe (Denmark)). I payment is late - 
> work is too. Unless of course they have a good explanation (could they 
> have?).
> 
> Many consultants and developers hesitate to talk about money (at least 
> here in my country it is some kind of tabooish thing), and some clients 
> take advantage of it. Money talk is ok!
> 
> If you don't like to/are able to - get paid before you start working - 
> you need to get paid for the specs. That is important, because it is 
> work you've done, and because it will give you an idea about the clients 
> behaviour.
> Be sure that things are not always as they seem. Some clients seem easy 
> in the beginning. They behave as if we agree on everything, and then 
> later they're annoyed that you did not deliver exactly what they thought 
> it would be. Even if they never let you suspect that would happen. Other 
> clients are a big pain in the a.. in the beginning, and then it turns 
> out, that it is because they actually took charge and ownership of the 
> project, and they know exactly what they want - so if you deliver that 
> they will be happy. Clients starting out easy - may be your worst 
> nightmare. Simple psychology.
> > After the beta is released, there's a billing milestone.  Work does not 
> > continue until it's paid.
> >   
> Very important. Now you've delivered on the specs (in your own opinion) 
> and are finished with the project if everything is ok (which it never is 
> - but anyway). This is where you need WRITTEN consent from the client. 
> Make sure there's a milestone in the agreed upon contract - or at least 
> some sort of written - e-mail is better than nothing - agreement that 
> when you deliver something which resembles the specs - you get some money.
> You need to get paid at least partially for the work you've done - even 
> if it does not fulfill the expectations of the client 100%. Make that 
> clear from the start.
> 
> > After the final release, there's a billing milestone.  Presumably if you got 
> > here, they're good for the money. :-)
> >   
> This is probably 30-50% of the total payment. And you need to make the 
> client satisfied with what he has got. To accomplish that - you need to 
> communicate with your clients along the way, making sure he agrees that 
> the requirements in the spec. are met. Actually it pays to get them 
> little by little along the way. Only disadvantage is that if you 
> communicate a lot with the client you give him the chance to try to 
> change his requirements. If you can handle that (have a policy of 
> written "change request" for it) you're better off in the end. If you 
> can't handle that ongoing communication, make sure to have a meeting 
> where you take charge - and walk the client through all the 
> requirements. This is a crucial meeting. It is best for you to have his 
> signature on the specs list immediately after walking through. He will 
> probably hesitate, but if you make it clear that his signature is the 
> goal of the meeting, it should work. At least if you have the balls to 
> hand him the pen, and point to the line where his signature should be!
> :-)
> No it's not so much fun. Not as much fun as building the site. But it 
> sure is fun when you see the money on your bank account.
> 
> Reality Check: No I don't always follow these rules. No I don't always 
> get to do only what I anticipated. No I don't always think I have full 
> control. No not all projects are big enough to have all that paperwork. 
> So I try to take it easy and calm down sometimes. Or else I get all 
> tight up and stressed.
> 
> Best
> Gunnar
> 
> > What breakdown and milestones you use will depend on your situation, work 
> > process, clients, etc, but the concept itself is sound.  Bill in stages.
> >   
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