[consulting] Contract terms for retained services

[Jamie]

Your list looks like you pretty much got the bases covered. One 
additional thing I have started doing, after a rather hard lesson, is to 
specify the site the retainer is for. I had a couple of clients think 
that because I was a retainer for their one site, that they could start 
using my services for a lot of new sites they were launching without any 
additional charges.

Another good thing is limiting the contacts. Without that, you will 
start finding your client having everyone in their organization 
contacting you regarding problems, information or suggestions. That's 
the reason a lot of larger shops go with the one contact/contract model. 
Personally I'm not as strict on that, but make sure they know you won't 
become a babysitter to every person working for them. Even if it's a 
small company right now, you don't want to wake up one morning and find 
out they have grown and you now have a ton of people on you. That's 
something else I experienced years ago when starting out and it was way 
to much stress to handle.

Jamie Holly
http://www.intoxination.net
http://www.hollyit.net


On 12/11/2010 2:06 PM, Angelina Fabbro wrote:
> Happy Holidays everyone,
>
> I am about to be on retainer with a new client during a period where I 
> assist in developing the specification for the project I will be 
> working on. It's a few weeks of research and design with regard to the 
> information architecture, interaction design and user experience. This 
> will be the first time I am on retainer for these activities.
>
> Usually my development contracts are simple; they lay out the 
> specification in detail, the quote I've given along with the design 
> comps for which the spec and quote are approved, and the necessary 
> legal jargon should any discrepancy in expectations arise.
>
> What sort of terms or clauses do you work under while on retainer? How 
> does your contract differ from one tailored to development? My 
> intuition is simply to lay out what the expectations are - response 
> time for emails and phone calls, allocated time for meetings, what to 
> expect as a finished product at the end of the period - wireframes, 
> for example.
>
> Is there anything specific I should do or not do?
>
> Thank you for you input, I enjoy lurking this list as you're all 
> invaluable in your advice.
>
> Best regards,
>
> - Angelina Fabbro
>
>
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