Dealing with difficult clients

[Reesa Marchetti]

Hi,

I have clients who are very slow in providing me with the necessary materials to complete their sites (printed brochures, artwork, photos, high-resolution logos, etc.). Often they think a fax or blurry xerox copy will do and I can make them clear again!

I sympathize with the difficulties in finding all these materials and getting them to me. Many of my clients are Internet newbies and little of their copy is digital.

Does anyone have a clause in their contract requiring clients to provide the content within a certain time period or pay in full? If so, when the client does get it together, do I charge a late fee?

Has anyone dealt with a similar client problem?

[jestep]

I would say, dont give them anything until you have all of the materials that you need from them to complete the job. If your job requires information/documentation from them, explain to them that you cannot get the site up until you have all of the required information. You could also make a clause in your contract that says that the client understands that they must provide certain information before the project can be completed. Im assuming that you bill based on a 1/2 now, 1/2 when complete or some similar arrangement. Most people wont want to lose any of their money, and if they have nothing to walk away with, then you lose nothing if they do walk away.

[bhartzer]

Personally, I make them pay half up front and half when it's complete. Then they end up asking me why their website doesn't rank very well--to which I respond, "not enough content".

[southplatte]

I do the half up front/half on completion payment as well. I have a client that I made a site for over 1 1/2 years ago, and I still do not have all the content for it yet. I did recieve full payment already, as well as payment for maintainence on what is there so far.

Just take a portion of the payment up front, and do not deliver until full payment is recieved. If they take 6 months to get you the content, you have still recieved partial payment, have not had to work on it (due to lack of content) and can go on to other projects.

[Stooge]

I work similar but have been taking payments on completion per site item (forums, pages, databases)

I won't work on anything until the last item has been paid for and I have clear concise instructions and content for the next bit of work. I also clearly state that payment must be recieved within 7 days of completion of work. Reason being to cover any costs on hosting etc which I may pay out for.

One of my clients vanished earlier this year and his site was 80% finnished. Maybe I won't hear from him again, but at any rate I've been paid what i'm owed.

[vwebworld]

50% payment up front (as you can see) is
fairly common, however, that may not solve
your problem - getting content in a timely manner
and in a useable format.

I suggest specifying in your website design agreement
(I hope you use one) the responsibilities and
deliverables of both parties. The agreement should
say that the client is to provide xxxx by a date
certain. You can also say what happens if the client
does not provide what they are supposed to provide...
which could include the forfeiture of their deposit.

Hopefully, it will never come to that... because such
a happening may "cost" you in the end. Eventhough
you have some cash for your trouble - you may also
create a disgruntled (former) client, who may bad
mouth you all over the place.

~Roland

[CAWeb]

50% at start 50% on completion may be fine for most jobs - but those that you are constantly checking for content on ... time is money. Quite often the clients who keep these project on the back burner are not billed appropriately. A lawyer would bill for each phone call, etc. We spend considerable time and effort try to get the project to completion - but I doubt that was considered when the project was proposed.
A business adviser gave me some advice which I will share with you. Build the proposal around project units rather than the project as a whole. At each unit state your duties as well as the clients. Quite often they ask how long to get the site up and running - don't quote weeks - quote time frames around your providing the next unit based on when ever they deliver the needed content.
You may also want to build in clauses such as: content delays may incur additional charges; specify the formats that you receive content in - digital images - extra for scanning, soft file format for text - additional charges for content received in print format ...
Quite often I get clients hand writing content so we have a list of area students who provide wordprocessing services. I always have them contact the students as you never know where that next summer job opportunity may appear.
Hope this helps!

[clambam]

I have a client who hired me to do a web page in April of 2003. They still don't have anything on the web. I put together some design ideas, they picked the one they wanted, and I've been waiting ever since for the content to arrive. I met with them in March of this year when they said they wanted to get the site up as soon as possible; I'm still waiting for photos, text, etc. to arrive.

Luckily I did this on a time and materials basis so I've been paid for my work to date. I call or email every two weeks or so to remind them. When they're good and ready, I guess I'll finally get me the content.

[taberniki]

Hi there. To address your question, our contracts are based on a 50% now, 40% in a month and the rest when finished model, which is payable by a predetermined date and listed in the contract.

Though we insist upon predefined due dates for the production/delivery of images and text files, some clients are inevitably late producing these materials.

To circumvent cashtrickle, we exact pre-defined penalties if client supplied and required material or payments are late without just cause (amounts and percentages vary with each contract but are rarely used).

We have found that these policies, when clearly oulined to the client from the beginning and enforced within reason, help to limit unnecessary cashflow interruption and serve as an incentive to the sometimes forgetful client...

On the other hand, our secretary does a wonderful job of reminding potentially delinquent clients of their obligations, greatly reducing the need for such measures.

Hoping this helps you to decide on a course of action.

[lanihudg]

I have the similar problem and I bill some up front and the rest on completion. The wall I run up against is that the client figures he/she can add/delete/modify content until the site is "complete" to their standards then they will owe the remainder. So, I get behind on deadline because they say change this to blue, then gree, then gold, then back to blue,then green again, etc.

I have started giving one proof and making the corrections then launching the site. Additional changes after this date mean more charges.

Also, when they sign the contract they know that if I ask for content and don't receive it within 30 days, additional fees may be charged and the deadline won't be met. That way I can start on other projects and when they come back to me, I can charge them a fee to fit them back on the schedule.

The contract also states a timeframe (three weeks) from receipt of ALL content. I don't start any work until I have all of the content. Usually, since they have paid a deposit (which is completely non-refundable) they are quick to give me the content.

Sounds good on paper, but I still have issues with some clients....