We always go on about establishing contracts and terms with new clients – it may seem a little heavy-handed but it makes things much simpler if the project goes south. Every freelancer will have their own terms they want clients to agree to. As we heard recently, some may impose a fee levy if the client wishes to pay using PayPal, some designers may put a condition in their contract that states intellectual property will not be reassigned to the client until full payment has been made (preventing naughty clients running off and using their work without paying) – the difficulty comes if a client refuses to accept your terms.
If you are completing a project worth £10,000, a 5% PayPal levy suddenly means an extra £500 payment for the client. Likewise a client in a hurry may wish to use your designs straight away and pay you in instalments over six months. So what are your options if you end up butting heads with a client over your terms?
Option 1 – Stand your ground
You put those terms in place for a reason, right? So stick to them. As with all dealings with clients, it’s important you stand your ground. They may have the money, but you have the expertise they are after, and they’re much more likely to agree than set about looking for someone entirely new.
Option 2 – Compromise
Meeting somewhere in the middle is always the best option. In PayPal example above, you could agree to reduce your levy to 2.5% as the final amount is so large (although a more savvy freelancer might point out the large PayPal fees they’ll incur instead, and steer them towards a good old-fashioned bank transfer). A designer who wishes to hold on to the IP for their designs until payment has been made in full might agree to license the work to the client for free until the date the last payment is due to be made – at which point they will either make the payment and be transferred the rights, or miss the payment and be in breach of contract.
Option 3 – Walk away
Sometimes there is just no compromising to be done, and in these instances it’s better to cut and run. If you run up against difficult-to-resolve obstacles in the planning stages, more disagreements are bound to follow, and often it’s better to not take on a project at all than grudgingly accept and deliver something you’re not happy with.
However, bear in mind “walking away” can also be used as a last-gasp negotiation strategy. Tell the potential client you simply cannot work under the proposed conditions and you’ll have to politely decline – but to get in touch should they have a change of heart. You’ll be surprised how often a conciliatory phone call arrives a day later.
Photo by Stella Dauer – CC
