When It’s Over

I have you humming that Sugar Ray song, don’t I?

Hop on over to Peter Bowerman’s Well-Fed Writer Blog – I have a guest post up. Thanks, Peter!

Good day yesterday. I managed to get some interviews lined up for an article, worked on things for the Five Buck Forum, then chatted with a new client on some strategies for going forward. Today, a little more of the same. I have a bit of work to do this morning, then lunch with a friend and a call with the forum members in the afternoon.

I had a conversation with a writer whose current client situation was unraveling despite her best efforts to the contrary. It seems no matter what she did, the client wasn’t happy. The client had voided the contract by pulling in a posse on edits, but she wanted to maintain goodwill, so she offered a courtesy edit for him.

That was a month ago. Her client has since taken the role of Silent Bob. Silent Bob hasn’t answered any of her emails, nor has he responded to her offer of free editing that was clearly meant as a peace offering. So what should she do?

Send him the invoice. She was holding off invoicing until she was sure he was happy. My advice – he’s never going to be happy. He broke the contract. He owes you money whether he agrees to free editing or not.

Put a limit on the free offer. She didn’t have to offer him anything, but she’s a good sort who wants to satisfy her client. However, the offer comes with an expiration date. Since a month has passed, I say it’s time to tell the client his freebie is about to expire. Nothing moves them like knowing they’re about to lose something valuable. I suggested this because I don’t want to see him coming back to her in three months (after she’s sent the final invoice) expecting a complete rewrite for free.

Be diligent with invoice collection. His silence, from my own experience, has me thinking he’s going to do his darnedest to argue his way out of paying our writer. I suggested the three-invoice process, which ends with the notice of litigation attached to the final invoice. It’s at this point my writer friend can thank herself for having a good contract in place. Well done, and well timed.

Remove emotion. She feels badly that things ended in such a state of upheaval. While it’s upsetting to end things with clients who aren’t happy, there are some clients who don’t know how to work with contractors. This is one of those clients. If our writer removes her emotional responses to his silence or harsh words (which are coming if he’s anything like every other client who uses silence to get what he wants), she’ll find that the only thing that counts is the business transaction. If he’s not happy, he’s had ample opportunity to tell her so. If he argues she’s incompetent, it’s like arguing the horse it too docile to win after the race is over. She’s neither incompetent nor responsible for his emotions.

How do you handle clients who go silent at invoice time?