Helpful contracting tips

A few simple tips can make your contracting go more smoothly and result in a better deal for you. Here’s some of my favorites. Minimize the size of numbers. Instead of saying, “The client will pay $60,000 “for 300 hours of services,” say, “The client will pay $200 per hour of services rendered. “The consultant will provide up to 300 hours of service.” Those are much smaller numbers. That’s a lot easier to accept and approve on the client side. Specify expenses in words verses in numbers. If you say, “The client will pay up to $15,000 “in travel expenses,” they’ll likely negotiate that number. It’s a big dollar amount. If, instead, you say, “The client will reimburse “for actual travel expenses,” it’s more likely to be accepted as written with no negotiation. Require a minimum purchase of services. A lot of effort goes into selling, proposing, and contracting for an engagement. You don’t get paid for that time. If the client uses 60 hours of your time contracting and then only does a six hour engagement, you’ve made a pretty poor hourly rate. Require the client to pay for a minimum number of hours, whether or not they use them. It’ll at least guarantee an acceptable return on your sales and contracting time. Define your classes of travel. Many consultants spend a lot of time on planes and in hotels. The client will want you to choose the cheapest accommodations possible. Don’t sacrifice your lifestyle unreasonably. Specify acceptable classes of travel in your contract. At thoughtLEADERS, when we travel internationally, we specify that we travel business class. My instructors are on the podium for eight hours, teaching a class to up to 35 people. I cannot put someone on a plane for 20 hours to go to Singapore and teach a class back in economy in the back of the plane. It’s specified in the contract the class of travel that we’ll use. Use terms like in its sole discretion, or as mutually agreed upon in writing. These terms can simplify contracting and improve negotiating success. The terms are advance permission to make a decision without further approval, or they get the contract done sooner and leave the smaller points for future discussion and mutual agreement. I hope you find these tips useful, both for your contracting efforts and as you deliver your consulting services to your clients.