Bridget summarized most of my attitude towards this subject. A good trusting relationship with the client is needs to be nurtured. I bill in "bite size chunks" in order to avoid nasty surprises to me or to the client. The definition of "bite size" is vague and depends on my perception of the client.
I vaguely remember one client paying only part of a bill because we went over a budget that he hadn't told me about. But it was only a few hundred dollars and his project (improving the ergonomics or efficiency of something for paraplegics) was something dear to my heart.
I don't think I'd ever want to report a client who did not pay for the last chunk because, as someone said in another post, there are often two sides to the story. Perhaps that work did not meet his or her needs. Did I misunderstand those needs? Whose fault was that? If it was mine then I would feel uncomfortable about being paid.
As for initial discussions, I keep track of the time and bill for it if the project goes ahead. But if we spend a little time discussing a project and decide not to go through with it, I don't send a bill. If a contractor comes over to my house, looks over my kitchen, quotes me a price, and I decide that not to go ahead, I don't expect to get a bill, so why should I behave differently towards my clients?
One point that hasn't been mentioned is to try as hard as possible to agree on what the client can expect. We need to agree that the objective is to determine
whether the data support his contention and that we cannot promise that that our analysis will support his contention. Back when I was an employee, a manager said, "I heard your XYZ project was a failure." I said, "No. It was a success. I clearly showed that XYZ was no better than the control and that merely making the substitution would waste a lot of money." (But I was able to explain what might be
tried to improve it.)
One client was an attorney defending someone on a capital murder charge. I made sure to tell him up front that I could not promise that my work would help his client until after I saw and analyzed the evidence. I also told him that if I were called to testify I would tell the truth as I saw it and if he wanted to control what I said then he would be better off hiring someone else. He assured me that he did not want a "whore" (his exact word) and we went ahead.
-------------------------------------------
Emil Friedman
www.statisticalconsulting.org -------------------------------------------
Original Message:
Sent: 10-09-2011 09:18
From: Bridget Bly
Subject: Have you ever been stiffed by a cleint?
For me, I know the kinds of things I could do to prevent ever being stiffed (retainer up front, contract, strict rules on no pay = no play) but those are exactly the kinds of things that get in the way of the relationships I'm trying to develop with my clients and are also time-consuming and tedious. I'd also probably not post anyone's name, leaving open the possibility they'll come back as clients when personnel, political, or financial changes have taken place.
I'd rather take a few lumps on the back end and have the easy, back-and-forth, flexibility that make partnerships that last. In my case, my clients are often small companies who themselves are under periodic cash flow crises, so it's much different from those of you dealing with large government, corporate or educational institutions.
-------------------------------------------
Bridget Bly
-------------------------------------------