#freelance-talk
Thread
Is the client disregarding your contract and sending their own after verbal closing the deal a red flag?
I had a client verbally commit to a 3-blog deal. I reduced my rate for them after they said they have a fixed rate for freelancers.
The thing is the client's Marketing manager and I have previously worked together - she, the mgr, on saas-side and I was on the agency side
Her new company (the current SaaS prospect) first negotiated my rate down and asked me to send my agreement
I agreed coz it was a smaller deal and coz it'd my first client in sustainability saas. I'd love sustainability saas in my portfolio. They knew that.
I then went for a week long scheduled and informed break
Now after I came back from a break, I ent them renegotiated terms on a new contract
And instead they sent me their own version of the contract.
First, getting me to reduce the rate, then forcing me to agree to their contract.
What do you guys think? Is there a different side to it? Am I missing something?
Can't speak to the negotiating down bit, but at Dock every contractor has to sign our contract. We've let people add their own terms but we have a standard contract that our lawyers put together for us. Are the terms significantly different than yours?
I haven't examined closely but the terms are 70-80% similar, at least the major ones.
In general, I do tend to object to non solicitation clause because my business isn't an agency. I don't intend to start an agency. At least not yet.
Non compete is a huge no-no and that's not a part of this contract
Overall - the problem seems to have been a miscommunication. The client had their own contract process which was never communicated to me. So I did what I normally do - follow my own process. A little intimation from the client's end that they have their own contract process could have avoided.
As a freelancer, I find that most companies already have their own freelance contracts they need all freelancers to sign to keep everyone / everything on the same page.
I’m usually happy to agree to it as long as the major points are there and it’s fairly similar. I always feel free to ask questions and clarify what something means or adjust language as needed. I’ve never had a problem with that, clients are usually happy to make small adjustments or add in additional terms like a late payment fee or something.
It sounds like you feel like this is a red flag because you negotiated down your rate with them (fair), but it sounds like that wasn’t personal. They’re basically saying, “this is how much we pay freelancers and what our contract for them is” and then you can see if that fits with your needs and goals and say yea or nay from there.
Yeah and I probably forget to tell freelancers they're going to have to sign a contract until it gets to that point too. Depends on what the contract says of course, but I wouldn't take the mere presence of a surprise contract as a red flag, personally
Yeah you are right @Eric Doty (Superpath)
It's not a red flag per se, the client said they're using the same contract with 5 other writers. It's just that timing was a surprise and there was a big gap of time in between (due to my own leave).
Thanks @Rachel
I have tried to identify the misunderstanding and state it clearly. If they come back to the table, I will compare the two contracts and ask questions to see if they're willing to expand.
Thanks folks, back to basics!
If it makes you feel better, a consulting client who was new ish to his company hired me and signed my contract. After submitting my invoice, we both found out the company had their own contract that they wanted me to sign - I had to go through and red line all the differences but in the end they agreed to all of my terms (it was nothing crazy - theirs were just different) and all was fine 🙂