There’s a chance that I might lose my first (and big) contract but I’m oddly calm about it. Okay I’m not THAT calm but the usual me would have been a big mess by now.
Let me give you a glimpse of how much this contract means to me. If we (my business partner and I) actually get it done, it’ll be recurring income for both of us for years to come. That recurring monthly income is enough to replace my salary, while giving me more time to get new contracts, and have more freedom.
We provide offline SAAS to a niche industry. It can increase clients’ productivity and reduce their margin of error. When the client tried it, he saw what it can do for his company and loved it. He negotiated fiercely with us and we finally agreed on the price and signed the contract not too long ago. This entire process took about 1 month plus.
So what happened? It was a careless mistake actually. We did not check the client’s IT hardware specifications. The software has really low requirements and we figured most companies would have the necessary hardware to let it function properly.
Boy were we WRONG. The client’s IT hardware was so outdated our software couldn’t work on the computers. There were crashes here and there and only a few users were able to successfully use it. We were speechless. As the client was away for business trip we could only tell his manager what went wrong and that hardware upgrade is needed.
Needless to say when the client came back, he was furious. WE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE FREAKING HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS! There was no excuse for it. We immediately apologized for the carelessness. We gave our reason (his company is big so we assumed) and asked him to give us another chance to work it out.
His initial messages were unforgiving (to the tune of voiding the contract). However after some time I got a call from his assistant. He wanted to meet up with us for another discussion, together with his IT guy.
I’ve mentally prepared myself and in my mind these are the possible scenarios:
1) Best case scenario:
We get more verbal reprimands from the client, but he agrees to fork out the additional money for hardware upgrade and we proceed as per the contract.
2) Neutral scenario:
Both parties compromise. We will absorb part of the cost for upgrade, but the hardware will be our property should client decides to end the contract. It will be additional cost to us, but the pro outweighs the con by a big margin here so it’s still worth it.
3) Worst case scenario:
If the client makes unreasonable demands (like reducing our pre-agreed contract value), we’ll walk. Period. While the contract is very important to us, this is where we will draw the line. There are other trees in the forest. We just have to take the lesson and move forward.
I predict the most likely outcome to be either 1) or 2). It all depends on the discussion next week. Anything can happen but I’m prepared.
What I’m trying to say here is SH*T happens. There’s no way to avoid it. You can, however, be proactive and take immediate action to remedy the situation. And if things really do fall apart, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not the end of the world. You can always start over again.
Let me give you a glimpse of how much this contract means to me. If we (my business partner and I) actually get it done, it’ll be recurring income for both of us for years to come. That recurring monthly income is enough to replace my salary, while giving me more time to get new contracts, and have more freedom.
We provide offline SAAS to a niche industry. It can increase clients’ productivity and reduce their margin of error. When the client tried it, he saw what it can do for his company and loved it. He negotiated fiercely with us and we finally agreed on the price and signed the contract not too long ago. This entire process took about 1 month plus.
So what happened? It was a careless mistake actually. We did not check the client’s IT hardware specifications. The software has really low requirements and we figured most companies would have the necessary hardware to let it function properly.
Boy were we WRONG. The client’s IT hardware was so outdated our software couldn’t work on the computers. There were crashes here and there and only a few users were able to successfully use it. We were speechless. As the client was away for business trip we could only tell his manager what went wrong and that hardware upgrade is needed.
Needless to say when the client came back, he was furious. WE SHOULD HAVE CHECKED THE FREAKING HARDWARE SPECIFICATIONS! There was no excuse for it. We immediately apologized for the carelessness. We gave our reason (his company is big so we assumed) and asked him to give us another chance to work it out.
His initial messages were unforgiving (to the tune of voiding the contract). However after some time I got a call from his assistant. He wanted to meet up with us for another discussion, together with his IT guy.
I’ve mentally prepared myself and in my mind these are the possible scenarios:
1) Best case scenario:
We get more verbal reprimands from the client, but he agrees to fork out the additional money for hardware upgrade and we proceed as per the contract.
2) Neutral scenario:
Both parties compromise. We will absorb part of the cost for upgrade, but the hardware will be our property should client decides to end the contract. It will be additional cost to us, but the pro outweighs the con by a big margin here so it’s still worth it.
3) Worst case scenario:
If the client makes unreasonable demands (like reducing our pre-agreed contract value), we’ll walk. Period. While the contract is very important to us, this is where we will draw the line. There are other trees in the forest. We just have to take the lesson and move forward.
I predict the most likely outcome to be either 1) or 2). It all depends on the discussion next week. Anything can happen but I’m prepared.
What I’m trying to say here is SH*T happens. There’s no way to avoid it. You can, however, be proactive and take immediate action to remedy the situation. And if things really do fall apart, don’t be too hard on yourself. It’s not the end of the world. You can always start over again.
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