I've recently started out as a designer and one of my first experiences was with a client wanting to pay only a part of what they owed me. We got into an argument right off the bat and it got ugly. I don't ever expect to see the money owed and if I do, it's going to pay for lawyer bills, even though I've agreed on a payment cap with my attorney. Still, if I had a better contract to begin with and approached the situation with the steps outlined in the article, I think I would have gotten more money and, better yet, have been done with the client. Live and learn.
Submitted by million7000 on Wed, 09/18/2002 - 10:15.
I appreciate very much articles like this one. Just acknowledging that the graphic design industry has a business component is a step in the right direction.
But when it comes to contracts and payments and disputes, this article is just a familiar (and less than helpful) echo.
First, you can't do business with a large corporation without a purchase order and the purchase order is the contract.
The contract/purchase order almost always comes from the client's army of lawyers and states that no other agreement will be honored. And while even the client's contract will cover arbitration and mediation... there is no one to arbitrate or mediate with. More likely than not you are working with a mid-level manager with no authority to do more than just sign a purchase order and approve graphics for their corporate employer. And even if there is no dispute whatsoever, and the client is completely satisfied, and delivery and distribution are but a pleasant memory, you may not get paid.
Why? Because the accounting department is completely separate from the department you do the work for and that mid-level manager has no control over actual payment.
The good news is that eventually most large, reputable companies will pay most or all of the invoice. Eventually. Probably.
I have not seen any progress made in the contract/design/payment area in over ten years. We are referencing the same books and authorities again and again and they don't address the real world problems I experience regularly. The solutions referenced in this article might work on Mom and Pop shop type projects. What we need now is a strategy for dealing with corporate clients.
Right on
I've recently started out as a designer and one of my first experiences was with a client wanting to pay only a part of what they owed me. We got into an argument right off the bat and it got ugly. I don't ever expect to see the money owed and if I do, it's going to pay for lawyer bills, even though I've agreed on a payment cap with my attorney. Still, if I had a better contract to begin with and approached the situation with the steps outlined in the article, I think I would have gotten more money and, better yet, have been done with the client. Live and learn.
We need to take a new look at this problem.
I appreciate very much articles like this one. Just acknowledging that the graphic design industry has a business component is a step in the right direction.
But when it comes to contracts and payments and disputes, this article is just a familiar (and less than helpful) echo.
First, you can't do business with a large corporation without a purchase order and the purchase order is the contract.
The contract/purchase order almost always comes from the client's army of lawyers and states that no other agreement will be honored. And while even the client's contract will cover arbitration and mediation... there is no one to arbitrate or mediate with. More likely than not you are working with a mid-level manager with no authority to do more than just sign a purchase order and approve graphics for their corporate employer. And even if there is no dispute whatsoever, and the client is completely satisfied, and delivery and distribution are but a pleasant memory, you may not get paid.
Why? Because the accounting department is completely separate from the department you do the work for and that mid-level manager has no control over actual payment.
The good news is that eventually most large, reputable companies will pay most or all of the invoice. Eventually. Probably.
I have not seen any progress made in the contract/design/payment area in over ten years. We are referencing the same books and authorities again and again and they don't address the real world problems I experience regularly. The solutions referenced in this article might work on Mom and Pop shop type projects. What we need now is a strategy for dealing with corporate clients.