Over the years, JVM has developed a pretty airtight (11 page) design contract that each client signs before the start of the project. We have had to refer back to certain sections on occasion but most often, any issues that arrive can be solved in a timely, friendly, and professional manner.

I've noticed a kink in the system however during the past year and that is the assumption that a client fully understands what they are paying for. For example, a client contracts your business to custom program a special system for their website. In the agreement, ONLY programming is stipulated in the deliverables. However, as the project progresses, it becomes apparent that the client does indeed need design assistance. What do you do in this situation? You could contact the client and explain that the design part of the work falls outside of the scope of the original deliverables and renegotiate the contract. Another option would be to offer consulting (and you can be the judge whether you charge the client for this service or not). And still a third option would be to judge what the actual scope of the design elements needed are, and if you know won't take huge amounts of time, explain to the client that although it is outside of the scope, you will make the select modifications (not a whole lot of people would be willing to do this).

Whatever you choose, I would recommend all development on the project be stopped until at least the client understands that the new requests do not fall within the original specs. Once you're all on the same page again, it's safe to continue on.

However, what happens if you don't have a lot of "warning" that a project is going off the rails? Say a client has been approving parts of the project, but planning on throwing in changes or worse yet, decide they don't really like the direction the project is going and for some reason are keeping quiet about it. If you've had the client physically sign off on parts of the project, then if changes come down the line you are fully in the clear to notify them there will be additional charges. Even if you don't have a physical signature, you might have an email approval, which is also good (always save all correspondences throughout a project). Nevertheless, you may run into a situation where you reach the end of a project and the client refuses to pay.

To me, this really is a disheartening situation. Mostly because our whole team and myself do our very best on every project (sometimes pulling late nights and weekends just to launch a website on time) and keep lines of communication open so problems can be avoided during a project. Also, for some strange reason some clients think that web design, graphic design, programming, flash animation … are not really "work" or that the physical result may not be as apparent as when you purchase an actual product. For example, imagine going to your dentist, having work done, and then proclaiming, "you know, I don't really like gold caps any more so I'm not going to pay you for them".

Nevertheless, the first thing I do in a situation like this is to ask the client what it is about the project that did not meet their expectations. If it is any error on our part or anything that can be easily remedied, we're on it and we attempt to get payment with the assurance that the project will be up to client expectations. Usually this is enough. On rare occasion we get a client that either cannot be satisfied or simple goes "awol". It's a good idea to find a good collection agency in those cases, but know in advance you won't recover your full amount because of fees charged by the agency. As sad as this next bit is to write, there are certain circumstances where the better move is to just cut your loses. That's just my own ethics talking. I'd make any attempt to avoid an actual legal confrontation and I still believe that less stress and good karma are better options! Still, this is more of a "last resort".

The more work you do in this service industry of design, the more experience you will gain with working with a wide variety of clients. And remember, good business practices are in everyone's best interests.

A great source for more information is: http://designforum.aiga.org/content.cfm/professionalpractices