Spent 3 weeks arguing over a scope of work that should have taken 3 hours

Had a client last fall who kept pushing back on my rate for a website build. After 7 emails back and forth, I realized the problem wasn't the price, it was the scope of work I wrote. I laid out everything I'd do but left out clear limits on revisions and extra pages. Took me 21 days to finally rewrite the contract with bullet points on what costs extra and what's included. That one change stopped all the back and forth instantly. Has anyone else found that being super specific about what's NOT included saves the most time?

3 comments

3 Comments

fionamurphy5d ago

Wait, 21 days? Like three full weeks of going back and forth over a contract that should've taken a couple hours to fix? That's wild to me. I would've lost my mind after day three and just told the client to either take the original scope or find someone else. But yeah, you're totally right about being super specific about what's not included. I had a similar thing with a gig once where I didn't spell out that "minor tweaks" didn't mean unlimited do-overs. Three revisions turned into twelve before I put my foot down. It's crazy how one paragraph can save you weeks of headache.

blairm776d ago

21 days for a contract rewrite? That's insane.

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kim_mason556d ago

Is 21 days the new "rush delivery" or something @blairm77? By the time that contract's rewritten, the paint job it's for will already be peeling. I guess lawyers need time to count their billable hours.