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Subject:Re: Contracting moral dilemma From:Fabien Vais <phantoms -at- ACCENT -dot- NET> Date:Wed, 5 Feb 1997 11:42:03 -0500
In my opinion, I would call the people you gave the bid to, and tell them
that you overbid. You looked at the actual work to be done, and there is
less to do than you originally thought. I assume that the payment you
received today was just a deposit, so the balance due should be adjusted as
per your new estimate.
First of all, this shows you're an honest and ethical person. Not bad for
starters.
Second, they're going to be happy that the job won't cost them as much as
they had budgeted. A happy client always makes ME happy!!
Third, having made your client happy, they will no doubt remember you for
future contracts. Repeat business is what we live for. A happy client won't
even look elsewhere. They have YOU! You're ethical, honest, good at what you
do, why should they waste time looking elsewhere? They say that for a new
client, the first contract is good, the first "repeat" contract is
excellent, but the THIRD contract you do for them really shows that they
consider you as "THEIR MAN", and that they are not looking elsewhere. This
is gold for a consultant.
By the way (I hate "BTW"), I usually give nothing but an ESTIMATE for a job.
Even if I have to sign a contract. This way, if there is any change in
parameters, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, I can always call them up and tell them
that the estimate has changed, and negotiate something with them.
Hope this has helped.
Fabien
At 08:03 AM 2/5/97 -0800, you wrote:
>I have successfully bid on a fixed-price contract. I signed the contract
>yesterday, and will receive the first payment today. I started working
>on the files last night, and realized that there really is a lot less
>text than I was thinking when I bid the contract (a non-professional
>actually used sufficient white space!).
>
>My potential dilemma is: what if I spend a lot less hours on the project
>than I calculated for my bid? It is a fixed bid, but I still based it on
>how many hours I thought it would take. If I go over the amount of time I
>estimated, I certainly wouldn't expect to be paid more...but should I
>return whatever portion that I didn't work for?
>
>Another contract will follow this one. Should I just adjust the other
>contract to offset any unworked-for income on this one?
>
>-David Castro
> techwrtr -at- crl -dot- com
>http://www.crl.com/~techwrtr/
>
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