Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with client

Title Company actions causes legal issues

JujuB — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 14:32:47 -0800

Is a Title Company held to client confidentiality laws in real estate transactions? As the seller, would I be considered the client, or would the buyer, or both of us? This Title company attempted to negotiate with a lien holder without my permission, causing the sale to fall through. This is in Louisiana. You are not my lawyer, I have a lawyer and am waiting to hear from him. In the meantime I am sitting on pins and needles.

I am in the process of selling my home by owner. I agreed to the Title Company the buyer requested. Upon searching the title, the company found a mechanic lien against the property for $8,800 This lien was placed on my property in 2007. In other litigation concerning this property in 2008, my attorney told me that this lien was not valid.

Title company contacted Mr Lien holder telling him I was selling the property and asked what was the current payoff of the lien. The Mr Lien holder told the Title Company the payoff was $25,800. The Title Company then started negotiations with Mr Lien holder. The lowest the lien holder would go was $10,500. The Title Company then contacted my buyer and told her that there was a lien on the property, but that were able to negotiate it down to $10,500. The buyer contacted me with concerns about this lien. The Title Company did not inform me of any of this!

I called Ms X with Title Company and told her that I had spoke with my attorney and would be canceling the lien. The prescriptive on the lien had expired in 2008. I would bring the papers from the clerk of court reflecting the cancellation of the lien, and that it would take about one week. I also asked Ms X why didn't she call me first when the lien showed up in the title search, she hemmed and hawed. I told her at that time, do not to speak to Mr Lien Holder about this matter and that if he called, refer him to me. I made sure that she had all of my phone numbers.

About one week later, I dropped off the cancellation of the lien to Ms X with Title Company. I emphasized again to Ms X that if Mr Lien Holder called, he should be referred to me and not to speak to him. At this time the property had a clean title. We were trying to close on Thursday, October 29. On Friday afternoon, October 23, Mr Lien Holder called me on my cell phone. He was screaming at me that I had no right to cancel his lien, the he was going to garnish my wages and that he wanted the piece of paper I gave to Title Company canceling his lien.

Monday, October 26, the Sheriff attempted to serve me for Mr Lien Holder's writ stopping the sale of the property. I did not get this information until Monday evening. Tuesday morning I called Ms X at Title company to find out what was going on. Ms X told me that Title Company had been served Monday with a writ to stop the sale of the house and my name was also on the list of people to be served.

I stopped by Title Company on October 27 and spoke with the manager. I asked her why was Mr Lien holder told that his lien had been canceled. She said that Ms X told her that Mr Lien holder kept calling the office wanting to know when he would get his money. Ms X finally told him that I had canceled his lien, but the act of sale had not gone through yet.

I attended a motion for dismissal of Mr Lien holder's writ on December 8. The judge ruled against me, stating he was going to let Mr Lien holder have his day in court.

My buyer's loan option expires on December 17. There is a almost no possibility of the title being clear by then, so the sale will be lost.

Now for the question...did the Title Company breach my confidentiality by contacting Mr Lien Holder, negotiating on my behalf without my consent and continue to communicate with him after I specified not to, and to inform him on the progress of the sale? The Title Company is owned by an attorney.

Help me find a Pointcast desktop news client replacement?

randomthoughts — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 05:17:49 -0800

Help me find a replacement for the great Pointcast desktop news client? Back in the day I used a free desktop news client that offered a scrolling taskbar on the desktop with news and weather reports as well as a screen saver that would display news headlines with pictures and weather forecasts. Best program ever.

I know the Mac as a RSS screensaver but it is nothing like Pointcast? Is it possible that in this day with our current technology in web, that a Pointcast replacement hasn't been created?

Anything like a headline news screensaver or desktop client out there that is worth checking out? Anything out there that will take my Google Reader feeds and put them into a screensaver?

Online client/contact management for Dummy

mojoworkin — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:43:33 -0800

One-man businessman looking for good online client/contact task/follow-up system. Everything I've found is geared for big business and large collaborative groups. I am a full-time wedding DJ who needs to track a lot of inquiries and sales related activity - usually lots of phone and email contact. Some of this will result in people going elsewhere, some will yeild a face to face meeting, more email and hopefully an agreement to provide services.

From there, I would like to keep tabs on my communication with clients as we progress through the planning phase to make sure I am timely answering their questions and also make sure I have everything I need by the time the wedding comes along.

It's not really all that much to keep track of, but keep in mind I am a DJ - all the things that make me really good at what do is borne out of my total inability to lead a regular life - But at least I know I have to fake it well, which leads me to my query.

Also, all my clients and potential clients have different needs, schedules, degrees of organization, so I always adjusting my process to make life simpler for them (planning a wedding is like a second job for some people!)

Does anybody have a suggestion for an online solution for this kind of thing? If it ties into an iPhone app, I will kiss your feet!

Do I ask about a late payment or let it go?

wexford_arts — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 10:27:43 -0800

My client said the cheque was in the mail two weeks ago. The cheque has not yet shown up in my mailbox. Should I ask him about it? A new client, trusted and recommended by a colleague, contacted me several months ago about a small job that never came to fruition, but he offered to pay a small fee covering my time, about $125. Fourteen days ago he said he was putting a cheque in the mail that week, but there's been nothing.

It could have been sent the following week, it may not have been sent yet at all, or it could have been sent and stolen out of my mailbox. The last possibility isn't as paranoid as you might think, as the cops have been around the neighbourhood to warn us about documented cases of mail theft in the area. My other clients all pay by direct deposit, so I've never had to worry about this issue before.

If the cheque was stolen and cashed, I'd hate to put this new client -- who really wants to work with me in the future -- in the position of paying me again. I can eat this loss. In fact, I never expected a kill fee at all: it was a pleasant surprise that he offered. On the other hand, I don't think there's anything wrong with a quick question about the payment if it turns out they were just late getting it out.

It's the small but real possibility of the client feeling obliged to pay again given the small but real chance of theft that has me hesitating. What do you recommend?

How do I get my client to pay?

Anonymous — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 08:31:23 -0800

How do I get my money from a client who is trying to dodge me? I recently did some work freelance design work for a start up web company. They client and I had a disagreement and I was let go. I sent them an invoice and now they want to argue about the amount and not pay. I have been trying to get in contact with them but it seems like they are avoiding my calls/emails. So how do I go about getting paid for the work I have already done?

Windows-Service-workable FTP Client?

Picklegnome — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 01:33:55 -0800

Free/cheap FTP Client as Windows service? I have a headless home server running Windows, and in order to run a program, I need to be logged in - via Remote Desktop, right now. Not so with services. I can force a program to act as a service, but that means I won't get the benefits of a GUI. I need the server to take care of downloading files without my being logged in. Downloading only; uploading either won't be necessary or can be handled on a case-by-case basis with a different client.

What FTP client can I use that has a web- or command-line-interface, or would otherwise allow me to control it even as a service?

How to politely fire a client?

Anonymous — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:03:11 -0800

How to politely fire a client? I'm trying to get out of the freelance web design/programming biz. My 'real' job in enough.

I have a client whose project started small, but is turning into a scopecreep nightmare. The originally requested work is completed and invoiced, and now I would like to bow out.

Please help me compose a polite message that will definitively end the parade of feature requests, but not result in an angry client. I'm sure from his point of view, we are in the middle of this project, but we are *well* beyond what I signed up for.

I realize this is a sort of silly question, but I've not had to do this before, and I'm unsure of the etiquette involved.

Throw-away email if you have questions: nomorewebprojects@gmail.com

Web-Based or Mac OS X Twitter Client with Navigation, Deletion/Hide of Read Tweets, and URL Launch -- All Via Keyboard Shortcuts?

WCityMike — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 15:52:46 -0800

Looking for a Twitter client with very specific certain requirements. Does it exist? I've recently decided to get more involved in Twitterdom, after a long time of ignoring it. My wishlist:

(1) I'd like to be able to navigate through tweets via the keyboard (think "j" and "k" in Google Reader).

(2) I'd like to be able to hit a key to launch a URL that is WITHIN a tweet in my default browser. As a fallback, the key could open up the tweet on the Twitter website.

(3) I'd like to be able to remove a tweet from my timeline view -- again, by a keystroke (Delete key, Backspace key, etc.).

(Intense keyboard navigation is really preferred here.)

(4) The one thing in this new very-hyped Tweetie I'm liking is the ability to quickly bring up a full thread of a conversation view.

(5) I don't mind if it's on the Web or a Mac OS X native client or a Gmail gadget or what have you -- a Mac OS X native client is most useful but by no means required. I'm not looking for something that is Windows-only or iPhone-only.

Does this exist?

Help me become psychic so I can truly understand what the heck my client wants!!

urbanette — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 20:36:20 -0800

How can I make this client relationship work? Me again. Same client as this question before. I work in a small agency that specializes in marketing with more of a yuppie spin. My client, a brand manager is in her first role after leaving an agency. I'm new to agency world after being a client. The relationship seems to be going well, she likes me, invites me to drinks after work. Seems fine right? Well when we present our ideas to her, she seems fine in the meeting, will ask questions and we all leave the meeting feeling pretty good. Until the next day. She'll usually follow up or her assistant will fire off an email poking holes in whatever we've presented. And while I expect and can handle feedback, this is beyond normal, it feels extreme.

I've worked to try and anticipate her questions before presenting anything to her but it's getting to be exhausting. I've tried asking her for examples or for her to tell us exactly what she wants and she'll demand that we come back with multiple options, force us to choose one direction and then justify to her exactly why we chose it. Then she'll proceed to rip apart our rationale in anyway she can.

An example: We will suggest a list of musicians we've worked with before for a launch party she'll want thrown and she'll come back and question us on what our 'strategy' is for the launch party (um... to launch your product to get awareness?) how having music at a launch party fits into that strategy, how much the musicians should be paid why we chose these specific musicians vs. other and why this genre, and why are the staff wearing these clothes since she would never wear them...etc, etc when her product has nothing to do with music products and doesn't hinge on the music played in anyway shape or form.

I understand that this is likely because she doesn't trust us - we had a previous team do a project for her last year and they definitely missed a ton of details but nothing that was major in the grand scheme of things. Her boss was very pleased with the work we did on the project and has said so to us in front of her and others. While it may have been rough getting there, it was a good program. So we have to earn her trust back, but this seems to be a bit of overkill.

I also think she may be unclear as to her role as the client and not as an agency person. She worries incessantly about details without letting us get the big picture sorted first. Another example would be worrying about where we will plug in the laptops before understanding how we would drive consumers to the event. We've built timelines and checklists to show her that we have all of these little details on our radar and will deal with them in due course but she insists on putting the cart before the horse.

I'm at my wits end. My team is in full revolt - they are completely demotivated and feel like she doesn't appreciate their work so when I give them more feedback after another presentation that seemed to go well you can see them just shut down. (We sent her a gift at the holidays and she didn't even acknowledge that she received it).

This is a nightmare and while I would love to simply end the relationship; times are tough and she is one of our biggest clients so we need her for the time being.

MeFites - what can I do to make her happy? Can I reach out to her as a former experienced BM and give her some advice? Is that offside. AAAARGH!

I don't need a support system... or maybe I do. Is there a support ticket system for Brick & Mortars?

aristan — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 13:58:51 -0800

I am looking for a client management/help desk/support ticket... thing. Customers come into our stores with items to be repaired and I'd like to be able to allow stores to create ticket for each repair. I'd like for the system to retain information about the customer and the items they bring in... and be able to make notes to the account. What exactly am I looking for? We do luggage & leather goods repairs.

I guess I'm looking for something similar to osTicket, but I'm not sure if it will fit our needs. We'd prefer a flexible, open source, free system. But we're open...

We'd like to be able to:

- Manage client information by keeping their information on file without duplication. Right now, this is all sitting in a database... but if Bob Smith has brought in his suitcase 4 times for repair... all of Bob Smith's information is in that database 4 times. And there's no way to update the status of any of this information. There's really only 'Open/being repaired' or 'Closed/repaired'.

- Manage different items related to the customer. Bob Smith may have 4 bags. We'd like to have notes on Bob Smith and each of his 4 bags without major duplication.

- Update the status of each ticket as it goes thru the system, so that all calls are handled at the location without having to call a certain department and getting an update. Right now, if a customer calls a store to find out what's going on, the store has to hang up, call the repair department, then call the customer back with the information.

- Create accounts and make notes to the account. Some customers try to snow the salespeople, swearing they were never told about shipping, repair costs, extra. We'd like to be able to note things of this nature and have it available to store employees.

- Accessible via the internet by employees in several locations.

Will something like osTicket work for us? Is there another help desk type product that will work for us? Am I looking in the wrong direction entirely?

Pimp My Wireless Network

billtron — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:33:16 -0800

WirelessNeworkFilter: Please help me set up my home wireless network using two routers. Despite all the particulars of my situation, there must be an easy solution. I have a cold and my brain might be a little fuzzy. I have two routers, a WRT54G running DD-WRT v23 and a brand new WRT54GL that I haven't taken out of the box.

Here's my current setup:
In the back room of the apartment are the main computer, the cable modem, and the DD-WRT router, all hardwired.
On the other side of the apartment, in the living room, are a TV, a first generation TIVO, an XBOX that will soon run XBMC, and several wireless devices that are struggling to reach the signal being broadcast by the router in the back room, often failing.
There is an external hard drive housing the media connection. It can be put anywhere on the network.
The cable modem can be kept in the back room or moved to the living room by the TV.

How should I optimally set up my network, minding the following facts:
1. The most important connection in the house is the main computer. This is why it is the one that is hardwired.
2. The TIVO has no ethernet out capability. It's using a USB wireless thingamajig. The TIVO also will only recognize WEP. If possible, I'd like to work around that to increase security for the computers.
3. I have very basic cable, and the tivo isn't really capturing anything that can't be streamed over hulu.com or the basic channel websites.
4. I would like to watch said streamed videos on the TV in the living room.
5. I would like to access the external hard drive from any computer in the house, and watch its movies and listen to its music through the television.

The future of client/server deployment?

nikkorizz — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:35:23 -0800

How are people deploying web applications with client/server interaction these days? After a failed attempt at getting a Java servlet up using Apache Tomcat, I'm looking to see what else is out there. Ideally, I'd like to stick with JAVA, but I suppose it's also in my best interest to pick up other popular languages if that's seems to be where the flow is going.

Tomcat was useful, but documentation on it was sparse and outdated, and troubleshooting just to get the thing working was a pretty hairy experience. What's a good alternative?

Bonus points to employees that actually use said alternative for their own job. I'm not too worried about ease or interface, just as long as it's a technology that is well documented, meaning more than 100 articles/posts made about it within the past year!

How do you upgrade the Oracle client in Linux RHEL 4 (64-bit) from 10.2.0.1 to 10.2.0.4?

idb — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 08:18:57 -0800

How do you upgrade the Oracle client in Linux RHEL 4 (64-bit) from 10.2.0.1 to 10.2.0.4? I need to upgrade a 64-bit linux oracle client install from 10.2.0.1 to 10.2.0.4. Our helpful DBAs insist that the only way they know how is with the GUI-based patch thing. Is there really no command-line patch I can apply? If so, where do I find it?

VMWare: Web server on guest OS, accessed from Host?

weston — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 10:40:26 -0800

VMWare Fusion as dev server: How can I set things up so I can access a web server running under the guest OS (Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5) from the host machine? Bonus points if it can be done without plugging into an ethernet network. I've got a web app that will eventually be deployed under Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, and the client sent me a VMWare image of the production machine so I could test in an environment as similar to theirs as possible (I usually just run the AMP stack under OS X, but they're using older versions of each piece of software, and are unlikely to upgrade soon because of some legacy apps, and we all know php installations vary wildly anyway, so this seems to make sense).

Since I've got VMWare Fusion, I figured this'd be a snap, but there appear to be two challenges:

1) Red Hat Enterprise Linux appears to be expecting an wired Ethernet connection by default. I'm primarily doing work on a MacBook Pro with connectivity done by WiFi. Having to plug in would suck... but this might be the part where getting WiFi to work under Linux would suck more.

2) I'm not sure what tack to take for the general network settings for VMWare (probably "Bridged" or "Host Only"?) and corresponding appropriate TCP/IP settings for the guest OS.

I'd love it if someone could post or point to a comprehensive explanation for making this work, but if you can help with either point #1 or point #2 (or offer any other advice), that'd be great too.

Thanks!

How do I get a deadbeat client to pay their invoice?

zzztimbo — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:29:00 -0800

Company still hasn't paid my invoice, what recourse do I have? I worked for a small startup as a software engineer for about a month's time. One day they decide to tell all of its employees that they will shut down for a week because of financial difficulties.

The company is open again but with about a 75% reduction in head count. They are now not paying my invoice for the work that I did before the shut down.

What can I do? Some one told me to file a complaint with the labor board. How do I go about doing this? What is the best way get remunerated for my time and energy spent doing work for them?

Also, I'm assuming the reduction in workforce has left a lot of empty Aeron chairs and computers. Should I asked to be paid in chairs and computers instead? I could use a new Mac right about now.

Why is Gmail (through Mac Mail) not sending some email messages?

airguitar2 — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:34:29 -0800

Help! Why is my Gmail, accessed through my Macbook's Mail application, occasionally not sending emails, even though they're listed as "sent"? I recently learned that a prospective employer never received an important email I sent using Gmail through Mac's Mail-- I chalked it up as a fluke. Now I've learned that another person never received an email. I know that most of my emails have gone through without a problem. Three questions:

a) What is going on? All my messages are listed as "sent" in the Gmail "sent" folder-- but apparently some never *actually* got sent/received?

b) Is there any way to know which messages have/ have not been sent? I'm paranoid that many other emails have never been sent/received, but I have no way of knowing which ones.

c) Is there anything I can do to prevent this from happening in the future? Should I email everyone I've tried to email recently and ask if they've received my messages?

Thanks.

Invoice? Receipt? Help me bill my client properly.

Null Pointer and the Exceptions — Tue, 06 May 2008 17:14:07 -0800

I offered a client a preferred rate for a block of hours and they agreed, so I sent an invoice. Things went great and now they want more, how do I arrange this on paper? Here's the short and simple:
- A client asked me if they could get a preferred hourly rate if they booked a certain number of hours at a time (40 hours)
- I gave them a rate, they accepted, so I sent them an invoice for 40 hours
- They have now used used up those 40 hours, so what do I send the client?

Do I send them a receipt detailing how the hours were spent? Do I resend them the original invoice, or maybe create a new one? Collection is not the issue as they are paying on time. I just want to make clear that the 40 hrs have been spent, how they were spent, and provide whatever is necessary so they can start using the next block of 40 hours.

I'm new to this so any suggestions are appreciated. Oh, this is software dev related if it matters at all.

Thin client terminal hardware problems

Tawita — Sun, 02 Mar 2008 17:59:00 -0800

I am looking to replace some thin-client terminals on our W2K Small Business server running terminal services over RDP. We haven't had much luck with our existing terminal hardware (Compucon Phoenix - the power supplies burn out far too often) so I am looking for something simple, hardy and (of course) not too expensive. We have a 15-terminal, single location set up, connected to a single server running W2K SBS. We are situated in a developing country - hot, humid, dusty, with dirty power and extremely inquisitive ants, and little (if any) IT budget. We are happy with the server set-up (stable and running largely problem free for four years), but it is the terminals that are letting us down. The proprietary (?) power supplies for the Phoenix terminals give up the ghost on a regular basis, and I am sick of spending AU$150 each time to replace them (plus the hassle of having them shipped from Australia - no easy task). We currently have five terminals out of action, and I am weighing up whether we might be better off moving to different brand of terminal. Old technology is fine, but fewer moving parts might be better. Perhaps an external power supply (as for laptops) would be a good idea, so the terminal could be sealed to prevent ant and dust intrusion. Re-purposing old PCs might be a short-term option, but they are likely to have much greater issues with component failure.

I am not an IT person, although I am (unfortunately) the IT person. I assume (hopefully correctly) that it is okay to mix-and-match a different brand of terminal with our existing set-up. We have little money to spend.

Any assistance/suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

If I work out of my apartment, will I be my only client?

pantheON — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:54:21 -0800

Can I run a criminal law practice out of my apartment? I'm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. I'm currently articling (for my American friends, that's a mandatory one-year apprenticeship I have to complete to get called to the bar) at a mid-sized insurance defense firm. I've concluded that I want to get out of this area of the law and I'm interested in pursuing a career in criminal defence. I've been told that I'll likely have to take legal aid cases almost exclusively until I gain some more experience and can establish a full practice. My question is a narrow one: What are the practicalities of working out of my apartment until I can build a practice that can support office space. My apartment is in the business district of the city and about a 10 minute walk from the courthouses. Could I, for example, work out of my apartment, store my files there, and meet clients in public places?

Instant message help

mr. creosote — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 07:00:36 -0800

Need help finding a quick and easy instant messaging (IM) program. Which IM program is best? I currently use Trillian but am a bit distressed over its bloat issues, which makes me concerned over security and CPU consumption issues. It also has a very confusing interface. Are there bloatless alternatives out there that are not loaded with malware? Payware is ok. I plan on using YIM and maybe AIM.

Also I want to start leaving my IM client up 24/7. Are there security issues I need to be aware of, such as payloads someone could send over IM, or a vulnerability with my IM port being open constantly and visible? I already know not to run executable programs.

Thunderbird May Go

southof40 — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 13:52:31 -0800

Help me make HTML email composition in Thunderbird work for me or choose a replacement email client I use the Thunderbird mail client (2.0.0.9 on Win32).

In general I like T'Bird a lot but I've become increasingly unhappy with HTML Email composition. I want help either fixing the problems or finding an alternative.

1. Font drop down contains every font installed (100+) - I want it to show three fonts of my choice or at least modify the ordering so that I can easily see the ones I want. Have asked in TB forums. No response. Anyone know a work around for that ?

2. Whenever I start using bullet points I lose the font formatting (it reverts from what I was using to Times Roman).

3. Pasting text in from clipboard maintains font/sizing of source text. I never want this to happen I want the pasted text forced into the current face/size.

So my question is : anyone know of plug-ins / config options which make TB HTML Email composition work more like I want ; OR anyone recommend a Win32-non-Outlook mail client which does HTML Email composition in a grown up manner ?

Suggestions needed for holiday gift for a great client

SampleSize — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:21:27 -0800

I do freelance graphics and have one client that has been a monthly, consistent paycheck for most of the year. I've billed them for about $15,000 since March. Most of my clients will be getting a card this holiday season, but I thought it would be a good idea to do something a bit more for this particular client. Suggestions? I'd like thoughts on both price range and specific items. Also, I have two contacts at the company: The big boss (male), who I speak to only occasionally, and the associate (also male) who is my main contact. The boss can be a bit demanding and has very high standards, but is generally respectful. The associate is a very sweet guy who I like on a personal level. He has also gone to bat for me a few times when the boss was being unreasonable. So: Gifts for boss, associate, or both? Thanks!

Which news client should I use?

PowerCat — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 13:22:18 -0800

Which news client should I use? Most of the ones I used are slow. Also it seems when I download mp3s, it shoves them all in the same folder- that's pretty annoying as I have to manually sort them. Which client should I use?

Should I stay or should I go?

Anonymous — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 16:41:39 -0800

Should I fire my freelance client? If so, how? I've maintained a client's web site under the same contract for about five years. Basically I get a $300/month retainer for up to 10 hours of work (my client and I are both based in the Bay Area), including CSS, HTML, JavaScript, and PHP/MySQL coding.

I set up the site in Movable Type in 2002. The client's needs outgrew Movable Type's capabilities (at the time) so I did a lot of complementary ad hoc PHP coding, so managing the site involves a confusing mix of Movable Type and a custom Admin section.

That combination soon got unmanageable and limited, so I proposed replacing it with a CMS (pMachine) over four years ago. They're basically too cheap to pay for the additional hours or buy CMS software, so nothing's ever happened.

Their communication style makes it difficult to do quality work. Every request is last-minute ASAP! and every e-mail is marked urgent and has "URGENT" in the subject line, so I do things the quick way, not the right way. When I told them this made mistakes more likely and made it difficult to do good work they understood but didn't change their behavior. (They complain about the hours if I try to redo the work correctly later.) They don't review my work, which is especially helpful when you're working under emergency conditions, and they recently complained about something I missed two years ago which they hadn't caught.

Early this year they said they wanted to a redesign in Spring 2007 and convert to a CMS (great idea, boss!). I recommended ExpressionEngine and I offered to spread the work out over several months so there wouldn't be additional cost for my time and to let them use a license I'm not using so there wouldn't be an additional cost for the software. A month or so later they said they wanted to use Mambo, so I did some research and said ExpressionEngine or Drupal would be a better fit for them. No response. (I don't have to have people do what I say, but what's the point in having a consultant when you don't use their consultation or even respond to it?)

Guess what? Still no redesign or CMS. When I asked for an update in June they said they were expecting to make a decision in July.

I'm thinking about telling them I'm canceling the maintenance agreement effective the end of 2007 because I can't provide them with the quality of work they need under these conditions and offering to set up ExpressionEngine before then. It sucks because I've put a lot of time into their site but I'm ashamed of the quality of work I've been able to do under the circumstances and I don't list them in my portfolio.

Is it time to cut them loose? How do I do it?
(I tried to keep this relatively short so I left out the many examples where I've disappointed them.)

p.s. Movable Type is great for a lot of people, but it's not a good fit for me and this client, so please refrain from recommendations on how to make it work.

p.p.s. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already working with another developer because they recently added some new pages to the site that I didn't work on.

How do I get potential clients hooked?

schwa — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 20:40:20 -0800

I'm a software development consultant and am getting frustrated at the number of potential clients slipping through my fingers. I get a good number of interested leads through my website or through referrals (thanks guys) but the ratio of potential clients to paying clients is too low. What might I be doing wrong and how can I help gain these clients? The sequence generally goes like this: I get an email from a lead introducing themselves and the problem they want help with and asking about my availability. I email back and explain that I am available, and that the project sounds interesting and would love to talk more with them about it. At this point one or two more emails go back and forth, with them describing the problem in more detail and me describing my relevant experience and skills. Frustratingly, more often than not this process dies when I don't hear back from the client.

I'm an experienced developer, with good skills in my field and a good track record behind me. I don't think my rate is unreasonable (in fact I think it might well be low for a developer with my experience). I understand sometimes the client isn't ready to hire a consultant and was just looking fore ballpark rates that he can budget for. I understand that there can be a tonne of valid reasons for a client abandoning the process. Its always possible the client has found a better developer elsewhere, and so forth. But I'd like to know what I can do to help prevent this from happening and what I could do when a potential client goes cold on me.

Any advice?