Strategies for Explaining Your Contract to Your Client

Question

Contracts are a tough subject. First of all, that word in of itself elicits a negative chemical reaction in the brain so don't call it the contract to your customers. It's called an agreement. But just because you have something in the agreement, doesn't mean that you are completely off the hook and they customer reads and understands it.

The reason I'm even writing this is every once in a while, a customer approves a time and materials job then our technician shows up and the conditions the customer presented make it impossible to perform the service. In our agreement, we have a "failed job" clause where they get charged $150. Our technician planned their day around the job, we did our best to assess it ahead of time but sometimes the customer doesn't know or hides details. This is clearly stated in our contract.

I've tried to "enforce" this a few times but it always leaves a negative taste in their mouth. This also applies to leaving pets out while we are working, change orders and all sorts of things we have written out in a policies and procedures contract. I don't think it's enough to just put it in the contract. Try these things:

If the job is big enough, go over all the most important items with them in person.
Have a landing page telling them what happens next and who to contact
Make a fun video going over some of the items Check This Out

Main thing is don't assume they read it because they probably didn't. If you do it in person, use a Plaud unit and send them a summary of the convo after. Don't be that person that tries to just say "well it was in the contract". What is everyone's experience with describing contracts to customers?

roselvaggio · Answer

We found that a contract protects expectations, it doesn’t replace communication.

In residential cleaning, we have policies around cancellations, lockouts, payment, pets, clutter, utilities, and first-time service expectations. Every client signs them.

But when an issue comes up, leading with “Well, it’s in the agreement…” almost never creates a great customer experience.

Instead, we try to communicate the important expectations multiple times throughout the client journey: during the estimate, in confirmation emails, reminder texts, and onboarding. By the time a policy actually matters, it shouldn’t be the first time they’ve heard it.

We’ve also learned to ask ourselves, “Are we trying to enforce a policy or preserve a relationship?” Sometimes those align. Sometimes offering grace on a first offense builds more loyalty than strictly enforcing the letter of the agreement.

The contract is there to protect everyone. Communication is what keeps clients happy.

pestfreecanada · Answer

I had a plumber out at my place a few weeks ago and he had a very professional and complicated contract. He took that contract and ran it through ChatGPT and gave me the basics of it just like that, printed out with all the prompts in it and everything. I thought that was pretty cool.&nbsp;

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Strategies for Explaining Your Contract to Your Client

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