molly.com
Thursday 17 June 2004
pay me first
Any experienced prostitute knows that the client doesn’t get the goods until the goods are paid for. In a homage to that bit of wisdom as it might apply to a web design team, 37signals turned down their largest potential client this year because of the client’s unwillingness to adhere to this most basic and ancient of accepted decorum.
It’s a great story, and teaches us all more than a little bit about integrity, honor, and ethics in our profession.
Filed under: policies
Posted by: site admin | 05:08 | Comments (10)
Just an FYI, it was our largest client of the year, not career
Thanks Jason for the correction – have made it in the post for clarity. — M
Just read the comments on Jason’s site, but thought I’d comment here as that session is PACKED! Some good stuff there though.
I’m sure we all wonder how we’d have handled the situation. But after seeing some of the subtle and not so subtle language in his examples, I got a bad feeling too.
Obviously, we don’t know the details of his agreements with clients – he may have different agreements regarding “deliverables” and “product” etc., depending on the client, but that’s not really the point here, I think.
It seems to me that a middle ground could have been met with this client, but what Jason sensed was a disturbing shift in the way this formally good client was doing business and that what should have been a relatively straight forward business transaction was being hijacked by a petty legal ping pong game.
One of the best lessons I’ve learned in life is that, no matter what the game is… YOU DON’T HAVE TO PLAY IT! I learned that lesson when I walked away from a well paying but abusive job 10 years ago and I haven’t regretted it yet, even though it meant years of starting at the bottom again. I also came up with this riddle for the occasion.
Question: “What do you call someone who doesn’t work for (insert company name here)?
Answer: “FREE!”
Anyway, obviously not the easiest thing to do, the right thing to do in this situation.
Good luck Jason!
You do have to wonder how any honest business who intends to pay fully for the services they employ can justifiably argue such a simple clause. There are times when you have to follow your gut instinct that a client is going to cost you your profit – no matter how big the project, it’s no good if you don’t come out the other side having covered your costs and made some profit.
Unrelated, Molly, I read your opening words as “As an experienced prostitute …” and was shocked. I think this says more about *me* than anything
I am firm believer that tough customers, like locks, keep honest people honest.
The more of this the better.
I have your web standards right here… I’m sick of people needing everything and everyone to confirm to their little book of rules before they feel everything is “OK”… bleh… losers
GO ON 37!
Fair play, it can be quite hard at times to make the right choice. At least turning away business your not going to loose out, your just not going to gain either.
-MF
Hello Molly, thanks so much for sharing this link with us… Even we’ve faced similar situations several times.. people aren’t anymore ethical in this world.. you need to take care before you step forward… or else they try to blackmail you at every step!