Communication in Business

[MTGomer]

This is less hunting related than ginger ale, but I'm going to post anyway. Perhaps you great folks can give me some advice. From my perspective, I am not the problem here, but I'm also aware of the idea that if something happens more than once, perhaps blame isn't always on the other party. I'm going to only give one example, but other things very similar have happened that I'm involved with multiple times over the last two years.

I am a land surveyor. A potential client and their attorney reached out to me and needed an ALTA survey performed, they provided the title commitment and the timeline they needed it performed in (within a due diligence period of a buy/sell agreement). We verbally discussed the scope/fee, it all sounded good, so I wrote up a contract and sent it out. I stated that I could start near the end of the following week. By early the next week, I had heard nothing back, so I called and left a voice message to follow up. No response.
Two weeks later, I sent an email stating that my schedule was filling fast and I was wondering if I am going to be proceeding with this work or if they had decided to not move forward or had selected another firm. Crickets.

Last night I got a phone call from the attorney to remind me that she'll need my ALTA by no later than close of business today, so that she can review it and send it to the lender before closing next Wednesday. The conversation went very poorly after I informed her that I have not worked on the project, as I was never given notice to proceed and my contract was never executed, therefore no, I have nothing to provide her.

In no way can I view this as my fault, no matter what perspective I try to look at it from and if it was an isolated incident, I'd shrug it off, but again - this has been repeated 3 or 4 times over the last few years. The other times were less consequential, but this time a ~$4.5 million transaction is likely to fall out of escrow because of it. The lender won't lend without the ALTA and the seller isn't inclined to extend, according to the very angry lawyer.

What do I do differently, fellow business owners?

 

[Deleted member 18333]

In your initial discussions did you state that work would only start once the contract had been executed?

 

[MTGomer]

In your initial discussions did you state that work would only start once the contract had been executed?

Yes. I told them that I'd send them a contract and to return it to me "via whichever means is most convenient".
Also, the contract had a guarantee in it for a date to provide a draft deliverable for review & comment, if contract was executed by x date.

Probably less relevant, but the Arizona Board of Technical Registration requires land surveyors to perform services under a scope defined in a contract. Real estate attorneys should be familiar with this.

This was to be a large, expensive project that nobody in their right mind would do without a contract.

 

[Art Vandeley]

That's a tough one, seems like you did everything you could. My boss told me 90% of problems are based on communication problems, and everything discussed orally needs to be followed up with in writing. Sounds like you did just that and still got burned.. Why did the attorney not get back to you if it was so important?

 

[Southern Elk]

Sounds like you’ve done all that you can do. Certainly can’t blame you for not doing the work without a signed contract.

 

[Scott85]

Sounds like you did the right thing and exercised due diligence and I think in the end that prevented you from being screwed. It isn’t your fault they couldn’t communicate.

 

[Gerald Martin]

If your contains a contract and they were given that contract to execute and failed to do so even after you sent a follow up message then that’s completely on them.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Yes. I told them that I'd send them a contract and to return it to me "via whichever means is most convenient".
Also, the contract had a guarantee in it for a date to provide a draft deliverable for review & comment, if contract was executed by x date.

Probably less relevant, but the Arizona Board of Technical Registration requires land surveyors to perform services under a scope defined in a contract. Real estate attorneys should be familiar with this.

This was to be a large, expensive project that nobody in their right mind would do without a contract.

Given what you have said I am finding it hard to find a particular thing that you need to do differently. I will say that early and often communication regarding "where are you on signing that contract?" while annoying can be affective. Did you happen to ask the attorney where she thought the disconnect stemmed from?

 

[nrpate05]

Yea definitely wouldn't have done anything without a signed contract. Did they say if they received the contract? If so, why didn't they sign it and if not, why didn't they followup? Seems you did nothing wrong.

 

[Nameless Range]

Don't own a business, but since you mentioned this has happened more than a few times, I think that merits wondering whether it just comes with the territory or is there something you can do to reduce it's likelihood of happening. Much in line with the phrase that "There's no such thing as predictably unlucky."

Maybe when you initially meet you have some sort canned document/statement that reiterates that the work won't be done till the contract is signed. Maybe in your own business process, you build in more "reminders" - be it calls, emails, etc - that the work is on hold till you get a signed contract. Those things are low cost to you in terms of lift, and folks are scatterbrained. After all, you are missing out on work too.

 

[SwaggyD]

Sounds to me like the buyer has a poor attorney.

 

[MtnElk]

I’ve encountered this several times in my own work, and I can’t believe how many people are shocked that I won’t start the work until the contract is executed. Morons.

 

[Bambistew]

You sound like you don't need more work or you'd have hounded them for the signed contract TBH, depending on how much work it is, if I don't hear back in a week or two after a couple prodding emails or calls. I'm onto the next thing, and they go to the back of the line.

I send out piles of proposals/contracts. If I don't get a signed contract, PO, NTP, or any other written form of consent, I don't' do the work. Depending on the client, I may also request a retainer for 50-75%. It sounds like you were covered by dates, I always put an expiration date as well.

I got burned one time in 20 years of doing this. I had a client rep (operations manager) that needed a small amount of work done ASAP, for a key permit. I'd done a lot of work for this client rep in the past and had a good relationship. Luckily it wasn't a lot of money, and they always paid their bills, change orders, etc. I felt the risk was small, to non-existent. The problem was it would take the lawyers 2-3 weeks to sort out the contract, and the work needed to be done before then to meet permitting timelines, winter construction windows, mobilization, etc. If they miss it even a week it could set the project back 6-8 months. So I did the work and gave them 99% drafts while they "worked on the contract." When I sent the bill a month later (no contract signed yet) the book keeper refused to pay me, and the clients lawyer said I shouldn't have done the work without a signed contract. Sorry we're not paying... Hmmm Ok.

When they came begging for the final docs to get final signatures on the permit 6 months later, their lawyer had the screws put to him to get the contract negotiated ASAP. He was a big important type of guy for a huge corporation, but when his boss found out that it was costing them tens of thousands of dollars a day to "negotiate" the contract, it was taken care of, within an hour. haha I bent over backwards for these guys, only to have both of us get hosed by their own lawyer. I think it cost them almost 20x more to pay the contractors idle time than what they owed me. Pretty funny. I got the last laugh on that one.

I don't need that in my life and I learned a valuable lesson. Don't trust anyone. I will never do work without a signed contract again, no matter how desperate or solid the client is. Getting a signed contract is their problem, not mine.

 

[npaden]

The only thing I can think of is that you might want to selectively bold one or two of the most important sentences in your emails. The "action" parts.

I have found that many people really don't read for comprehension anymore and by bolding the action parts I'm more likely to see at least that part read and complied with.

 

[gouch]

My only question might be. Were you trying to communicate with the client, the lawyer or both? If it was just the client, it may be possible that he/she assumed that you were also communicating with the lawyer and that the lawyer was handling everything. No matter what though, I would say the disconnect was on their part. Or in short, "Sucks to be them."

 

[HowaHunter]

Communication is not what it used to be. Most people today won't pick up a phone or even answer an email or text, even after the communication line has been opened. It is very frustrating that busy people such as yourself have to babysit others if something needs to be done. You certainly did more than what should be required, in today's world, multiple attempts using various methods usually have to be attempted to reach someone. They lost out due to their own ineptitude.

 

[LuketheDog]

This is less hunting related than ginger ale, but I'm going to post anyway. Perhaps you great folks can give me some advice. From my perspective, I am not the problem here, but I'm also aware of the idea that if something happens more than once, perhaps blame isn't always on the other party. I'm going to only give one example, but other things very similar have happened that I'm involved with multiple times over the last two years.

I am a land surveyor. A potential client and their attorney reached out to me and needed an ALTA survey performed, they provided the title commitment and the timeline they needed it performed in (within a due diligence period of a buy/sell agreement). We verbally discussed the scope/fee, it all sounded good, so I wrote up a contract and sent it out. I stated that I could start near the end of the following week. By early the next week, I had heard nothing back, so I called and left a voice message to follow up. No response.
Two weeks later, I sent an email stating that my schedule was filling fast and I was wondering if I am going to be proceeding with this work or if they had decided to not move forward or had selected another firm. Crickets.

Last night I got a phone call from the attorney to remind me that she'll need my ALTA by no later than close of business today, so that she can review it and send it to the lender before closing next Wednesday. The conversation went very poorly after I informed her that I have not worked on the project, as I was never given notice to proceed and my contract was never executed, therefore no, I have nothing to provide her.

In no way can I view this as my fault, no matter what perspective I try to look at it from and if it was an isolated incident, I'd shrug it off, but again - this has been repeated 3 or 4 times over the last few years. The other times were less consequential, but this time a ~$4.5 million transaction is likely to fall out of escrow because of it. The lender won't lend without the ALTA and the seller isn't inclined to extend, according to the very angry lawyer.

What do I do differently, fellow business owners?

Do nothing differently, this is not your fault. You had a discussion about scope/timeframe/fee for work. You wrote up a contract and sent it to the client (buyer and their representative attorney both count as "client", so doesn't matter who it was sent to) to be executed, which they did not do. You left a voicemail AND an email requesting a response, neither of which they felt were important enough to respond to. I would never perform work for a stranger, and even for some friends, without a written contract, nor would I assume they really want the work done if they didn't care enough to sign the contract. The 'very angry lawyer' has nobody to blame but herself since she is getting paid to make the deal happen, I'd suggest she get in front of those sellers and do some serious groveling and begging for an extension. I just dealt with a buyer's agent who missed a contract deadline for inspection objections right after she complained to me that she wasn't getting enough commission on the deal. I reminded her that she wrote the contract dates and was getting paid to ensure they were met, so maybe the extra commission wasn't being earned after all.

Unfortunately you're dealing with a terrible attorney and flaky buyers here, and I'd venture a guess that the other times this has happened have probably been due to similar clients, I hear stuff like this more and more it seems. This is the world we live in, full of people who act like there are no repercussions for their actions or inactions. My dad was a GC for a long time and loved the 'handshake' age until it burned him badly several times, they were hard lessons and took a serious financial toll on our family.

 

[Elkoholic]

3-4 times in the last few years, on average 1-2 times a year a customer is not holding up their end on the contract/agreement or required actionable items? Based off your description I see no fault on your part, you're never going to bat 1000% in business deals. I'm sure if you were hard up for business you'd be following up, doesn't sound as though that is the case. I wouldn't loose sleep over it and move on to those customers that are cooperating in a timely manner, and ensuring you're providing the service they are paying for, and delivering to the expected level.

 

[Elite7]

I think you’re all good. I work in construction management. I see this type of thing quite a bit. People are either lazy or not organized and they try to pin the problem on you instead of looking in the mirror.

 

[Dougfirtree]

My only question might be. Were you trying to communicate with the client, the lawyer or both? If it was just the client, it may be possible that he/she assumed that you were also communicating with the lawyer and that the lawyer was handling everything. No matter what though, I would say the disconnect was on their part. Or in short, "Sucks to be them."

This. I could be wrong, but I'd guess that you thought you were dealing with the client and they thought you were dealing with the lawyer. Seems like many wealthy folks don't like to be a part of the nitty grittys of communication about a job. Either way though, not your fault and I'm guessing the lawyer knows this on some level, hence the anger...