Yesterday I went to a presentation called; Show me the money: ‘how to get paid for you services’ by Lou Moreno and Jennifer Suzuki.  It was interesting, good and all simple concepts that we should all know and think about in our practice…but elas!!!!

Here are my best 10 from their presentation;

1- Do not start any service without a signed contract…so simple but yet, so many architects skip this critical step

2- Tell you client what your job is about, it is your job to educate them on what they should expect from you.  If you don’t, it’s your own fault if they don’t get it

3- With fix fee billing, your clients want to know more of what you do.  Make list of what you did that day, that specific hour, on that specific phase of the project for those specific reasons.  The more you tell, the more they will understand why you deserve your fees.  Designing a house on a paper napkin doesn’t really say; i deserve high fee for that napkin…

4- Ask your clients when they write their monthly checks and be sure to send your bill 10 days before that date

5- Constant contact with your clients is good practice, especially when they are avoiding you

6- If they can pay you when they are suppose to pay you, ask for a promissory note

7- Find out who is the real decision maker, don’t take ‘orders’ from anyone that says to do so just because they say so

8- Make sure you know about your clients history, if they sued 3 architects in the past 5 years, you might be the next one on their list regardless of the quality of your work

9- Certain clients are more ‘challenging’, you don’t have and should not work with everyone

10- Set the tone for your fees and be creative with it; Lower fee for pre-payment, lower fee for payment on time, etc.

And finally, a picture of yours truly at the convention!