Contracting

When you first go into business as a consultant, you should have a contract that is created by an attorney and authorized by your insurance carrier. Once you have the contract in a word−processing document form that outlines your liabilities and those of the customer, you can modify the contract to suit each individual customer. The investment is worth it—not just in case you are ever in a legal bind, but because good contracts help keep you out of a legal bind.

Make sure that the contract restates your deadlines, because the period between the time the proposal was made and approved may have been quite lengthy. During that period, your time constraints or the availability of the equipment may have changed.

Other than making sure that the person who signs your contract is authorized to do so, you’re ready. After the contracts are signed, sealed, and delivered, go to work!

Document, Document, Document

Because you are the one who installed the components, the customer will most likely come back to you for support. When a doctor works on a patient, he documents everything so he knows what worked, what didn’t work, and what has been tried before, for many reasons (including legal). You should treat each network just like your own patient.

Occasionally, you will be called back only to find that a less−than−knowledgeable person did some work on the network. Having the working configuration in hand makes for a quick resolution. If there is a problem with a component or if a component needs an upgrade, your documentation should show you exactly what you need to order to remain compatible with the current equipment.

Even though you’re a high−paid Cisco consultant, you should get a few weeks of vacation a year, too. If you’re the only one who knows the network, you’ll be working on your vacation days.

The Way to Fail

Throughout history, great achievers have learned to manage themselves and their time. If you don’t learn to manage yourself, you may encounter many points of failure.

Lots of things can ruin your reputation and can actually get you replaced on a job. Let’s look at a few:

∙Failing to be there when promised or rushing through the job

∙Failing to manage your time

∙Assuming you understand the customer’s needs

∙Failing to take responsibility

Failing to Be There When Promised, or Rushing through the Job

Let me tell you a story of an experience I had with a bad contractor, who always promised and never delivered. I had some remodeling done on my bathroom. The contractor and I spent a whole night working through every detail of how I wanted the bathroom to look, from the flooring all the way to the paint and lighting. The job was going to be very expensive, and I hired a person who worked for himself. Because the materials were charged separately and reimbursed to the contractor, he purchased all the materials and then left them in our living room. This was his first mistake, because I had to convince my wife that the materials

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would only be there a week or so.

The first day the contractor showed up, we gave him the initial payment for his work. He did a great day of work, removing the old flooring, vents, cabinets, toilet, and other fixtures. He said he would be back the next day to work some more—but the next day came and went, and he failed to show up. I called him, and he said

a personal situation had come up and he was unable to make it. He assured me he would be there the next day to get most of the work done. The next day he showed up, worked about an hour, and then left, saying nothing. I could tell by the quality of his work that he was rushed and in a hurry to be somewhere else instead of where he was paid to be.

This went on for days—the contractor either didn’t show up on time, didn’t come at all, or worked a short period and disappeared. My wife finally told me that we needed to find someone else. Because I was the one who had been calling and getting a different excuse every time, I called the contractor and warned him that we were getting upset. He returned the next day, worked for quite some time, and then again returned to his habit of not showing up.

After three weeks, my wife demanded that we get someone else to finish the job. She was tired of having mirrors and cabinets sitting in the hallway. The following day, I called the contractor, informed him that he would no longer be allowed in our home, and told him we would hire someone else to complete the job he had started.

Failing to Manage Your Time

One of the biggest issues I have noticed about other consultants is their time management. When consultants contract a job, they get much of the money up front. To make matters worse, they have to do this to survive, because they always try to undercut their competitors’ prices so much that they don’t make enough money to live their desired lifestyle as a self−employed consultant. Therefore, they like to contract as much as they possibly can—only to wind up getting too much work.

You should make sure that you can complete each job and that you allow extra time in case configuration problems or hardware problems pop up when you least expect them. Booking your time both day and night does not allow for overtime to complete a job that has gotten behind. Be sure you have enough time to get the job done.

I had a great mentor who always said, “Over−promise and under−deliver”. This means you should over−estimate your time and get the job done more quickly than you promised. By telling the customer you will finish the job in a week when you know it will only take two days, you leave time for emergencies. And when you get it done in three days, the customer is tickled pink and recommends you to his friends, neighbors, and grandmother.

Assuming You Know What the Customer Needs

An easy way to fail at a job is to assume what the customer needs. As a consultant, you need to verify with the customer exactly what he or she needs. You should also explain what each component you’re installing does and describe its features. Don’t assume because you have used it before that the hardware or software you have chosen to install is the same thing the customer has dreamed of having.

If you can’t find the contracted item for one reason or another, don’t get a substitute without first consulting with the customer. If you fail to get a solution that addresses the needs of your customer (or the needs the customer has forgotten to pass on to you), the experience can be a terrible ordeal. For this reason, you need to picture the environment you are designing and make sure the customer has been properly queried on his or her needs.

Don’t forget to include something a client asked for. Always log conversations with the customer and note what is still needed and the action items you need to perform. Keeping a note pad and a checklist handy can be helpful. In the event of an unforeseen legal issue, it also helps to have a paper trail of all conversations.

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