Contractor 101: Final Exam at The Shane & Peter Inc. Blog

Contractor 101: Final Exam

09.24.07 by shane

Contractor 101: Final Exam In the process of interviewing people for the post of office / operations manager, we asked them to complete a business acumen final exam. Peter & I sat down and wrote a fictitious letter to a client containing pretty much all the major business mistakes we have made in the past number of years. Think you are ready for the big time? Give it a shot. Look for spelling, grammar, poor communication, business etiquette, a few small and a few HUGE no-nos. Rewrite this letter as if it was from your business to a client. You will probably need to ask questions and I am happy to answer in the comments.

John,

We propose a $27000 retaner with Johnson & Johnson for the next year for 150 hours per month starting in September. I know you don’t like the formality of contracts ,but we have to get something in writing. Hopefully this letter will do. We will need to discuss what services you expect us to provide next time we meet.

By the way, how’s charlie? I’m glad to hear he’s all better, I can’t believe he fell off the car.

I may also be willing to provide you with guidance on Westinghouse inhouse team.

regarding the xGeos launch, after some review of initial schematics, Ii wanted to discuss the possibility of doing it in flash or flex.

Get back to me whenever you feel like it.

-s

We have received a lot of different responses. The interesting part was not so much how the final letter came out, but the questions that people sent us. They offered great perspective on how each person thinks and their level of business experience.

Once you are done, click here to see the answers. You can cheat, but you won’t learn as much.

Of all the questions we received, this was the most insightful list. A number of people provided well thought out questions similar to these.Hi Shane,

Were this letter a real world scenario, I would be unable to properly proceed without first clarifying a few things. Once clarified, a letter can be created.

I would first begin with a few questions regarding the letter to J&J.

1. Your $27,000 proposal for 1,800 hours over the next year (150 x12) equates to $15 an hour. This seems quite low. Could this be a mathematical error?

2. Please specify what services will be included within this proposal. What duties does this retainer include?

The letter states that you will discuss services next time you meet. It needs to specify what services your retainer will include. The client can then negotiate those terms. Once terms have been agreed upon, a contract will be created. A contract needs to be created for each project.

3. Leave the comment about Charlie out. This is off-topic and unprofessional.

4. Regarding the Westing House in-house team, be careful saying “I may also be willing to provide…” You either will provide it or you won’t. Leaving it open like this will only lead to problems and confusion. You want to be very clear about what is to be expected.

If you do not include it at this time, and they request this service at a later date, an addendum should be added to the current contract reflecting this service. This addendum will need to include details and also a newly agreed upon price.

5. In regards to xGeos, this should be included in the services section. This is a detail that should be proposed initially and then can be negotiated.

6. Instead of saying “get back to me whenever…” we need to be more direct. When does this need to be returned? I would suggest 24-48 hours.

In addition to the above, there are also spelling and grammatical errors. These will be addressed once clarification has been received.

Thanks Shane, I look forward to your response.

xxxxxxx

While I don’t personally agree with each and every point (you can fit a personal message in, if you are a tactful writer), for the average contractor, this person was dead on. Hope you had fun with this. We have, and it has been a great interview tool.

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2 Comments

Sep 24th, 2007 at 15:09 pm Luyza

Boy, oh boy… I keep holding myself back from finding clients for my brand new attempt at freelance design business, thinking that I will be seen as childish and immature, but after reading this letter, I have no reason to worry.

I can’t believe that was a real letter…
Sep 24th, 2007 at 15:09 pm shane

Hi Luyza, I love that this encourages you. Don’t be afraid to get out there an risk a little. The whole point of the article and the fictitious letter (no it wasn’t a real letter) is that we all make these mistakes at time. We are trying to enourage awareness and learning

The letter is an amalgam of the numerous mistakes we have make over the years. That said, we have seen all these mistakes numerous times both in our own business and in the contractors that we work with.

You will rarely make them all in one letter, bet don’t be surprised if some slip by. It happens to the best of us.

Some clients may see you as childish - other will hail you as their hero.