First meeting with client

Hi Guys, I am meeting with my first client on Friday. He has asked me to do the job, but will pay 10%of how many customers he gets in a certain time. He is also a lawyer. Do you think I should go with that deal. I am thinking maybe I ask for a first time payment then ask for 10% of people coming in after the first month is over.
BTW thanks to BHW for helping me get my client,all of the great info here helped me with that.

Hi,

I had my second serious client meeting (a surgeon) about a week ago and I was really nervous. It turned out fine in the end, but I couldn't get my internet stick thingey to work!

Sound confident, just suggest it. You have nothing to lose as he is already sold, so the worse that can happen is that he might say no.

Good luck!

thanks a lot, i might get another customer as well

Word of advice: avoid lawyers as customers.

They are probably the richest and most penny pinching group that exists. They'll get you to do shit for pennies on the dollar and good luck suing them if something goes wrong. Because with their anal contracts that they give you, they will find a reason to **** with you if they don't like something.

Just sayin..

Make sure you clarify that 10% in stone before you agree to anything...

Feel free to use "will that work for you" as a closing statement and then start on your paperwork (letter of agreement, contract, etc). Happy Selling!

I agree with Sipser. I have had several lawyer clients. They rarely listen because they think they know everything, will never use your contract, and are super cheap. Good luck though. Your on your way!

@principe - Congrats on getting your new meeting. I see a problem in this deal and I am very confident this lawyer had spoken with many web 'experts' before you and the past deals flopped for an obvious reason. This is a typical chicken and egg situation. If you can generate 'x' sales then he/she will pay you 10%, but who pays for the construction/time/expense of this 'system' to allow them to reach their ideal results? How can you ring up a sale in a mall when no one is willing to pay for the construction cost of the mall itself? If you pay for all of it, then you're the dummy here not them.

1) How can you be so sure they can close the deal?
2) What if this client is then refer to his associate or colleague while he/she gets a cut and you can't proof it?
3) Writing a contract with a lawyer is the same as asking a lawyer to do web work for you. Who do you think will the victim in this case?


These are general flaws that I see and its best to patch them before you are face with it.

While these are all possible bad scenarios I do believe some are good, but come on now we're dealing with lawyers here remember?

If I were you I will either
1) Charge per hour
2) Charge per project
3) Charge 1/2 project cost and 10% commission for all future sales. <-They still can screw you big time here.
4) Work on a barter deal with the lawyer so you can charge premium or even a hybird barter deal with them.

Justify value(money) per client with them, not how much a website or per hour should cost. Minimize their risk. Offer guarantees. Like DK said, sell money on a discount is what you should do, anything else will be a very hard sell, period.

Good luck.

thanks for all of the great stuff guys, I am basically thinking of doing simple stuff. The Lawyer is still a student at my school, but I dont think I am gonna do the 10% commission thing. I am just simply gonna tell him what everything will cost, and if he is happy with it then I will do it, if not then I will leave. I mean I think the 10% is just a way to get everything done from me then I still dont know how many people he is getting. So I am simply gonna tell him that the website will be outsourced and then made, followed by just getting his ads indexed and on the front page that is it. But I definitely agree with you guys thanks for all of your help.

As a coincidence I was talking to a legal secretary friend and that is
exactly what she said about lawyers. But I have realised in life that you
get what you ask for in life, as fortune favors the bold.

The following passage is from an unknown author:


I bargained with life for a penny,
and life would pay no more,
However I begged at evening
when I counted my scanty store

For life is just an employer,
He gives you what you ask,
But once you have set the wages,
Why , you must bear the task.

I worked for a menial's hire,
only to learn, dismayed,
That any wage I had asked of Life,
Life would have willingly paid.

This also just reminded me of Kate, this lovely green eyed, curvy,
anglo indian chick that I was madly in love with when I was 20.
She was 1 quarter indian 3/4 irish.... dynamite combination!!!
We were in that friendship zone and I had a suspicion that
she liked me as well, but I was too damned shy to do anything
about it.

Any way I didn't and we lost contact and years later I bumped into
her again in our local shopping center. We reminisced and I had one
of those doh!!!!! moments, when she admitted that she had felt the
same way! ( I did ask as I was no longer awkward and shy, but she
was happily engaged at that point ).

Oh well, thats how you can miss the boat. I just molest them nowadays
and if they slap me I stop !

(Not that one should treat their clients this way...yuk!)

Good Luck!

Ask for a payment upfront. "setup fee" if you will. Then a monthly recurring charge for maintenance. Not worth the trouble worrying what kind of business the lawyer does.

I'm sure somewhere in that contract it will say 10%, but you'll find out that it was only ten percent of the sitting fee - just for the case analysis - like $10 for you/customer that comes from the site + unreported clients.