Beth H from Jacksonville, FL. JEA territory. Had a great first meeting with a hotel owner. He was excited about the contingency model, loved that he pays nothing unless I find savings. Then I sent my engagement letter and he went dark. Two weeks of follow-up and he finally called back to say the agreement was too aggressive and legalistic. He felt like he was signing a contract with a lawyer, not a consultant. What did I do wrong?
My engagement letter scared the client away — what did I do wrong
Beth, the engagement letter is a legal document but it should not read like one. If your agreement is full of whereas clauses, indemnification paragraphs, and legal jargon, it will intimidate small business owners. The content needs to be thorough — you need the protective clauses — but the language should be plain English. Can you share what your agreement looks like?
Randy, it is 6 pages long. My attorney drafted it. It has sections on indemnification, limitation of liability, dispute resolution, governing law, intellectual property, confidentiality, non-solicitation, force majeure, and severability. For a contingency utility audit.
Beth, 6 pages is way too much for a small commercial client. My engagement letter is one page, front and back. It covers: what I will do, what the client authorizes me to do, the fee structure, when fees are due, and a work-product protection clause. That is it. If the client is a large corporation with a legal department, I pull out the longer version. For a hotel owner in Jacksonville, one page is plenty.
Sarah, one page? Does that give you enough legal protection?
It has given me enough protection for 3 years and about 50 clients. The key clauses are all there — fee structure, payment terms, work-product ownership, and authorization to contact the utility. Everything else in your attorney 6-page version is CYA language that protects against scenarios that almost never happen. The one-page version gets signed. The 6-page version does not.
Point taken. I am going to rewrite my agreement as a one-page letter of engagement in plain English. Keep the essential clauses, drop the legal padding. Going back to the hotel owner with the simplified version to see if I can recover the relationship. Thanks Sarah and Randy.