Letter from Ron Riley, 810-655-8830, Riley & Associates Inc., Grand Blanc,MI, in response to the subject article. Ron provides electronic engineering services, with particular expertise in industrial controls.

If they accept my terms, it allows me to continue to profit from the relationship. If they don't accept the terms, they feel they have ended the relationship. By not damaging their egos, you create a situation where you can still do business in the future and they will likely feel less motivated to go around disparaging you. If you terminate the relationship in a manner that offends them, they will do as much damage to your business as possible.

Clients who try to renegotiate the price after the fact are best dealt with by adjusting your rates to compensate for the additional trouble of dealing with them. I usually increase my rates for such clients by 20% - and then let them negotiate a reduction of 5-10%. It's been my experience that some clients have a need to haggle over prices - but are otherwise good clients. They seem willing to pay a higher price to do business in the manner in which they are most comfortable.

Clients who are slow pay are best handled with COD terms. I sell these clients blocks of time on a prepaid basis. While many of these clients are never very successful, some are. They can become excellent clients over the long run.