Proven Ways to 100% Avoid Client Conflicts in Software Development

You have likely faced situations when you had to get into an argument with your client while developing a website or app for him. Arguments can be due to misunderstanding of requirements, timeline or budget. Likewise, there can be many other instances when you just want to end the project or relationship with your client due to different conflicts. 

What if you never had to face such situations and all your projects would be completed successfully and you maintain a long term relationship with happy customers? That would be amazing of course. Having a smooth business and happy clients is what you always dream of. Well that can be achieved. You don’t have to suffer to achieve that. 

It is just a set of practices that you have to follow for each of your customers or each of your projects. 

Finding a new project is indeed an exciting occasion. And you can’t wait to start working on it without any delays. What at the start seems tempting might turn into a nightmare if not done right. The single most important thing that makes sure you are having a smooth business is excellent communication with your clients. Communication includes well written proposals with all the details about the scope of work, timeline, and pricing. 

What happens most of the time is that after an initial discussion with the client, software development companies prefer to quickly start the project to not lose a potential client. And they think a quick meeting or transfer of a few messages is enough to complete the job. But every time they regret this decision and they end up having a project which they don’t like to work on and can’t meet the expectations of the client. So basically it all starts from an initial proposal. 

Proposal

You may not want to spend additional time writing a detailed proposal because you are not sure if the client will work with you or not. But spending additional time is worth spending as the proposal is the very foundation for the start of a new business relationship.  Below is the checklist for your proposal.

Your initial proposal must include the following items:

1. List of all the main features of the project that you have discussed with the client
2. Different phases of the project. Each phase should be well defined and the client should be able to verify it upon completion. 
3. Timeline for the each phase of the project
4. Timeline for the testing and revisions
5. Price of the whole project and budget defined for each phase (Budget for the each phase helps client to understand when and how much he has to pay)
6. Payment terms and the payment method
7. Project acceptance criteria (You must be able to define what are the conditions which must be met for the project to be considered completed by the client)
8. A sample of project completion form (After completion of the project client must sign this form so that everyone knows project is completed and there are no remaining responsibilities for both parties)
9. Potential maintenance plan and terms and conditions, in your maintenance plan you must mention that it doesn’t include adding any new features or design updates in the projects. It only covers the scope of the project that has been completed

Agreement

Often software developers don’t give much value to an agreement as they rely on verbal communication and have a task based approach. They tend to think that the client described a project, they understood it and they are ready to implement it for x amount of money in x amount of time. They even don’t verify with the client if they understood it well enough. 

Agreement is a key to peace of mind and a smooth business. A well written agreement defines the duties of the software development company and the responsibilities of the client. 

An agreement should cover the following aspects of your partnership with the client

1. A detailed list of all the main features of the project, it should describe each and every feature in a way that is understandable for the client. While reading it, the client should be able to imagine how it will work. You must be as detailed as possible 
2. All the logistics should be well defined. You and the client should know all the details such as who is responsible for buying the domain names, servers and security certificates. Shortly speaking, each party should be clear about their role. While requirements or scope of the project is well defined, such small details can create a lot of problems if not agreed upfront. 
3. Agreement should include the well written details about the phases of the project along with the list of all the features covered in that phase. This will help to settle the matters in case of a dispute. In case you cancel the agreement, you will have an idea how much the client owes you or the client will know what he can expect for what has been paid. 
4. Payment terms and payment methods. 
5. Terms and conditions for the termination of the agreement

When you sign the agreement, you should attach all the communication with the client to the agreement as well. 

After the agreement is signed, you think you are ready to start the work but before you do that go back to the list of the requirements and again understand everything. 

Requirements confirmation Document

This is the time to review and discuss all the requirements between your team members and make sure you 100% understand them. After the review and discussion you should create a document to list down everything that you understood and discuss it with the client and get his approval. Try to use images, diagrams, samples and examples from the internet. After seeing this document you and the client both should be able to envision the end result of the project. 

This document should be reviewed and signed by your client. 

This document will serve you as a guideline to make sure the client is always happy and you will face minimum issues during the execution of the project. Crafting this document may take extra time but it will actually save you plenty of time from doing the extra work and going back and forth. Most importantly it will help you to avoid having an unpleasant experience in terms of communication with the client. Whenever a confusion arises you can go back to this document to see if you are under or over delivering. 

In short, having an organized process and a detailed documentation signed by all the parties involved can keep your business smooth and helps you build a long term relationship with your clients.  

Do you have any advice on how to avoid client conflicts? Or how you previously resolved the client conflicts in your software development business? Share in the comments!