Have you ever had a client disappear for days or weeks, leaving you completely stuck? If that sounds familiar, then you’ll want to check out this post.

Below, I’ll explain:

• why clients disappear
• the one contract tweak you can make that keeps your project’s momentum moving forward

In less than 10 minutes, you can implement this tweak and stop having projects that quietly erode your income, calendar, and creative energy.

Rather watch?

Psst…rather watch the short version? Then hit play below!

Timelines aren’t just for you

Stalled projects do not appear out of thin air.

They usually happen because timelines are vague or your feedback windows are not enforced or open-ended. 

When projects stall out, they cost more than time. They cost momentum. They cost the client excitement. They take up your calendar space and sometimes even prevent you from accepting other bookings.    

But here’s what you need to remember: timelines aren’t just for you. 

• Timelines help your clients stay engaged. 
• Timelines help your clients know what’s expected of them.
• Timelines ensure both you and your client get the outcome that you both want at the end of the project.

Clients hire you for your expertise and the outcome that they trust you can deliver to them, and your timeline is going to help make that happen.

Your contract can help

What’s the practical solution to this? Inserting contract details that will help keep momentum going.

But inserting these details is only half of the solution. The other half is pointing them out and enforcing them when things start to get off track.

What details do you need in your contract?

The first is a timeline. This includes a start date, key milestones, feedback window, and final approval deadlines.

The second is that you should tweak your contract’s format. Most contracts bury important details in the contract. Your clients have to hunt and search for them.  

Instead, I encourage you to create a contract cover page.

The cover page outlines those important things that the clients care about.   Those important things that you need from the client:

• get the outcome that you want
• keep that momentum going forward
• keep relationships happy and on track

And if you put these things upfront and center on a cover page, then your client doesn’t have to hunt, peck, and dig through the legalese to find them. 

Including these things, not only on your cover page, but having them supported in the legal fine print that’s attached to your cover page, is the heart of your contract.

And it gives you something to point to when things start to slide so that you can stop it right in its tracks before it spins out of control. 

You can send the client a quick email that says, “Hey, looks like we’re getting off track.” Or “Hey, just a reminder, the contract called for a five-day approval window. Since I haven’t gotten your feedback, it’s considered approved, and I’ll move forward to the next step.“  

If thinking about how to write this in an email feels hard. I hand those exact scripts to you in my free Copy + Paste Legal Week challenge. You’ll get the exact language you can paste into a client email when things stall out.  

Outline process for common hiccups

One thing a lot of contracts fail to do is spell out what happens when common hiccups occur.

So you should think about your workflow and process, where those hiccups happen, and what you want to happen when they occur.

For example, clients not giving you feedback on time is a common hiccup. So you should think about how you want to handle that situation and insert that into your contract. 

Because when you have a plan and process, you aren’t having to re-create a policy for every situation or renegotiate in the middle of a project.

Instead, you’ll be able to re-demonstrate your expertise by pointing out how you pre-planned to handle this in the contract.

You’ll be able to say, because I’m an expert, I expected this might happen, so here’s the process we’re going to follow. 

You no longer have to come up with the process when emotions are high; you just have to point to the process you’ve already created.

Back to our example of clients not giving you feedback on time, how could you handle that?

• If feedback isn’t received in X days, it’s considered approved.
• If no feedback is received, then your project is paused. And you have to wait until my next opening to continue your project and pay a restart fee.
• If the client provides something late, then your next deadline is extended by the same number of days they were late. (Thus preventing you from having to work nights and weekends to meet a deadline.)

When you outline the process, clients will have a better understanding of the consequences and will be more likely to follow the process.

Match your workflow

Now here’s where most creatives get it wrong. You think that you have to create your process to fit your contract, not the other way around

You should pick the process that will work for you and your workflow, then edit your contract to match.

Your contract shouldn’t be something you have to fit into. You should create your contract to fit you, your business, and your workflow, not the reverse. 

I want you to create a contract that you happily hand over, knowing your business is protected and that it’s aligned with your values and process.

I don’t want you to feel guilty about parts of your contract or never enforcing certain parts because they don’t feel good to you, or they don’t match how you work.  

If writing this kind of language feels intimidating, that’s exactly why I created Copy + Paste Legal Week. A free challenge where you’ll get five ready-to-use email scripts you can use right away to protect your time and projects. Sign up below.