Do any of you include a copy of your contract or agreement in your bid packets? What other pertinent information do you include? Thanks
Along with a cover letter that is personalized for the particular prospect, 2 copies of the agreement, both signed by me, along with a return stamped envelope are included. Might as well get it all on the table up front. Also, my agreement is multiple pages and I check off the services they want a bid for. By them getting the entire "template" agreement, it allows me to display to them other services we offer that they might not know about. or have an immeditate interest in. I built the agreement from the template that Sean here has for sale. Its modified quite a bit but his template was very helpful.
I always try to submit my bid in person and close the deal then. If they can't meet with me I do not include the contract with the bid simply because contracts are seen as a negative for the prospective customer. I believe the contract should be different in different situations. For example, if a company received poor service the previous year and was threatened not to discontinue service because of the "contract" the last thing my contract would say is " This contract is not breachable under any circumstances". I use contracts that give protection to both parties. If you ever have a customer that does'nt want your service you are better off letting them find someone else. I also know sometimes the person making the decision want's everything in front of them. This may work against me some but I feel it has saved me more times than not.
I actually have a yearly agreement. They can get out with 30 written notice. i hate the word contract, but just used it for this thread instead of having to type both "contract" and "agreement"
