Here's the situation: You had a client inquire about your services (yay!). They seemed excited and the conversation led you to send over a contract. You wait and wait for a response only to hear crickets…so you end up signing on another client for the date in question. You can’t wait around forever, right? 

But then the original client comes back and says they are ready to sign. Your stomach drops because you gave away the spot and now you have an angry ex-potential client on your hands demanding that they have that date despite their own lack of communication. 

What do you do? Do you give in and cancel the other contract? What if they leave a terrible review about you? In Episode 153 of The Legal Paige Podcast, I dig into this sticky situation and let you in on how I would handle it (and how you can avoid it in the first place).

HOW TO RESPOND IN THIS (STICKY) SITUATION 

The most important thing you can do to address this situation is to respond back with the facts! Tell the person that you communicated with them in X way X amount of times. Explain that you book your services on a first come first serve basis and that you waited a certain amount of time (say two weeks) with an open contract and didn’t hear from them. Reiterate that you moved onto a new client, apologize, but be firm in your stance that your services are highly sought after and it’s not your fault that they had such a delay. 

TIPS FOR AVOIDING PROBLEMS LIKE THIS IN THE FUTURE

1. Always set a deadline for when your contracts need to be signed, clearly communicate to your clients that if they don't sign by that date you will open the date back up to other inquiries. Especially important here with sought-after dates.
2. Follow up 24 hours prior to the contract deadline. Alert the potential client that their deadline is approaching and a signature is necessary to make things official - documentation and proof are your friends here!
3. Tie up loose ends. After the contract deadline has passed, follow up with the client and say that the contract signing period has lapsed. Therefore, you will open their date back up. Remind them that if they would like to book services or they choose another date, they will have to sign a contract at that time and your pricing is subject to change.

MORE FROM THIS EPISODE:

Tune into Episode 153 of The Legal Paige Podcast for more details about how to handle this sticky situation and avoid it in the future. You don’t want to miss my BEST tip for motivating potential clients to sign ASAP toward the end of the episode.

If you want more helpful business advice as you’ll hear on the podcast, be sure to join The Legal Paige Facebook Community where thousands of entrepreneurs just like you are getting real-time answers about running a professionally and legally legit business.