Signing on the dotted line…or not?
I get asked this question a lot….
”Kathryn, do I need to get my client to sign my terms?”
The lawyer in me says “you bet”. I am a big fan of having clients sign their contracts because it prevents them saying that they didn’t read them. If they’ve gone to the effort to sign on the dotted line, its safe enough to say that they’ve paid enough attention to the document. Remember, the more your client knows and understands your terms and conditions, the less likely there will be confusion and disappointment when things don’t go their way.
So yes, its advised that you should make the effort to get that signature. There are so many customer relationship management software available that make that process a whole lot easier than it used to be. Gone are the days where you need to sign them yourself, send them by email, have them print the terms out, sign them, scan them in and send them back. These CRM’s allow you to cut and paste your terms and conditions into their program and then allows you to automatically send those terms and conditions out to your client at a certain point in the customer journey. Then, the document is able to be “electronically signed” with the click of a button. There are so many of these CRM’s available at a manageable subscription cost a month that it seems silly not to use one (we happen to be partners with Studio Ninja - check them out!).
What happens if you don’t get them signed?
All is not lost. We have a concept in law called “implied acceptance” or in other words, acceptance by conduct. Acceptance by conduct in contract law means that a party can be found by the court to be in agreement with a contract based on his or her actions, even if the contract has not been signed.
Lets say you have handed them a contract prior to providing them with your product or service and that contract states very clearly that the work will only proceed after the payment of the booking fee. You could well assume that once they’ve paid the booking fee, they are agreeing to the terms and conditions (makes sense, right?).
The key to implied acceptance is the wording in your contract. Thats where someone like me can help. I can ensure that your contract is worded in a way that makes it very clear that by paying the booking fee (or some other sum of money, or in the alternative, take some kind of action), they are agreeing to the terms of your business.
The good news is that our contract templates that we provide for your event supplier type have been written to make sure that implied acceptance is clear.
We’ve got your covered!
You can find our contract templates here: https://www.eventlaw.online/store-home
If you want to stay up to date with all things events and law, please join our closed Supplier Only Facebook Group “The Wedding And Event Lawyer” here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/theweddingandeventlawyer/
Want to have some fun? Check out our Superhero Quiz, which you can take to find out what kind of event superhero you are: https://www.eventlaw.online/superhero-quiz - check it out, it really is a whole lot of fun.
Til next time!
Kathryn
