2

I am working as a contractor in online marketing with this client. The new owner of the company made a contract with me, I have 10 years experience with the company.

They agreed that they know nothing about online marketing, so we agreed that any changes in personal and any new agencies are to be agreed upon by me.

It didn't take long for this part of the contract to be disregarded. First they hired a facebook ad agency, then an e-mail marketing agency, then started doing conversion optimization on their own, even though they make major errors because they lack know how.

There have been no disputes about payment. Vibes are good, apart from that.

I had the same contract with a sister company of theirs -- a smaller project. There, I felt more emboldened to raise a fuss, and at the end of the day my behavior ended the contract.

How do I best raise this issue without getting out of character or insulting them? They genuinely don't know what they are doing, and while they are making these decisions, I am not able to do the actual work in these areas. It destabilizes the whole project and causes unnecessary drama. Because they can't properly evaluate the work, they think everything they do is a success.

I tried pointing out major mistakes, but I feel like I simply look passive aggressive this way.

Improve this question
8
  • 2
    Why do you want to continue working with a company that treats you like this?
    – Philip Kendall
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 12:55
  • 2
    @PhilipKendall they are not bad at all and the money is insane. Other than that everything is great. However this is a pain point. Whatever the case, this is like 60% of my income, great bonuses, etc. I get to enjoy seniority status. Can't just throw that away.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:09
  • If you are not ready to lose that job then there's extremely little you can do as you are not willing to sue (not that this would make any sense in the first place) to try to enforce said contract.
    – Aida Paul
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:37
  • @TymoteuszPaul I am not ready to sue or make a major fuss. The question is, can I raise this issue in a friendly manner?
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:40
  • 1
    @Sharpenologist its a revenue based variable on all of the e-commerce revenue. Most of it is google ads and amazon, which is firmly in my corner, thankfully. I have raised issues in the past like this and they said of course we are going to coordinate with you and they do that a lot in other things. But for some things, they hire an agency for example for design, because I don't do design and give them the whole channel. Im not working about working too much, the opposite if anything.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 15:25

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
3

Friend, it sounds like your ego is going to get you in trouble. You're feeling slighted because they are ignoring this contract term. But ultimately, you don't own the company and they have the right to destroy the entire operation if they so choose. Learn to let things go.

If this company is paying you, shut your mouth and continue to turn in those invoices for as long as the situation will permit. Do what you are there to perform. When you hear about someone doing something that directly conflicts with what you are doing, mention it one time and if your client doesn't move to resolve, pretend like you never said it but document your interaction and keep that some place for yourself. You hear about something that indirectly conflicts with what you were doing (long term), shut your trap. It's not worth the stress.

Imagine that you are working with a bunch of little kids that refuse to tie their shoe strings. You can lecture, you can whine, and you can make threats. But ultimately, skinned knees and faces against the ground are going to be a better teacher then you can ever be when you are being ignored. Step back, and let things work out for themselves.

Improve this answer
5
  • 1
    I do get that my ego is part of the problem here, but I am also worried about the dynamic. It goes like this: I have a concept, for example for e-mail marketing. They ignore it, because no time. At some point out of the blue, they think e-mail marketing is very important and hire an agency. This is sooner or later going to compromise my contract. In this kind of situation there never comes the sit down where you can pull your notes out.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:31
  • 1
    @user1721135 I don't know if you are full-time with this organization or not. And yes, the compromise is absolutely foreseeable. You can't control it. What you can't control is saving some of your income for the day that it happens so that you don't end up in a compromise in your own personal life. What you also can do is making sure that your skills are on par and marketable for your next opportunity, including the stuff that they are contracting out that you don't know how to do yet. Focus on what you can control, and let the other stuff go.
    – Xavier J
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 14:58
  • I am not exactly full time, but I have a large contract, they pay me with a variable on the whole revenue of the store. But I am remote. I have been with this company for 10 years. The old owner told them basically they have to hire me because I built the marketing and they didn't do much negotiation on the pay. I feel like they simply lack experience in management of this type of project.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 15:17
  • @user1721135 The old owner's gone. Unfortunately, any business advice passed on to new owners really has zero bearing now. Ten years is a long time to have gotten comfortable with how things worked, and you may just need to swallow your pride and knowing-better-than if you want to stick around. When you develop a lifestyle of expecting nothing but change, these situations won't shake you as much. You can do it!
    – Xavier J
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 15:49
  • Yeah I think Ill follow your advice, Ill talk about things directly affecting my work otherwise Ill shut up.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 20:03
7

My father spent decades running a small and specialized ad agency. Indecisive clients were the norm, not the exception. If they want to run other campaigns in parallel with yours, or redesign yours endlessly, you really can't do anything but advise them. charge them for your work and let them make their own mistakes. Their marketing department has the final say.

If you can't cope you can try to get a job as director of marketing somewhere and then you'll be in control. Or hunt for more collaborative clients and drop the ones that you find annoying.

This is an issue for most consulting creatives. Comes with the biz.

"The customer is not always right. The customer is the one with the money. Would you rather be right, or paid?"

Improve this answer
4
  • 1
    Yeah but exactly to prevent that we have this clause in the contract, I even explained to them why it exists, when we signed and they agreed. Does it make sense to ask for a meeting, where we discuss who does what to get some clarity at least? Maybe then raise the issue that this is contrary to the initial plan? Or should I simply tell them "can you update me on this" and hope they will include me in the decisions in the future?
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:33
  • 2
    So they've broken that part of the contract. You aren't going to (and probably can't) sue them over it. Do you still want their business or not? You aren't in control here, no matter what was agreed.
    – keshlam
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:36
  • 1
    so its best to shut up and not even raise the issue? Maybe I shouldn't mention the contract, but still try to raise the issue? Like "hey, lets sit down and define who does what" etc? Im not sure. Maybe you are right and I should simply shut up.
    – user1721135
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 13:42
  • 3
    Discuss it, certainly. Appeal to the contract? Only as you quoted. "I thought you were paying me to do X, Y, and Z. If you're doing W in parallel with X, not using Y, and only using Z in this case but not that other case, please clarify so we aren't working at cross purposes and you're getting your money's worth out of my efforts."
    – keshlam
    Commented Oct 13, 2023 at 14:45

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .