Cisco Systems RJ-45-to-AUX manual Contracting, Document, Document, Document, Way to Fail, 350

Contracting

When you first go into business as a consultant, you should have a contract that is created by an attorney and authorized by your insurance carrier. Once you have the contract in a word−processing document form that outlines your liabilities and those of the customer, you can modify the contract to suit each individual customer. The investment is worth it—not just in case you are ever in a legal bind, but because good contracts help keep you out of a legal bind.

Make sure that the contract restates your deadlines, because the period between the time the proposal was made and approved may have been quite lengthy. During that period, your time constraints or the availability of the equipment may have changed.

Other than making sure that the person who signs your contract is authorized to do so, you’re ready. After the contracts are signed, sealed, and delivered, go to work!

Document, Document, Document

Because you are the one who installed the components, the customer will most likely come back to you for support. When a doctor works on a patient, he documents everything so he knows what worked, what didn’t work, and what has been tried before, for many reasons (including legal). You should treat each network just like your own patient.

Occasionally, you will be called back only to find that a less−than−knowledgeable person did some work on the network. Having the working configuration in hand makes for a quick resolution. If there is a problem with a component or if a component needs an upgrade, your documentation should show you exactly what you need to order to remain compatible with the current equipment.

Even though you’re a high−paid Cisco consultant, you should get a few weeks of vacation a year, too. If you’re the only one who knows the network, you’ll be working on your vacation days.

The Way to Fail

Throughout history, great achievers have learned to manage themselves and their time. If you don’t learn to manage yourself, you may encounter many points of failure.

Lots of things can ruin your reputation and can actually get you replaced on a job. Let’s look at a few:

∙Failing to be there when promised or rushing through the job

∙Failing to manage your time

∙Assuming you understand the customer’s needs

∙Failing to take responsibility

Failing to Be There When Promised, or Rushing through the Job

Let me tell you a story of an experience I had with a bad contractor, who always promised and never delivered. I had some remodeling done on my bathroom. The contractor and I spent a whole night working through every detail of how I wanted the bathroom to look, from the flooring all the way to the paint and lighting. The job was going to be very expensive, and I hired a person who worked for himself. Because the materials were charged separately and reimbursed to the contractor, he purchased all the materials and then left them in our living room. This was his first mistake, because I had to convince my wife that the materials

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