Write your own terms before the first search

At the agency, terms of business came with the job. Somebody in a back office had written them years ago, the client signed them once, and you never had to read them unless a fee went wrong.

On your own there is no back office. The first time a contact calls with a role, the terms are whatever the two of you say on the phone, and the first search you run that way tends to set the terms for the next ten.

So write them before you need them. It is one page, it takes an afternoon, and every placement you make this year will lean on it.

What goes on the page

Keep it short enough that a hiring manager will actually read it. Five things carry almost all the weight.

The fee, and what it is a percentage of. Twenty percent of what, exactly? Base salary only, or base plus guaranteed bonus? Write it down. The difference on a senior hire is several thousand dollars, and it is the most common argument after a placement.

When the fee is earned and when it is paid. Earned on the candidate's start date, paid within thirty days of the invoice is common. Pick yours and state it.

The guarantee. What happens if the person leaves in the first weeks? A free replacement search, or a partial refund on a sliding scale? Name the period and the remedy, and say that it applies only when the fee was paid on time.

Who counts as your introduction. If you send a candidate and the client hires them six months later for a different role, is that your placement? Say how long an introduction stays yours.

How the search can end. If the client fills the role themselves or cancels it, say what, if anything, is owed. If you ask for an engagement fee or an exclusive window, it belongs here too.

Send it with the brief, every time

The moment to send terms is not after the shortlist. It is the moment the client says yes, with the confirmation of the brief: this is the role as I understand it, and these are my terms. Ask for a signature or a written yes, and file it against the client.

It feels formal the first time, especially with someone you have known for years. It is not. Every agency the client has ever used sent terms. Sending yours tells them you are running a business, not doing a favour.

When the client sends their own

Larger clients will often reply with their own supplier agreement instead. Read it for the same five things. Their fee basis, payment days and guarantee will usually be worse for you than yours, and most of the time one polite question changes a line or two. You only know what to ask for if you wrote your own first.

What you walk out with

One page you send without thinking, a signed copy against every client, and an answer ready for the day a fee is questioned, instead of an email thread from a phone call in March.

The hard part is not writing the page. It is remembering, months later, which client agreed to what, and which version they signed. On a one-person desk nobody else keeps that.

That is part of what we are building Memorova for: an advisor that knows your own clients, searches and fee history, works out how to win the next client and the next candidate, and then does the work you approve. It is on a waitlist while we build it.

What is the one term you wish you had written down before your first search?