
Ask HN: How to let clients comfortable sharing confidential information with you - jwmoraes
What would you tell to prospective clients to let them comfortable sharing confidential information (like source code) with you, specially when beginning a new employment relationship?
When I faced that problem once, I couldn&#x27;t come up with more than an NDA suggestion.
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brudgers
My basic advice from practicing architecture is to consider behaviors
indicating a lack of trust a red flag when talking to _potential_ clients.

At best, it's a sign that the _potential_ client is out of their depth in
terms of experience dealing with professional services. That is to say that
_good_ potential clients for professional services tend to have used similar
services before. Potential clients with unrealistic expectations who become
actual clients make their unrealistic expectations your problem.

At worst, and perhaps more typically, people tend to project their character
onto other people. People with less inhibition to not pay/deliver tend to act
as if I am going to rip them off. A person who fundamentally views business as
the process of extracting as much as possible from everyone is going to
approach me as if I held the same view of misaligned interests.

After many years I developed a simple test. I require a retainer paid upfront
and applied against _final_ invoice. Logically, a willingness to write checks
to me is a premise of the agreement for services. The ability to write a non-
bouncing check for my services is also part of the deal. And a _potential_
client who balks at writing a check upfront indicates a lack of trust that
over the long haul may not be worth trying to overcome.

Good luck.

