Clients do not understand

it strikes me how people are so quick to want competition when they are the customer. for example, people cry out for more ISPs, cellular providers, banks etc., arguing that this will bring the prices down. and competition does bring prices down. but with the fall in prices, there are often providers that have to cut costs in order to compete. think in terms of ISPs having higher contention ratios and heavy shaping - and the customers complain about it! they could easily switch to a more expensive service that has a higher quality.

this thread has providers complaining about competition that is too cheap and has too low a quality!

oh the irony!
 
Some feedback/replies would be appreciated on this:
I've seen some online businesses that offer to make a simple website that they price at a few hundred rands to rent monthly, is this "model" of income even sustainable? I ask because someone close to me thinks so, but hasn't tried it yet...and they're not a web developer...and they use those website design software.

Now, that "someone" has the idea that once they get 1000 customers(1000 customers every month sounds appealing), they'll be sailing.
This idea was a month ago, only has one customer so far hehe. But to be fair they haven't started calling businesses with no websites.

Yep, is this maintainable or is it a pipe dream, thanks for advice, seriously.
 
DJ... said:
If the client does not understand, then you as the salesman have not done your job. Assuming you sell your own services.

It is not the client's fault...
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This.

Be it a website or other PC related services if you do not inform your clients about the costs involved and fair timelines then you did not sell your product(s) properly.
 
The minute you start thinking customers are stupid or gullible or idiotic or naive is the moment you render yourself obsolete -- a sure sign you're in the wrong business.

My customers are very smart people.

-----

Btw, the Antec psu example above couldn't be more wrong. It's a physical commodity product with a baseline cost, where a seller's value-add is minimal. That's exactly the wrong way to sell services, especially creative services.
 
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stoymigo said:
Some feedback/replies would be appreciated on this:
I've seen some online businesses that offer to make a simple website that they price at a few hundred rands to rent monthly, is this "model" of income even sustainable? I ask because someone close to me thinks so, but hasn't tried it yet...and they're not a web developer...and they use those website design software.

Now, that "someone" has the idea that once they get 1000 customers(1000 customers every month sounds appealing), they'll be sailing.
This idea was a month ago, only has one customer so far hehe. But to be fair they haven't started calling businesses with no websites.

Yep, is this maintainable or is it a pipe dream, thanks for advice, seriously.
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This is not a bad idea just one or two issues with this

1. You design the website they pay one month and never again how do you consume this ?
2. You can give them a service contract but .... complications and also what would you be selling these sites for a month as practically you are only starting out now

Arthur said:
The minute you start thinking customers are stupid or gullible or idiotic or naive is the moment you render yourself obsolete -- a sure sign you're in the wrong business.

My customers are very smart people.

-----

Btw, the Antec psu example above couldn't be more wrong. It's a physical commodity product with a baseline cost, where a seller's value-add is minimal. That's exactly the wrong way to sell services, especially creative services.
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Comparing apples with pears more I would say, I do believe you get idiotic clients that do not know what they want and are the ones constantly chopping and changing on designs on the other hand I have some awesome clients :love: what a breeze the odd one now and then is ok

At the end of the day you get what you pay end of story next thread ...
 
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Arthur said:
The minute you start thinking customers are stupid or gullible or idiotic or naive is the moment you render yourself obsolete -- a sure sign you're in the wrong business.

My customers are very smart people.

-----

Btw, the Antec psu example above couldn't be more wrong. It's a physical commodity product with a baseline cost, where a seller's value-add is minimal. That's exactly the wrong way to sell services, especially creative services.
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Absolutely, and they also understand. Any business will do everything it can to minimise its costs. If they sense that you easily pushed, they will push.

That's the skill in selling. Convincing the buyer that your price is the right price. There is no such thing as a fair price, only an agreed price.

If I am buying something a fair price is 0

If I am selling, then its some obcsene high number.

Reality is somewhere in between :)
 
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DevSign said:
Hey guys

I want to discuss a few issues I'm experiencing lately from clients and would like to know how you handle these issues?

1) They expect a R10 000 project to cost R1000
2) They lose interest when you send them a short questionnaire
3) Clients expect things to be done within a day

So these are some of the issues I'm experiencing lately, it's really starting to become a problem.
How do you treat these issues professionally and with a positive outcome?
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In short, accept the fact that clients are stupid :p
 
Having been my own business salesman for 32 years, I would say..

The price you quote should be more or less what the customer expects. When you are talking to him, you need to find out what he wants and how he has figured the price. Most people will have spoken to a friend who hopefully has used your services before and would have been told what it cost. If he has figured that for product A he has a price of R 5000 in mind, if he starts telling you that in addition to product A, he wants product B and C included, then you must tell him that it will be more than the standard price.

You will always get chisellers who try and beat you down to what is an unrealistic price. These people, if they will not see reason, are best avoided as they usually turn out to be the ones who hesitate about paying, having invented what seems to them a legitimate excuse not to pay you the full amount, or pay you later, or pay you when you have done something else over and above the contract.

As regards wanting the item then and there, he must be told, however unpleasant that it might seem to him, that other people who have accepted work are ahead of him. I used to deal with this by leaving one day a week free and being able to shift jobs around so if Mr Unreasonable insists that his job take priority, you can accommodate him. He must be made to feel that you have made a supreme effort to fulfill his needs.

Why do you want to send them a questionnaire? Cannot you glean all the answers on the first visit? Sure if it is an ongoing contract where there might be changes, but you should be able to sus out what is required on the first visit.

I have always found that to be as helpful as possible steers the customer into making a positive decision.

Do you make them sign an acceptance of work sheet with the payment terms on it?
 
ChilliGirl said:
This.

Be it a website or other PC related services if you do not inform your clients about the costs involved and fair timelines then you did not sell your product(s) properly.
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Completely agree.

Put together some documentation as well explaining everything, what your duties are, what features/options are included, timelines, payment structure etc. and request that they sign it as well. Believe me, it does help - just remember to keep it short and simple - no one likes to read forever and a day. Especially considering the fact that you should have already communicated either face-to-face or over the phone and spoken about everything.
 
chrisc4290 said:
The price you quote should be more or less what the customer expects. When you are talking to him, you need to find out what he wants and how he has figured the price.
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Huh?
What?!

I strongly disagree and think it would be madness to go with what your client is expecting to pay. Customers usually have no idea what web design/dev costs and come in expecting a R30 000 site for R5000.

Usually a client comes to you becasue they want a website and they have no idea how to go about creating one.

He can come to you and say "I want bells and whistles and only have R1500" and you can reply "for R1500 I can give you a picture of a spider" and that's about the end of that conversation. You can't sell him something that is going to cost you R30 000 to make for R5000 because that's what he 'feels is right'.

You can however berak everything down and explain the entire procedure to him, it's going to cost R30 000 because:
1. We spend x hours developing wireframes for ...
2. Professional designers need x hours to perfect your look and feel ..
3. We need x hours to code the site, broken down as follows: items 1, 2, 3, 4...
4. We charge Rx per hour
...

Now he knows where his money is going and how long it all should take.
 
rward said:
Huh?
What?!

I strongly disagree and think it would be madness to go with what your client is expecting to pay. Customers usually have no idea what web design/dev costs and come in expecting a R30 000 site for R5000.

Usually a client comes to you becasue they want a website and they have no idea how to go about creating one.

He can come to you and say "I want bells and whistles and only have R1500" and you can reply "for R1500 I can give you a picture of a spider" and that's about the end of that conversation. You can't sell him something that is going to cost you R30 000 to make for R5000 because that's what he 'feels is right'.

You can however berak everything down and explain the entire procedure to him, it's going to cost R30 000 because:
1. We spend x hours developing wireframes for ...
2. Professional designers need x hours to perfect your look and feel ..
3. We need x hours to code the site, broken down as follows: items 1, 2, 3, 4...
4. We charge Rx per hour
...

Now he knows where his money is going and how long it all should take.
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Nice reply, I absolutely agree with you!
 
These days you can now virtually cut and paste a website for free.
Because of this web design is no longer a niche market,and people are not impressed with fancy plug-ins and graphics.
They just want good prices and services.
 
DrYes said:
These days you can now virtually cut and paste a website for free.
Because of this web design is no longer a niche market,and people are not impressed with fancy plug-ins and graphics.
They just want good prices and services.
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True but I can bet you whatever you can copy and paste will never look like what I can design in the time you used to copy and paste

On a side note I don't understand why people cry over prices you can get a decent company website for under R3k now of course if you require a db etc this will be additional
 
chrisc4290 said:
The price you quote should be more or less what the customer expects.
Click to expand...

So I can walk into a Toyota showroom and tell them I want a Land Cruiser for R1500? :erm:

Naaaah... the client will have to pay for services rendered. If the client is too cheap, let the client find somebody else to harass.
 
byron_spy said:
True but I can bet you whatever you can copy and paste will never look like what I can design in the time you used to copy and paste

On a side note I don't understand why people cry over prices you can get a decent company website for under R3k now of course if you require a db etc this will be additional
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the rule of thumb is to establish the customers budget first and quote accordingly.If he wants all the bells and whistles for a pittance then tell him nicely to get farked.
He's probably a joy rider taking chances anyway.

This practise has been going on for centuries.Its the all part of business and you should be able to deal with it.
 
The_Librarian said:
So I can walk into a Toyota showroom and tell them I want a Land Cruiser for R1500? :erm:

Naaaah... the client will have to pay for services rendered. If the client is too cheap, let the client find somebody else to harass.
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Loool the best part is they want it as cheap as possible and then you get the odd guy saying that he wants to pay you in a months time go buy groceries and tell the cashier you will pay them next month looool

At the end of the day you are paying for a service be it web design, graphics or whatever if you cannot afford it go make a free site with Google's site builder
 
but byron, if they use the site builder, then they'll post on this forum and ask for help, because something isn't working... :p haha
 
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys - but this goes both ways: If you charge peanuts, you'll get "monkeys for clients" as well. You need to price your service properly, and educate the client so he understand what he's paying for. If he doesn't want to pay it, then there's no reason to undercut yourself. Unless you're really desperate for the money.....
 
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