RE: You must be hard up for clients....

Rachel,

Uh huh. I feel your pain. I've had similar experiences as well, and the only
thing you can really do is what you have done. If you get yourself into a
flame war with this unknown, you could make yourself look bad.

But I'll go you one better, and this is very pertinent to this list. I
sometimes use Interland for hosting services, because they are a local
company to me and their prices are reasonably fair, though a little on the
high side when they start telling you about the hidden charges. However, on
two occasions (that I am aware of, and I only have 4 sites hosted with
them), THEY have contacted MY clients offering web design services, within a
day after I set up the clients new email addresses!

But when it comes down to it, there's always going to be somebody trying to
take away our business. And really, I'm okay with that. If my customers are
happy with me, then they'll stay. I educate them on the front end to
pricing, so price is rarely a concern. But if my quality is lacking, then
someone is going to come along and do a better job for them. It's
competition. It's Capitalism. It's the Free Market. And it keeps me on my
toes!

Furthermore, if I have an idea for an existing website that will improve the
site, or if there is a customer I want, I'll go after them, regardless of
whether they already have a developer. There is always the chance that they
are unhappy, or that they'll like my ideas better. But you can be assured
I'll use my real name and my real email address, which I'll give them over
the phone when I call them! (No Spam Here!)

You might consider a strategy to further solidify your relationships with
your own clients, however. Give them all an unexpected phone call. Tell them
you are just calling to check and make sure everything is okay. Ask if there
are any small changes they'd like made to their sites. Within reason, take
their requests and do as much of it for FREE as you can. It shows you care
about their satisfaction. And that makes it very hard for them to even give
a second thought to an unsolicited proposal from a competitor, or even a
sales call on the telephone!

Regards,

Jason Brett
ZigZag Internet Solutions
Powerful Solutions. Explosive Results.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: owner-hwg-business(at)hwg.org [mailto:owner-hwg-business(at)hwg.org]On
> Behalf Of Rachel Hartman
> Sent: Tuesday, April 18, 2000 10:18 PM
> To: Majordomo(at)mail.hwg.org
> Subject: You must be hard up for clients....
>
>
> Interesting e-mail saga of the day.
>
> Earlier this morning, I got an e-mail with the "real name" of [John Doe]
> Web Designs.  It was from a freebie account, but the reply-to was for the
> domain belonging to [JD] WD.  The message asked me for my average time to
> complete a web site, because he needed a web site "for me and me
> wife" and
> he didn't "have the patience" to learn HTML.  I spocked an eyebrow at it,
> but because I wanted to get on with my day, I settled for a brief version
> of my usual reply to customer inquiries.  Never heard back, didn't much
> care, had clients to take care of--you know how it goes.
>
> This evening I got e-mail from a client of ours.  She'd gotten
> e-mail from
> [JD] WD asserting that they could offer a "more appealing web site at a
> more appealing price."  (Since she was and continues to be satisfied with
> both the site and the price, it's hard to see how he could manage
> that, but
> never mind.)  Apparently Mr. John Doe would rather scan client lists and
> solicit other people's customers rather than try to get some of his own.
>
> So far I'm taking the high road - told my client to ignore the letter if
> she wished.  But man, it's tempting to rip this fellow a new one.
>  I don't
> have the most bleeding-edge sites on the Web, but I don't have
> any unhappy
> clients.
>
> This letter is mostly because I need to vent in a sympathetic space, and
> because I was interested in hearing if anyone else has had their client
> list targeted in this way before.  Thanks for listening.
>
> Rachel
> --------------------------------------------
> Rachel R. Hartman, Co-Owner
> Hartman WebWrights - http://www.hww.com (512) 989-7844
> Affordable, hand-crafted web pages for your company's needs
>

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