Maintenance contracts --> maintainable sites!

another thought related to Maintenance contracts - The Maintainability of
the site!
I am currently maintaining a site that was built over two years ago when it
was cool to have fancy linking graphics and mouse rollovers.
Each and every page has its own copy of a multiple navigation bars.  so
adding sections to the site is a bit of a nightmare!


regards,
kate
-----Original Message-----
From: Betsy Girouard <betz(at)lemoorenet.com>
To: webwham(at)fido.ca <webwham(at)fido.ca>
Cc: Rachel Hartman <rhartman(at)io.com>; hwg-business(at)hwg.org
<hwg-business(at)hwg.org>
Date: Sunday, February 27, 2000 2:57 PM
Subject: Re: Apathetic clients


>hahahaha - "narcoleptic clients who couldn't give a tinker's damn after
their
>site was up for 2-3 months"...there it is! So true, Gil, and the conclusion
I
>had come to after reading several responses. I too have changed my
development
>methodology, a couple of years ago, and now rarely if ever have to suffer
from
>deadbeat dilemma. You nailed the problem on the head when you stated:
"that's
>what happens when you sell from a shopping list of features and prices...
it's a
>commodity with no real investment"   ...and in some instances....no
investment
>on their part at all! The "old-timer" client received a free or discounted
site,
>and just doesn't give a hoot....yet they helped to build my "name" around
these
>'heah parts, and my loyalties are torn.
>
>I see some creatively aggressive yet diplomatic "booty kickin's"
formulating
>here, and am thoroughly enjoying your insights and suggestions, as well as
>learning from your hard-earned lessons...thank you!
>Betsy
>
>Webmaster at WebWham wrote:
>
>> Rachel makes a good point. Get them on to a maintenance contract before
you
>> get whittled to death with small changes from ALL your clients
collectively.
>>
>> With regards to the apathetic behaviour in clients, our methodology does
not
>> permit this to occur. We have about 9 clients that have come aboard since
we
>> changed our development methodology, and each and every one of them MUST
be
>> active on their site's up-keep, or they'll suffer a loss from all the
>> marketing effort put into the initial launches of their sites.
>>
>> Of course, the level of investment is intrinsic to the level of
involvement.
>> When we created three figure web sites, for less than half of the lowest
>> four figure dollar amount (how's that for skirting the issue of naming
>> figures), we had narcoleptic clients who couldn't give a tinker's damn
after
>> their site was up for 2-3 months.. that's what happens when you sell from
a
>> shopping list of features and prices... it's a commodity with no real
>> investment, other than the $$ amount initially given to you in that
cheque.
>>
>> NOW.. here's a business approach to creating investment in your site...
>> imagine that the web site is equated to a TV or radio ad, with all the
>> planning and questions and market research that goes into that. The
client
>> is now sitting more upright in their chair as they realize this is all
about
>> MARKETING themselves in a new medium, and not putting up a simple
>> yellow-page ad or flyer site. After all, if they are so un-unique in
their
>> field, and have nothing to offer that's better than the competition,
maybe
>> they need to think about their continued line of business. Did Microsoft,
>> HP, Cisco, Amazon, eBay and others become the top of their class because
>> they had nothing better to offer than their competitors?
>>
>> These successful sites saw that if they listened to their customers,
asked
>> them questions, and implemented customer-driven response systems for
their
>> clientele, that they were then on the way to gaining greater market share
of
>> their industry.
>>
>> No one has asked more questions of their customers, or watched how they
used
>> their tools, than Microsoft. Entire study labs were set up for this
purpose
>> to more finely tune their Office suite of products. That's why they sit
on
>> 80% of the desktops today, pushing aside packages that use to dominate
the
>> industry. Windows did not become the
>> "hot-bed-gotta-have-it-stand-at-the-door-before-the-store-opens" product
>> because it's the BEST... it's because Microsoft made people BELIEVE it
was
>> the best, and ONLY choice for your PC. MARKETING 101!
>>
>> If your client is to succeed against their competitor, they must make the
>> customer believe they have the best solution or the best customer service
in
>> their industry... you can't do that with a site that never changes.
(Please,
>> don't look at our site.. I'm slapping the boss around the office on
Monday
>> for not moving her butt on this very same issue - she just doesn't know
it
>> yet<grin>).
>>
>> No one's site puts through more traffic than Microsoft's (okay, very
few),
>> with over 10 million hits an hour, that's a load of busy eye balls out
>> there. Every client would be happy with a small fraction of that
success...
>> they won't get it if they are not listening to THEIR customers. When they
do
>> start listening and implementing these market-driven changes on their
site,
>> then you'll have them signing maintenance contracts with you at the drop
of
>> a pen.. they'll be too busy handling all the new business coming in from
>> their existing and new clients!
>>
>> ---
>> Gil Tennant
>> Project Producer at WebWham
>> http://www.webwham.com
>> Creating Web Sites with IMPACT!
>>
>> At 05:58 PM 2/26/00 -0800, Betsy Girouard wrote:
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> >Does ANYONE have some advise on:
>> >How to keep the client active (continue to submit updates, etc)
>> >How to make the client continue to pay for activity ( if not under a
>> >maintenance agreement)
>> >How to spare my (well-earned) good reputation if they don't....?
>> >Or even: How to get rid of em' without looking like the bad "guy" (I
>> >live in a small town)
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> If your clients are in a competitive market (and who doesn't think they
>> are?), it might be appropriate to mention what their competition is doing
>> with their web sites.  Phrase it as diplomatically as you can, of course,
>> and express it as a concern for their bottom line, something like, "You
>> hired me to establish your online presence, and I'm worried that you're
>> looking bad because you have a cobweb site."  Be tactful, but firm.  In
>> some cases, it may be appropriate to forward the complaining e-mails,
since
>> these are, after all, coming from potential customers!  If this doesn't
>> persuade them, you may have to face up to the fact that they don't
consider
>> their web site an important marketing tool ... and if they aren't valuing
>> the web site, they're not too  about you or your expertise.
>>
>> As far as continuing to pay when not under a maintenance agreement--well,
>> the best thing to do is probably establish one.  Point out (tactfully!)
>> that your time and skills can't come free, and if they value you, they'll
>> pay you.  If they refuse to consider a maintenance agreement, you might
>> want to use that as an excuse to bow out gracefully.
>>
>> [snip]
>>
>> 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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