No two websites are ever the same. (Certainly if designed by us, as all of our sites are bespoke, not off-the-peg templates). And no two clients are ever the same. And this really focuses our thinking in terms of how we work with them. Often things with clients are very straightforward, especially in terms of payments – our standard terms are 50% deposit and the balance payable prior to launch. Any subsequent work on the website is then usually costed out by the hour/day, depending on what needs to be done. However, this does not work in every instance.
Luckily, because we are a small team with a small client base (and deliberately so), we can be extremely flexible, and we always find a solution which works all round. Read on if you like the sound of working with a small team who will always be flexible, because they totally get that budgets and cash flow are right up there as main client priorities.
So, what do we offer?
If the usual 50% deposit/balance just does not work for you, don’t worry. We have this covered. We know there’s nothing worse than really wanting a website, and knowing that it will work for you and your business, but just not being able to afford quite a big investment in just two chunks. So, how about this?
We provide you with a quote, based on the information you have provided, and when accepted, we work out with you, tranched payments. These are generally monthly payments, and often the website has been designed and launched before the plan ends – meaning you are hopefully benefiting from payments coming in. We have never had a problem with doing things this way and we are finding that more and more clients like this approach.
Many of our clients have websites which require either quite regular, or ongoing, updates, which, if we were to cost out these updates by the hour or day, it could become very costly. There are also periods when no updates are required at all, and during these times we are obviously working on other projects. However, experience has taught us that when such clients need updates, they kind of need them NOW, often to tie in with a product launch, a new menu or an event. “Now” is always difficult when you are in the middle of another project so we had to find a way around this, and through testing the waters with a small number of clients, we came up with a solution. An ongoing monthly retainer.
Working with our client, we agree a figure and a monthly standing order is set up. This guarantees that if & when updates are needed, they are done as soon as is practically possible, as the payments are being made regularly. It helps that we know our clients so well, because we know which ones will benefit from this because of the nature of their website and we can generally gauge when updates will be needed, meaning that even if we have to jump temporarily off another project, we can plan for this.
Making the decision to have a website designed is a HUGE one. You will probably either have saved up or will have allocated hard-earned cash to enable this to happen. The last thing you need is to choose a designer who is only interested in securing the job and then doesn’t really care about YOU or your business or your future plans. That’s why we could be the people for you. We don’t want flash-in-the-pan clients who we part company with after the website has been designed. We want to be in it for the long haul with you, and as such, this enables to be extremely flexible. Because with clients like the ones we like, a lot of TRUST has been built up, and so we know that our flexibility won’t backfire.
Look forward to hearing from you if you like what we’ve said…