I love customers that ask the most questions! Customers that get informed about their online marketing, know what they’re getting into, and find out what they don’t know. Those customers make our job so much easier because I find those projects are the smoothest projects we run. Rarely is their anything that both sides don’t fully understand and rarely do we have any big challenges during the web design or Search Engine Optimization (SEO). That got me thinking…
How much do you love to just say “okay” when a customer says lets get started and hands you over a check. It feels good but it’s a trap! Yes, it may not seem like a big issue at the time but there are a lot of assumptions on either side on how the project will be run, what’s included in the project, timeline of the project, and all of the costs involved. If I tell you that we’re going to design a great site for you, what do you really know about that? What’s included? Will it have a way for you to edit the content? Will it include graphics and stock photos? How many pages? What type of design? Does it include any additional functionality like integration with another system, contact forms, photo galleries, newsletter integration, social media integration or any other of the thousands of options that could be included in a website? You won’t know unless you ask.
Another reason I love customers that ask a lot of questions is that it helps set us apart from other web design and SEO companies. Only when a customer starts digging into the specifics can they tell if we’re the real deal or just a company with enough information to be dangerous. If you’re a customer, when do you want to find out if the company you’re working with can deliver the website that you require, right away or 3 months down the line when they tell you they can’t finish it? I know, trick question. Think about that, though. I’ll tell you right now that we don’t take every customer that walks in the door. There is certain functionality and websites that we’re not the expert on. There are projects that I don’t feel we would deliver the best value to a client and we turn those projects down. Delivering high value is what it’s all about and only by asking questions on both sides can you find out if that will work or not.
Jared Pomranky
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