Tag: Brookline MA Web Design

Is the customer always right?March 31st, 2014

The old adage, “the customer is always right” is of course a good business practice. But is it correct?

No, not always.

Sounds revolutionary right?   Not really, hear me out.

As a web development professional, your duty is to do the right thing by your clients. You should always recommend the best course of action. You should never just rubber-stamp an idea just because it belongs to your client. Now of course, you are in business and you need to please your customers. But don’t be a sycophant. Tell them your opinion as to what they should do. Now of course if they choose to go against you, that is up to them. At that point you need to back off.

Of course you want an example of this correct?

Okay, here’s a case that illustrates what I’m talking about. I had a client who wanted to go with a custom designed, responsive WordPress web site. Now, I love building these websites. We build quite a few of these types of sites, and most of the time I think it’s a fabulous idea. But, in this case, the client was a nonprofit, just starting out with very little funding. I knew that I could save them a lot of money, and build a kick ass website using a premium theme. With several thousand available, that are responsive and very high-quality, this was a better way for them to go. As they were in a rush to get this up and running, the premium theme would be much quicker to market. The design process adds quite a bit of time, and then of course we have to build out the WordPress theme. Now, most companies would love to go with the more expensive solution and would never even suggest a cheaper alternative. But at RooSites, we have built a company based on doing the right thing, even if it costs us money in the short term. Why? Not because we’re such amazing human beings. It is a business strategy, to take a long view and build long-term relationships based on trust.

Bottom line: The adage that the customer is always right is not necessarily true. Do the right thing by them, give your recommendations and let them decide. You and your customers will profit in the long term.

 

Ignore emails, form requests: Kiss business goodbyeFebruary 1st, 2014

Seems pretty elementary right? You should respond to all emails and form requests and you should do it very quickly. As a rule I try to answer every email the same day. But you would be shocked at how many companies actually ignore emails and form requests. Remarkable, right?

Case in point, I have been looking at new car leases and have been emailing back-and-forth with various dealers. I actually had one dealer in the Florida area that I was very close to a deal with. We had agreed to a price and I just asked him how much more would it be to extend the lease for one more year. Now originally, he was being very receptive, and we had a deal just about in hand. He knew I was ready to pull the trigger, but suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth. Trying to think positively of the gentleman I sent him a follow-up email. “I have not heard back from you, wondering where we are. I’d like to finalize.” It has been two weeks and I have not heard a thing from my email or my follow-up. I have of course moved on. So what’s the result? Well the dealer lost a potential new client and a very good sale. So I can only think that either the guy was full of you know what and never had the deal, or he had some other angle he was trying to run. Regardless, he blew it. At very least he should of said, I can’t do that deal, but if you’re still interested, perhaps we can find a different deal that is acceptable. Okay, so maybe I would not have been thrilled but at least I would’ve respected him for getting back to me and telling me the truth. And I may have used him down the road or recommended him to my friends.

I can’t tell you how many times people come to me trying to increase their business. Almost always, I give them the same advice. If you want to do business via the web or social media you have to be responsive. People write you because they don’t have time for a call or just want to get a quick quote or perhaps an answer to a question. If you ignore your email and form requests, you’re basically kissing business goodbye.

So here is a good rule of thumb. Try and respond to all emails and form requests very same day. And, it doesn’t mean you have to solve their issue or even complete their request (if they’re current customer). But it just means you’re saying “hey I hear you, I am here and I’m on this for you.

A large percentage of business RooSites has gained over the years is due to our response time. People are shocked how quickly we respond to questions. Clients are amazed we turn around requests the same day on most occasions. This of course should be the norm, not the anomaly. Customer Service pays dividends, plain and simple.