In this day and age, we tend to get involved with lots of different things. For instance, to manage a website these days, you need to be part web designer, part web developer, part SEO specialist, part social media specialist, part email marketing specialist, advertising specialist, marketing specialist, etc, etc. If you are a small business trying to take care of all these tasks, you probably aren’t doing what you do best, taking care of what differentiates you from your competition. This is a fatal flaw, which is part the fault of these do it yourself websites, promising and rarely delivering results. While it sounds like a good, inexpensive solution, the web is far too complex to throw up a quickie website against the wall and think you will find a pot of gold. Ok, not the best mixed metaphor, but you get the point. As we all have been taught or learned the hard way, quick and cheap rarely ends up profitable.
So what I advise to people today seeking my guidance is to find your niche, and be the best in the world at that. For me, that is website maintenance. We are the best in the world at website maintenance. We turn around most support requests the very same day. People are amazed at our turnaround time. So all these things I mentioned, they are all part of my daily life, in my role as a webmaster. Now while it’s true, I do wear many different hats, what has gotten me this far is being the very best at one particular aspect, and that is website maintenance. I offer my clients a one-stop for all their needs, so they don’t need to hire different agencies for design, development, marketing, advertising, SEO, Social Media, etc. They just hire us.
One mistake companies make is they end up becoming a carbon copy of all their competitors, just cookie-cutter offerings. This is an error, and you should try and be unique and offer something which makes you distinctive in the marketplace. As an example, we at RooSites tailor our support plans for our clients based on needs. Whereas larger companies may need unlimited support, a small non-profit may only need a couple of hours. We will design a plan to achieve all your web & social media goals. Once size fits all may work with a certain article of clothing, but so much for web maintenance.
You have gotten where you are by doing what you do best. You have hired the best people around you, lawyers, accountants and vendors. So when it comes to designing, developing and managing your website, do the same. Hire the best. In the long run you will be happy you did. (And save oodles of headaches). Contact us if you have any questions.
Companies get into business with the best intentions and they have a goal to provide top-notch service. But then they miss out on the most simple opportunities to please customers/clients and prospective new business partners.
I have always tried to respond to requests and inquiries the same day. You would be shocked how slow some companies respond. In fact, I get a lot of new business from companies who are tired of being ignored and for slow service. I have heard from companies that many companies actually can take up to two weeks to make a simple text edit. We at RooSites many times respond within minutes. I don’t put things off, and it makes clients happy. This seems so elementary, right? Yes it does, and that is why I say responsive is the keyword you need to remember.
I recently had an inquiry from company looking for a specific service. I wrote to a guy I did business with many years ago to see if he be interested as he was perfect for the job. Unfortunately I didn’t hear back for days. I also left a voicemail and I texted him. It is beyond me why somebody looking to give you business would be ignored. These are the same people that complain to you how tough it is in business these days. I always find it intriguing that people aren’t responsive yet whine about a a lack of business.
Now this works both ways. Sometimes I’ll get a question from a prospective customer and reply right away. Sometimes I won’t hear back at all, even when I follow up. This too is not OK as this leaves a bad taste in someone’s mouth and they’ll probably never hire you or refer you, which is so important in today’s business world.
I had a former colleague tell me that they thought I replied too quickly and I set a bar too high, and people would always expect such great service.
It is funny, when companies leave me which doesn’t happen too often thankfully they’re always expecting a new provider to give the same service.
I recently had a nonprofit decide move to a provider offering cheaper hosting and support services. They were just trying to save money and went with the cheapest possible hosting solution. I won’t name the company, but you know the one; They put 50,000 sites on the server and then people wonder why the performance is terrible and it crashes all the time. Well within three days of transferring, I went to the site to make sure it was up and running and what do you know, it had crashed. White screen of death. Now as it was a WordPress site, I know exactly what happened. Updates came in and they made them without backing up the site and it crashed. Now with my hosting solution, I back up every single day so even if this happens I can get the site back up and running within 30 seconds. As it has now been over five days, I know they’re having trouble. Sad, but cheap does not always equate to good! They do a good job of covering how price isn’t always the best deal in the Forbes Magazine article When The Lowest Price Is Not The Best Deal.
I would just like to reiterate that it can be very simple to please customers/clients. Respond quickly, NEVER ignore inquiries. When asked for your support, put yourself in the shoes of your customer, get the work down. This will help your company grow and succeed. Everyone likes to recommend companies that provide good service. Be That Company!!
