I say yes if a client is asking you to something you know will fail.
Granted, I am not the arbiter of all things web, but some things I know will fail. I know as sure as I know the sun will rise in the morning. I recently ran into this very situation. Someone I have known for a while wanted to modernize their site. I won’t go into specifics as my goal is not to insult the man. Lets just say the idea wasn’t good 10 years ago and has even less value today. Much less….
I don’t like to insult people but if I am hired for my expertise, I need to operate with a my conscious in tow. That is, it is my job to ask the question, what value does this add, can this succeed? In my case I try to steer people in a direction which will be more profitable. In the situation I mentioned, I did propose an alternative, one that I think would work better and actually have a chance to make money.
I think I hurt the guys feelings, as I got a terse response back and don’t imagine I will be hearing back from him, probably ever. Though I sincerely felt bad, I know I did the right thing trying to save him from himself. As I said earlier I can’t go into details. Lets just say if I called you up an ask if you wanted to invest in the Edsel, what would you say? Or how about a dial up internet service? (no, neither were his idea, but it is almost as bad) Worse, he wanted to try and sell something you can get for free. (No, not that ;))
One things is guaranteed, he will find someone to take on the project, no matter how poor the idea is. His money is green and not every web company will be as honest as I try to be. Also some feel it isn’t their place to tell a potential their idea is bad no matter how asinine. I disagree.
While I am a for profit entity, I thinks grabbing the quick payday is a poor strategy as your clients fail and repeat business is not coming your way or are referrals. I think my strategy works, as I have a 98% client retention rate.
Honesty pays, period.
The truth of the matter is I never thought so either until the last few days of watching draft coverage. In reality the way teams pick players is similar to the way you SHOULD hire a web professional to design, develop and manage your website.
Here are the reasons, hear me out, they will make sense to you. (I think)
Film: Countless hours of film are watched on every player projected to be in the draft. The similarity here is that you should thoroughly review a designer’s portfolio. Don’t take their word how good they are, review their sites and see for yourself. Click around, do you see errors? If there is evidence of sloppy work, they probably aren’t the company for you to enter into a relationship with.
Team Visits: Players are invited by teams, and are tested and interviewed. For you this is the meeting you have with the web pro, it can be in person or via a phone call. Prepare a list of questions, hit them with your requirements and see how they answer. If they talk down to you or can’t answer any questions then cut the interview short. Now some questions require research so if the web pro tells you they’d have to look into certain requirements, that is ok and actually a sign of honesty. More than anything ask yourself, is this someone I can work with? if you are uncomfortable at this point the relationship won’t get better.
Background Research: Teams thoroughly look into player backgrounds and seeming top picks drop like a stone as they have questionable morals or red flags. For you this is checking references. Ask for a few clients to speak to and see how this person is to work with. Also see how they respond to support requests. If they don’t respond quickly, move on.
Bottom Line: See, it is a very similar process, both take a bit of work, but in the long run you will be happier if you follow these steps. Some NFL teams to better than others year after year. The reason is simple, they follow tried and true practices and always seem to come away with the best players. While it is luck grabbing players like Tom Brady in late rounds, in business we make our own luck. So put the time in before you hire a web professional and you will be much happier long term.
