I was contracted to redo a general contractors website to give him more “exposure” because business is slow for him. I also told him I’d set him up with a Facebook page as well.
After I completed the website, three weeks later he sends an angry email wondering why he hasn’t started receiving calls for more business…
I tried to explain to him that these things take time and that a new website isn’t the “cure all” for getting more business. I also restated that I was contracted to make a better site than his last one, one that was much more SEO friendly and also made a Facebook page for his company to get more exposure. Now he’s pissed because I told him if he needs me to also manage a marketing initiative that’s a competley different service that will cost him monthly. For some reason, he thinks that because he paid me to build him a website I’m now responsible for ongoing marketing management!?
That’s like me contracting out him to redo my bathroom, then expecting him to come back whenever I call to fix or update something!
People’s assumptions about these kind of things blow me away! Every new client though helps me grow and lessons are learned though!
People tend to have wildly unrealistic expectations of what a website can do for them, so it’s important to give them as much info beforehand as possible. I always tell them that having a website is only the first step in getting new business, and that the site alone may not do much for them at all. Unless they actively promote the site—by telling others about it, getting it talked about, receiving backlinks etc.—it is just one among billions. This helps save you from situations like this, where the client is disappointed.
If he asked for more “exposure”, I would have told him that a redesign won’t achieve that … just as, if your bricks and mortar store is out in the desert, giving it a new paint job isn’t going to get it any more business. Certainly, improving the SEO of the site is a step in the right direction, but SEO is highly overrated, iMHO. It should stand for Search Engine Optimism, because it’s more about sitting back and hoping that the search engines will help you out than actively going out and doing business.
The contract was written explaining I would do a redesign and create a Facebook page, that would place him in a better position for exposure. I made no verbiage detailing that this would start bringing in more traffic, etc. Also there was no discussion on future marketing management. It was pretty clear what I was doing, but this guy has a problem “reading” my emails and asking me questions on the phone that I clearly answered in emails…
[FONT=verdana]Obviously, your contract has got to cover this sort of case, but that’s not the point here.
What you should have done is to explain to the guy - preferably face to face, but at least on the phone - that you can indeed improve the website, but that’s no guarantee that it would improve his business. And get him to agree that he understands that before you proceed.
(Regarding your bathroom analogy, a better analogy would be to say you can tune up his car, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it will get him to his destination any sooner.)
I do stress that it is important to say all this verbally, because he is clearly the kind of person who doesn’t read contracts - or doesn’t take any notice of them if he does read them.
By putting the disclaimer in your contract, you safeguard yourself against legal action, but that doesn’t mean you’ll end up with a happy customer. Only good communications can do that.
Great points - even on the phone Im pulling teeth to get him to say more than a few words for a response…I did get paid for what I had contractually written up and my next action is to get him setup with a local marketing company that will be able to meet with him face to face and dedicate more time to his marketing needs.
