Re: FN-FORUM: am i being too soft or harsh?

date posted 1st June 2006 11:21

Paul,

I have written many admin pages over the years, and I have only had one
client say 'how do I do this'. That was because he showed no interest in
the site whatsoever.

If the pages are designed to be intuitive, you won't have a problem.
Most of my pages take around 10 minutes to explain! Plus, the client
starts to get other ideas leading to more work.
You can even (if you wish) charge £25 to reset their password if they
forget it.

Paul Bryant wrote:
> Thanks all. Mac has accurately stated my fears. My clients are typically 45
> to 70 years old and are generally proud that they've mastered email and can
> search for stuff on google.
>
> I think a gentle word is in order...
>
> kind regards
> Paul Bryant
>
> http://webdesignSME.co.uk
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of Mac
> T.Wheeler
> Sent: 01 June 2006 11:43
> To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Subject: RE: FN-FORUM: am i being too soft or harsh?
>
>
> I've tried the whole admin tool route, more or less a very cut down CMS.
>
> The problem is you end up with more phone calls because they don't know how
> to use it properly. What would be a 5 minute phone call and then a 1 minute
> text change on a static site becomes a whole round of 'How do I do this?'
> type questions.
>
> Keep it simple if you can and swallow those annoying little alterations,
> it’s easier than trying to educate your client on the process of doing it
> themselves using a CMS :)
>
> Why not charge a yearly retainer type fee? Something small that will cover a
> couple of hours time per year making small changes? Obviously make sure to
> pin down what exactly is included in the fee, obviously a major site
> re-design would fall outside of the scope.
>
> Mac.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of Rus Foster
> Sent: 01 June 2006 11:25
> To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
> Subject: Re: FN-FORUM: am i being too soft or harsh?
>
>
>
>> However, I have a particular client who has begun to request changes
>> to their site on a regular basis. Their site has been running for
>> about a = year now but in the past month, they have suddenly started
>> asking for alterations. For example, I have now changed their fees 3
>> times in less = than
>> 4 weeks. Today, in an email thanking me for the last change, she has =
>> asked for something else to be done. Now, ok, each alteration
>> literally takes = less than a minute. We=92re not talking about major
>> issues here. But it is a complete pain in the arse. And if every
>> client did it, there certainly = would be a problem.
>>
>
> I would say make it clear to the client that these little updates are ok.
> If they aren't taking more than a minute, whilst annoying you will win out
> in the long term. If you are going to have to revamp the entire site then I
> would say charge them. A simple email, not being harsh just explaining this
> should be ok. Prehaps also ask them why prices keep changing in the first
> place.
>
> What about pitching some sort of basic admin tool where they could do it
> themselves?
>
> Rus
>
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