Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
Is it possible I could get some feedback on charges for site maintenance fees? Maybe I can get a copy of or purchase an agreement for my clients [of course modified to fit my needs].
Thanks!
Dave
It depends on what exactly you are including in the 'site maintenance'. Obviously hosting is different to maintenance, although some people lump them together into one monthly charge (assuming you host the site!).
I can't give you exact numbers, but here is an idea for fees structure...
What seems to be a good method to use, if you anticipate doing at least a few updates per month, is to charge a flat monthly rate for, say, 10 hours per month. Your clients can get this at a slightly reduced rate, but you have the safety of knowing that you have at least 10 hours work paid for per month. You could let these hours run over into the next month, but keeping track of all the hours could get messy. Anything over and above the 10 hours would be chargeable at your regular rate.
If you don't think that there would be at least a few updates each month, then charging by the hour is probably a better route to go...
The hourly rate seems to scare them but at least they know they have that option.
Thanks a lot
Dave
>>Hey Dave,
It depends on what exactly you are including in the 'site maintenance'. Obviously hosting is different to maintenance, although some people lump them together into one monthly charge (assuming you host the site!).
I can't give you exact numbers, but here is an idea for fees structure...
What seems to be a good method to use, if you anticipate doing at least a few updates per month, is to charge a flat monthly rate for, say, 10 hours per month. Your clients can get this at a slightly reduced rate, but you have the safety of knowing that you have at least 10 hours work paid for per month. You could let these hours run over into the next month, but keeping track of all the hours could get messy. Anything over and above the 10 hours would be chargeable at your regular rate.
If you don't think that there would be at least a few updates each month, then charging by the hour is probably a better route to go...<<
In general, we put our maintenance agreements in the contract for the initial project and discuss it up front in a matter-of-fact type manner. We've found including this in your initial project contract and discussions removes any confusion about when lines are drawn and what is considered "part of the project" versus "maintenance". It also removes the need of having another conversation about billing and it shows a client you have considered their potential for ongoing needs.
Our agreement is general in nature basically stating we bill X rate for hours worked and will invoice monthly or when necessary and will let the client know before conducting any billable work.
Good luck.
Been thinking about the idea of putting the maintenance fee in the original agreement/contract prior to building the website as well. Not a bad idea at all.
But here is something I came up with recently.
Have the client deposit x amount of dollars prior to commencement of maintenance work each month and then for any orders that come in you work for a set x amount of dollars per hr.
At the end of the month, you calculate the total work you did and either refund the client the difference or ask them to pay any additional fees.
Not sure if this will work for anyone as I can see trust issues arising as a result but maybe can be ironed out in some way or another but I feel it is a good idea.
I will charge just a small fee up front to gain the clients confidence and more than likely have them pay a difference at the end of each month depending on the work load of course.
Comments are welcome.
Dave
I use packages of maintenance and have ok luck with it. I have a couple of people on it, which is nice. I basically have silver, gold and platnium packages. In each package I give so many hours discounted a little off my monthly rate, traffic report, visibility report and quarterly meeting to discuss the reports. for an extra 20% of the fee I will let them roll over unused hours for 3 months after which the unused time is scraped. It is nice to just send out invoices each month and have a set level of cash coming in.
Some people will jump on it and some will be cheap and try to just pay you each time they want changes, which is ok to, but I keep close track of this and after a few times I can usually show clients how they can save money if they would just get on a maintenance plan, which has had mixed results so far.
Fortune Hunter
Have the client deposit x amount of dollars prior to commencement of maintenance work each month and then for any orders that come in you work for a set x amount of dollars per hr.At the end of the month, you calculate the total work you did and either refund the client the difference or ask them to pay any additional fees.
That sounds like you are making more work for yourself and your client than necessary. I don't know your specific situation though. If upfront payment is the most important thing to you, then your model may meet that need for you.
For me the trouble has always been staying on top of admin issues in the face of "true" work. So the more I can reduce the amount of labor associated with admin type tasks such, as billing, the better.
I'm ok just giving regular invoices to clients after hours are accrued because it's the least amount of admin work. I don't get money upfront, but in the relationships I have with clients I'm not worried about timely payment. I have found this model to have the least amount of admin work for both me and the client (which ultimately effects me) so it's what has worked best.
The reason to have an upfront payment as stated in this thread is the predictability of cash flow. If you can do it, great. But if your clients don't have enough work on a given month or quarter or whatever your billing increment to warrant it (in their eyes or yours) it's not really going to work (at least I haven't seen much success). What it ends up doing is creating more admin work of having to reconcile hours, billing, payment, carryover of credits, etc. And for me that negated any benefit.
I have a simple plan for clients with few needs. Pay me my hourly rate for 6 hours in advance. I will give on average one hour a month for six months of little updates to keep the site current. No design changes or page adds or such. Either party can terminate at any time with the balance of months refunded. This keeps billing and paying down for both the client and myself. Sometimes they will go a couple of months without a request and then the next month hit me.
