Forum Moderators: LifeinAsia
How do you manage expectations of turnaround times? I've thought about a "rush charge" for 24-hour turnarounds, but then what do I do for 48? Also, I'm a one-person shop so managing work flow is critical. I want to provide timely updates, but also allow for my own time constraints. Any thoughts?
I would be mindful of what I was doing to my customer though. If they feel you take too long with changes, it might cost you a few contracts.
Of course, bigger clients could have a shorter turnaround time listed in the contract.
If you are able to deliver slightly higher than their expectations you will be fine but it is an area of the work which is very hard to predict.
I am thinking of some kind of rationing or regular schedule some how to regulate maintenance work .. that would ease some bottle necks at the moment ...
no work - no work - hey now everyone wants something :-((
I would try to ensure you invoice quickly after job is done so they dont get the chance to forget or dispute later. That has been a problem for me.
Why a lower than normal rate?
I often charge an hourly rate and will charge in 1/4 hour increments - if people want job costing I will give an estimate and normally stick to it - unless something significant comes up.
Of course I have to keep an eye on that time as to make sure it stays within the quoted retainer fee, I typically work in 3 month engagements, paid in advance. Anything above and beyond the call of duty is billed additional. The call of duty covers a very broad range of services.
Stay away from rush charges. If there is one thing that will turn clients off in a heartbeat, it is the term rush charges. You have to step back and put yourself in their shoes. Wouldn't you want it now too? And if so, do you want to have to pay double to get it?
95% of the changes that you will handle can probably be done over the phone whilst wearing a headset. The other 5% will need to be planned as it requires a little more than opening a page and pasting new copy, that's no big deal.
The fact is, I ususally turn around updates within minutes too, but this particular client has several pages that change on a monthly schedule and is also notably disorganzed (I've yet to get the new copy for September.) Shouldn't he be encouraged to give me some lead time?
I understand what you say about "rush charges," and while I'm focused on trying to protect myself from potential problems with this client, I would like to come up with something that will work across the board. What if I charge a standard rate for updates, with a discount if I get 3-5 days lead time? The client can tell me when they submit the copy/changes when they need it posted.
The retainer fee idea is nice, but I don't understand how the details work. If the client pays you in advance for a certain amount of work, doesn't s/he get miffed if one month there's less? If you get six clients on retainer, what if they all call you up one morning wanting changes right away? How do you manage the work load?
Putting myself in the client's shoes, I would want more than anything else a clear set of expectations and confidence those expectations would be met. I'm afraid of setting expectations that I will be able to turn around all update requests within minutes or hours because I don't honestly think I'll be able to do that every time over the long term.
I'm afraid of setting expectations that I will be able to turn around all update requests within minutes or hours because I don't honestly think I'll be able to do that every time over the long term.
It sounds as though you are more in a production environment where the standard work order is generated, you need to assign a ticket number, blah, blah, blah.
After doing this for seven years I've come to the conclusion that the best way for me to work with my clients is to give them something that no one else will. You need to seek out your niche and I've done that by catering to those who want it now, and want the best they can get. ;)
If the client is slow to respond to the schedule, then alert them to the fact that you cannot effectively plan the completion of changes until finished content is delivered to you. In my case, I get a short email explaining what they want to do and then have to figure out the rest, hehehe.
As far as the retainer goes, the clients are more or less paying me to be on their staff during that time period. They have direct access to me via email and telcon pretty much 24/7/365. Well, I do sleep about 4-5 hours per night. They are the type of clients that will pay to get things done. I wouldn't have it any other way. ;)
What if I charge a standard rate for updates, with a discount if I get 3-5 days lead time? The client can tell me when they submit the copy/changes when they need it posted.
Hmmm, it is now 2003. Quoting 3-5 days lead time for setting up a page or two might be a little extended. I would expect a page or two to be posted within a 24-48 hour time frame. This is where you start to get into CMS (Content Management Systems) and allowing the client to post changes themselves if you do not have the time or manpower to do it now.
its my opinion that the sort of updates that cause issues are the non standard type .. and perhaps more complicated than that
e.g.
1. Can you add an agents area including these 100 agents and allow users to mail them with me getting an automatic copy of each email.
2. btw we made a mistake with these 30 pages of data we sent you on these the images should have been these ones and on those the data tables should have contained these bits of data..
3. Please add an online payment gateway and no we have not made any decisions on it ourselves but are relying on you to take our policy decisions and generate our terms and conditions etc ..
4. One of the people in our ad department uses a mac and does not like the way the section z of our site is displaying, can you fix it [ :-) oh how I love to receive that one :-) ]
5. the site search is not returning the right pages for searches for "widget with a blue flamingo on it" please attend to this ..
Well you know what I mean, some of these are 1/2 hour jobs, some 2 hours perhaps and some well it depends on if you have a mac computer available to you and can get in touch with that user to hear what they think :-) basically some they may take as long as they take ..
some of these you may think are more than simple updates .. depends how you work with your clients ..
If you get hit with all of them on the same day .. who is going to get done first?
If you get hit with them on the same day that you are knee deep into the contstruction of the templates, queries or some building and testing phase of a new site which is also to a deadline ... who will be the one you choose to dissapoint?
I think its all about managing expectations and thats the crux issue ..
No one wants to promise less than is required to get the work or more than they can actually deliver ..
Thats the crux of where the pressure comes from imho.
In my case, I'm trying to establish those expectations. The client has said specifically they want me to handle the updates; they don't want a CMS. I see pricing as one way to set expectations . . . to help the client understand that higher levels of service are provided for higher fees. But of course the pricing and services have to be in line with industry standards. Does our industry have standards?
Mark_A, some of the items you mentioned sound like projects I would bid separately for. Others, like #4, just sound sadly familiar.
