The internet has allowed companies to advertise themselves on the web with ease and has almost become a necessity in today’s market. You would think this was music to all web developers/designers ears and in the early days that was true. Now it is becoming more and more frustrating for web developers/designers to get valued work, not only is the market flooded but there are so many out of the box solutions.
Companies are giving websites away for free with hosting or paid advertising, so when you give a client a quote for £700.00 plus their jaw hits the floor and they say that’s expensive.
Customers are being fed so much miss-informed information, that the realisation of the cost of website is a shock.
So how do we overcome this?
Well it’s like any other sales process, I ll use second hand car vs a brand new car as an example. The same car but why should I buy it new.
Salesmen would look at the positives and outline them, it’s never been driven, it has three year warranty etc. The same applies to a website:
“Yes you can have a template site that restricts customisation or you can have a bespoke design that reflects your businesses image and objectives”
Statements like this can win or close a sale; we need to build value into the product.
“Our code would be slim-lined making it more optimised for search engines, thus increasing the chance for conversions.”
As we build value in the product, we then need to get them to visualise the outcome, or begin mapping the website. To tackle this I usually hand them a piece of paper and pencil (or do it yourself). Then begin wire-framing the website, allowing the customer as much input as possible, at this point their thought process goes from interested, to looking to buy. The thought of a free website or template is a distance memory. To finish the process always throw something inspirational in on the design, the integration of social media, fancy navigation or mobile ready version of the website, all of which would be hard to do with a free site.
Please don’t misunderstand me this is not a full sales process and more to-ing and fro-ing may take place, it’s a brief insight for demonstration purposes.
With all this said the value of web design and development has decreased over the last few years, we have to work faster for less money to keep customers happy. Which would apply to many industries, the key is to keep building value in your products and believe in what you do.
Remember if you want a job done properly:
Employ a web developer!
We would love your feedback please leave any comments.
