It amazes me how many horror stories I hear from potential customers about how they have been taken or abused by other web development companies. I have seen actual cases of what equates to shellshock in clients who have stopped trusting anyone to actually communicate with them or help them complete their websites. It is very hard to win these normally calm, confident business people back over into a trusting relationship with their web developer.
Sadly, there are a lot of good coders and programmers out there that get into business, but don’t have any business sense. They come up with some buzz words, read a ton of articles, but they miss the larger point…satisfying the customer.
With the web design industry one of the most accessible to anyone with a computer, an HTML or PHP book, and a website, its no wonder these horror stories occur.
But there is a way for the average web services client to fight back. And it is a very easy and time tested one…but one that amazingly not a lot of people try.
Ask for references.
That’s right, just like a job interview, your potential web developers should provide a list of a few websites they have delivered. In addition, you should call these previous customers and ask them the following:
- how they were treated
- were deadlines made and adequately met
- did the developer communicate during all phases of the project – especially when delays might have occur
- did they provide a contract
- were their payment terms agreeable
- did they answer all of your questions and were they clear or did they use a lot of jargon and talk over your head?
Its amazing how many people are glad to provide these comments. And if they aren’t happy, then you will get your answer quite clearly.
Then before hiring your programmer, make sure you are comfortable talking with them. You are going to spend the next month or more…and then into the future with maintenance, talking with this person. You need to feel at ease and you need to feel they are answering your questions and focusing on your business more than their skills.
A website can range from $1000 to $100,000 investment. The web developer is going to be a leader in getting your business marketing online. Would you trust this to just anyone?
Then think of them as if they were going to be working for you side by side. Would they be a good fit for your team?
With a little bit of due diligence, you can avoid the painful heartache that is attributed to many who have enlisted the help of the wet behind the ears web programmer/business person.
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