Recently, a prospective client asked me to help them with their website. The client had their website designed by a friend and now wanted some changes made, but had been unsuccessful in getting a hold of the designer. Since the designer was not responding, they reached out to me to see if I could help. I could, but there were some key things I needed. I needed to know where they purchased their domain name from, and who was hosting their website (these can be the same or different). I also needed the login information for both. They knew the hostname and where they purchased the domain name but didn’t have any of the login credentials. I informed the client that they would need to reach out to the host site and see if the host site could provide that information to be able to access the back end of their site. Additionally, their website was geared more for retail, and restaurants than for a pool building company. I gave them my quote and my suggestions on what changes I’d make to improve their site.
I come across this type of situation more times than you would think. Not just for websites but logos as well. Potential clients will want me to make changes to their logo, but then only have a .jpeg or .pdf version of it. I soon find out they do not have the original file. Worse yet, some were never even given any copies of their logo. When these clients reach out to the company or person, who created it, one of two things happen. One, they cannot get a hold of them; or two they are being charged to get a copy of their logo. Say what?!?
I do not understand this business practice. Sure, I understand that they want the client to come back to them for more services. Personally, if you have provided good service and a quality product, people will come back to you automatically. You don’t have to hold the work hostage. Also, they paid you to do the work, that work is technically the client’s not who designed it.
Another story I hear from clients is they had a friend who designed their website or logo. Most of the time people do this to save money. In the long run, it does not save them money, it ends up costing them more. I have heard several scenarios when a client has asked a friend to do work for them.
- It never gets done, or it takes way longer than they were told or had anticipated.
- When changes need to be made it takes months to get them done, or they simply never get done.
- They cannot reach the friend who created it.
These examples are reasons why you want to interview several companies, or individuals, to create your logos or websites. You want to find out what their policies are and what they charge. Yes, when starting a business, it’s cheap, or cheaper to have a friend or family member do your design work for you, but is it worth it in the end? I have generally seen the answer to that question as no. It usually ends up with a website or logo the client doesn’t particularly want, or it has taken way longer to get than they were told it would.
We at On The Level Marketing, don’t hold your information hostage. You pay us to do a job and we do it and give you all the rights to it. If it’s a logo, you get the file in a multitude of different formats, even the design format, along with it in both color and black and white.
If we are doing a website for you, we provide you with all the login credentials and how to access your site. We give our clients a couple of different host sites to select from as well as where to purchase the domain name if it hasn’t been purchased yet. When we are finished we offer to show you how to update your website for yourself, or we have various levels that you can choose from for On The Level Marketing to do the updating.
No matter who you choose, make sure you get what you paid for. You should NEVER have to pay to get a copy of your logo or to get access to your website. Our philosophy is if we do a good job for our clients they will come back to us. We don’t need to hold their design work hostage to get more business.
We would like to hear your thoughts and comments. What have you experienced?
Geoff Cummings is President of On The Level Marketing & Consulting, LLC. Successfully helping businesses with all their marketing needs by branding their businesses and keeping marketing simple and straightforward.
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