PAYING LESS FOR MORE...OF THE SAME
“We’d like a new Web site pretty much like the one we’ve got now,” a prospect tells me. To which I reply, “If all you want is more of the same, you don’t need me.”
Further probing often reveals that the existing site hasn’t done its job as well as expected. But as I describe a different approach, that familiar “Uh oh, how much is this going to cost me?” look crosses the client’s face.
With all due respect to budget constraints, the discussion needs to focus first on what the client needs and expects the site to achieve.
For example, a university course that costs a mere $50 a credit hour—but doesn’t live up to its promise—is too expensive. The same is true of Web site copy. No matter how low the cost to rework it, it’s too much if it results in “more of the same” when “the same” hasn’t achieved the desired goals.
Nor do higher fees necessarily translate into better results; a course that costs $300 a credit hour may still leave students unsatisfied. The point is this: the discussion needs to start with the results you want before it addresses fees. Only then can you begin to make informed choices about the creative professionals you hire to bring those results to life.
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