the deltaTraffic weblog

Well, gained my place at Aberdeen to do a computing science degree. So, now, not that I’ve ever really gained any clients from this website, I’m saying ‘no’ to new clients and looking after existing ones.

Chat Information
Chat InformationWelcome to Rackspace. My name is Jacy and I am a Live assistant. How may I help you today?
you: hi
you: need some servers
Jacy: welcome to rackspace
Jacy: are you looking for windows or linux ?
you: k
you: virtual
you: linux
you: ?
Jacy: all the solutions that we offer are dedicated solutions here at rackspace
you: ok – prices per month please
Jacy: what are you looking to have hosted ?
you: some clients sites and my own
Jacy: ok so you are looking for something small !?
you: about 500 mb of virtual server will admin ability
Jacy: ok let me show you this ….
you: k
Jacy: Single AMD Athlon 64
Jacy: 1 GB DDR RAM
Jacy: 80 GB EIDE Hard Drive
Jacy: 150 GB Bandwidth monthly
Jacy: 10 GB Managed Backup weekly
Jacy: Plus
Jacy: Backed by Fanatical Support™
Jacy: Zero-Downtime Network™
Jacy: 1-Hour Hardware Replacement
you: hmm
Jacy: this would be a very basic solution, and for the bandwidth we have a great promo on that now so you will get more than what is offered
you: well okay
you: so whats the monthly charge?
Jacy: this package would start around 170 p[ounds per month is that workable for you ?
you: well i currently pay £350 per year
Jacy: what are the reasons that you are looking at another provider ?
you: i get great service but i dont need so much help with admin now so i want to decrease the spend
you: i have 250mb space
Jacy: this would be round about this is not an accurat number what i suggest !
Jacy: I would recommend speaking with someone for two reasons…firstly you will get a clearer idea of how Rackspace can benefit your company and secondly you can use it as a comparison with other companies to see who is offering you the best deal….either way, you benefit….
you: i can afford upto about 300 a year i guess
you: ok, sounds good – can i get a call back?
Jacy: all I would need is full name, phone #, e-mail address, and company name (if applicable)?
you: ok
you: alex beston
you: 0044 1273 297927
you: alex@deltatraffic.co.uk
you: deltatraffic is the business
Jacy: and when is a good time for someone to contact you about the solution that we just discussed ?
you: now is ok
you: for the next 30 mins fine
you: i have a new job so i can pay for it
you: i estimate in about a month i have some money
Jacy: can i have them give you a call on monday is that ok abou what time would be good ?
you: is deltatraffic.net available? i havent checked for a while
you: well im at work then
you: but 3 or 4 mins could be ok
Jacy: ok great i will pass this information to the specialist so they can help you with this informtion !
you: i have a celluar
Jacy: Monday would be when they would contact you ok ?
you: thanks – get them to send an email to arrange a time and we’ll go from there
you: thanks for your time, Jacy
Jacy: ok great thanks they will try to call you soon thanks
you: good stuff! ok ciao
Jacy: ok thanks !

Lets say you are an internet freelancer.

Lets imagine that someone has just contacted you for a potential job to fix a problem and s/he wants it done ASAP - time is of the essence.

You’re now in their office.

What happens next is something that really can be only learned through experience but here is some advice to show the shape of territory that you have to now deal with.

So, you could have gained much interest from your interviewer and there may even be the offer of some work but without saying the vital, vital, vital phrase “and I will need an advance” uttered at the right moment i.e. 10 minutes before you exit the meeting, you can save yourself an awful of hassle and annoyance.

This phrase cuts through the crap in ways that is truly unbelievable.

Why?

1) You gain their commitment and then you know that you can trust them not to walk away from any verbal deal.

2) You now avoid any unnecessary work because you know that if you don’t have the cash / cheque in your hand before you leave, then why would you do any work? Your “client” could do anything in the intervening time between you leaving the office and making your written proposal.

However, ofcourse, there is the problem that you can quote for something that means you will be underpaid. And furthermore, an advance on an unknown total is a difficult thing to get as the business you are selling to doesn’t know what the total will be and they are worried (rightly) about costs escalating.

So how do you do it?

Firstly, get a good handle on what is required. Ask the right questions. Is this site interactive? What’s it meant to do? Do you have all the graphics and text? How much is in preparation? If there’s interaction, you know that will mean some coding will be involved. If there’s graphics and text already then the time to delivery is as short as it can be but if not, then the final payment is later than it could be. So that extra time, should be costed in, otherwise you have effectively been paid on a retainer.

Secondly, cost it so that you take the cost and add half what that figure is. That way you’re covered if theres more to the work than is thought on a brief 30 minute interview / discovery. You could always give a discount after if you feel you want to keep this client on. You do ofcourse risk losing the work because theres someone who can offer a better price, though you’re the best contractor about, and as quality is paramount, that shouldn’t really matter. Once you name a price, and its 1 1/2 times what the reality is, i.e. the actual time taken to do the work, you can always offer a discount. You can’t go up on a price but you can go down, as long as the final price is workable.

You’re under quite a lot of pressure at this point to give a price. Don’t give a price and the client walks; but give a price, and you’ll have the consideration of the contract. You have to live with it, if its underpriced, but at least you can now pay the bills.

Good luck!