Thursday, October 11, 2007

Web Canneries

Cans on sale

Original photographies by SXC members alaasafei and solomon05.

A couple of friends and I were debating business yesterday and stumbled across a interesting topic: "If you're selling web design, what would be the packages, and what price would you put on each?" I felt from the start this isn't a good approach to the subject and questioned it: "But isn't one actually selling services?" Indeed he is! But what if his target audience doesn't understand "services" and rather looks for "priced packages"?

I'm surprised to find out that there are still people who chose their web agency by looking at the price. I choose carrots by comparing the price… There's nothing essetially different when comparing fresh carrots. Things are obviously different in web. First and foremost: packages!? In the past four years since I'm in this business I've learned that we're not selling packages. I actually find the package-sales approach wrong and mediocre! Some time ago, when I was in highschool, I knew a few web agencies who had pricing on their website. It was silly back then, but it's even worse now for a web agency to have this on their website:

  • Website with 5 static pages and 20 images - €100
  • Website with 15 static pages, 50 images and a contact form - €200
  • Website with any presentational pages and a forum - €350
  • Corporate website - €1000
  • E-Commerce website - €2000

I mean, ... really? Why don't you add "Carrots – €2 per kilo"? This reminds me of a scene in a movie, I can't remember which, but it was something like this: "Hey, listen, Angie, you're hired to wash the toilets and cleanup the mess 4 hours a day!", "Yeah, but I finished everything in 2 hours, mrs. Franklin! You can check it if you want!", "I don't care! You did 2 hours, I'm paying 2 hours! If you had done it in 4 hours, I would have paid 4 hours!". Now, we all know that if she had spent 8 hours, she would have been paid 4… Now image some guy wants a website for his company… And he pays for the 15 pages package, but you solve his problem in just 10, and also add a cherry on top. And he goes mad, because you robbing him!

A web agency is not a cannery. I feel sorry for the clients of those people who produce 60 websites a month, earning a horde of money for their packages, but when it comes down to it, those websites score under 100 visitors a monthbarely have goals, we're not even talking about them meeting any. That's because nobody cared what's that website supposed to achieve… They just made it. Fast, as much as paid for, and on time—just like an overdose when all you needed is a Valium pill.

Clients come to web agencies because they have problems they want solved. Web agencies are like hospitals… Your business is ill because it has a problem about the online presence. Web agencies are doctors who can fix that, but the pacient must undergo a series of tests, to identify the disease in order to cure it. This process is nowhere near streamline production.

Will people ever be smart enough to think like that? Most people already are. We're living in a world where the Internet has raised the bar on awarness and education. Now we also need web agencies to understand the job they're actually supposed to do. Most web canneries still work for the people who think they know what they need and shop for website like they shop for tuna fish. For the majority of them, there's agencies like Grapefruit, agencies like the ones I like to work for.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Never implement useless things just because you have the skills. Use that time to double check that the website you are building is giving as many answers as posible to the visitors questions and expectations.

gabutz said...

Unfortunately in Romania we are used to asking "How much does that cost?". It's a national sickness that we must get rid of. Maybe those agencies that tag creation with a price before creating anything should reconsider their values.
My experience as a web developer is very limited but it is not rarely that I'm being asked "So how much do you take for a website? Nothing fancy, 2-3 pages and a contact form.". Reading this article made me realize that I was never approached with something like "I need a website for my company. I am in the business of ... This is the message I would like to send... ". Oh, and usually when you have a really nice idea that you are very enthusiastic about and you present it to the client you can see him thinking "Yes, it's nice, but he'll probably ask too much for this."
There is a nice PPS made by the CEO of a web agency in Iasi that among other things describes the client-developer relation as it is now-days. It's a bittersweet article that I recommend (but I won't give you the link :D).