This week we lost our second large client because of the perception that if you don’t charge a lot you obviously aren’t as good.
I was actually told point blank that we were too small for their needs even after three years of building and maintaining multiple website projects for them.
This is one of the issues with today’s economy. Fair costing for a job. Everyone thinks they are worth more because, let’s face it, if someone will pay the big bucks, why not take them?
When dealing with customers outside of our local area, they cannot relate to what a low cost of living really is. According to bestplaces.com, in my community, housing is 422.2% less than L.A. and the overall cost of living index is 122.8% less.
The problem arises when a company doesn’t understand that I can pass that savings along. All they see is you’re too small so you obviously can’t do what they want. It is also one reason why I am more comfortable passing those savings on to small companies as well. Let the mega buck companies hire the mega buck developers. Most of the time there is no real clear path to their needs anyway, and the bureaucracy involved results in a constant whirlwind of changes.
In actuality, this is the absolute opposite of the case. According to Forbes, there are 11 advantages to working with a smaller company. This post is worth the time to read since it really sums things up well.
The top one listed is a personalized and customized approach to the project. Large developer companies have their “cookie cutter” approach and will fit you into it as they see fit.
As we state in our home page, our goal is to listen and meet the needs of the customer and provide ongoing support through a mutual relationship.
Many of the clients we have are because their large company failed to meet the need. The websites were neglected and often abandoned after they were built. Some were so bad, they were hacked or just quit working all together. As a smaller company we can reverse that trend and get things up to speed and keep them there.
How can we do this at less cost? Because our focus is on customer support and not large sums of money. Couple that with a very low cost of living and it is beneficial for both parties. How many times have you needed something on a website fixed or changed with a large company only to find they will get to you whenever they can. E-mails and voicemails go unanswered until they finally get to address your issue. Then, you are added to the queue. How refreshing would it be to email, call or text someone and have a reply immediately?
The bottom line is – just what is the driving force in a business? The customer or the bank account.
Yes, we’ve had some very large clients move to other development firms. I believe it is what’s best for them. I’ve checked back now and then to see the website that we built, still looking the same, and some parts not functioning anymore through neglect.
Not all large developers are evil, they just don’t take the time to realize the person on the other end of the phone or email is an individual and should be treated as such. I wish them all the best, and we will still be here if things go crazy again.
Finally, I would like to send a big thanks to all who support small business!