The Holy Grail of web consultancy is the clean break:
- Client has a problem,
- consultant has a solution,
- consultant delivers solution,
- client delivers cash,
- both shake hands,
- both are happy,
- end of story.
But the Holy Grail is elusive
The reason consultants find this idea so attractive is because the alternative is far more difficult:
- Client has a problem,
- consultant has a solution,
- consultant delivers solution,
- client delivers cash,
- both shake hands,
- both are happy,
- end of story,
- Firefox 3 is released,
- comment button disappears,
- client calls consultant,
- consultant groans,
- client uses a ∆ character in blog post and all posts are set to “unpublished”,
- client calls consultant,
- consultant hides,
- client wants to add new “Swedish Dishwashers” category to their store,
- client calls consultant,
- consultant is still trying to avoid the ∆ bug.
Hard lessons learned
At Contrast, we’ve learned this the hard way when our optimism with “simple” projects led us to leave any ongoing agreement for support or maintenance out of the plan. Now it’s unlikely we’ll take a project if the client isn’t willing to sign-up for support. It won’t make us a lot of money, because the work involved to maintain a site rarely takes much time, but it means we can afford to stick around to keep our client’s apps running smoothly, which is what most clients need and expect, regardless of whether or not they’re paying for it.
Set expectations
Never, ever assume a web project will be open and shut. It won’t. The web changes too fast, as will your client’s business requirements; but they’ll still expect your work to keep-up unless you set their expectations to the contrary. If you’re not able to get a support deal in place that’ll compensate you for the ongoing time required, it’s your responsibility to make it clear to your clients that things will go wrong and that you won’t be able to help.
