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moose
Posts: 200
Joined: 4/6/2002
From: Plumpton NSW Australia
Status: offline
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Client Churn - 4/16/2003 9:16:03
Am interested to know what you guys do about client churn. 
We have been in business since February 1999, and until recently had only lost one legitimate client to another web designer (two others closed their doors, while another was bought out, and the new owners decided to have thier own in house designer redo their site).
But in the last six months, we have lost three clients - two to the same designer. The most recent was tonight - a client we have had for about 12 months, and have worked very hard on promoting - who has decided to go elsewhere. I don' t know the full details yet, but it seems they may have been sold off.
We work very hard to keep the clients we have, doing our best to promote their web sites etc... and we have made major expansion on the range of services we offer (including adding hosting and domain regos - something we didn' t do in the past).
I know web design is a cut throat business (one that I have already witnessed the nasty side of) - but why don' t clients ever tell you they are going. I check all our clients sites about once a week, to make sure everything is OK, and suddenly you find the client has bailed.
The one thing that urks me in all of this, is why they don' t tell you they are going - or give you an opportunity to compete with whatever the new designer has offered (although I am finding they are undercutting our prices and this is how they are picking off our clients) - that said we are one of the most affordable designers in Sydney.
Still, that' s my rant on clients who walk, and after all our efforts, don' t even have the decency to tell you they are going, or why.... [:j]
Thoughts anyone....
_____________________________
L8R,
Moose
http://www.wildpurple.com.au
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mbmunday
Posts: 162
Joined: 8/8/2002
From: North Richland Hills, Texas
Status: offline
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RE: Client Churn - 4/16/2003 21:25:05
Some people are just like that. No respect. The new company probably gave your client all types of promises, that they probably won' t be able to keep. Don' t be surprised if your client comes knocking back. I' m just hoping that your competitor didn' t approach your clients. I would totally disagree with that.
My company is much newer than yours, but we have the same goals. I am always looking to provide any additional services I think will not only help my business, but any potential clients. It seems most recent clients want sites that they can update themselves, but don' t have the tools and sometimes the basic knowledge to do so. What I' ve starting doing and offering is building " portal" type web applications that allows them to maintain the content of their site through their browser, which seems to be a good selling point. I' ve discovered the magic of ColdFusion, which has cut my programming time waaaaaaay down. This also allows me to keep the overall cost down, since I' m not spending some much time with programming.
I' m about to complete a new site (makeover) for a client with this feature, and have 2 more coming up.
Well, I' ve rambled enough. Good luck,
MB
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David Dornblaser
Posts: 38
Joined: 10/31/2002
From: Chicago-area
Status: offline
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RE: Client Churn - 4/16/2003 21:46:30
In a very professional manner ask the clients why they left. Then, talk to your existing clients about their satisfaction level. Think about and word carefully, but frankly, your questions. I would also take a serious look at the strengths of your new competitor and compare that to the feedback that you receive from your existing and former clients. I would not suggest taking any action until after you have listened to your clients.
Best of luck,
David Dornblaser
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