How would you deal with this customer situation?

11 years ago

It depends if you had set out exactly what you were going to provide him with initially...Theres always a way to talk your way out of it if you had agreed originally what you were going to do.

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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by dddougal

It depends if you had set out exactly what you were going to provide him with initially...Theres always a way to talk your way out of it if you had agreed originally what you were going to do.

Yes it was all quite clearly outlined on the sales page

He said he didn't read it properly

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sbucciarel

Banned 11 years ago

Originally Posted by FitMarketer

Yes it was all quite clearly outlined on the sales page

He said he didn't read it properly

I would not give him a refund and I would tell him that you don't provide support or custom work on a $17 site for free. He got what he paid for. If he wants to change it, fine, but you do not owe him anything else.

EDIT: I see from previous posts you offered free support for 60 days with no qualifications. That's a dangerous thing to do. There's always going to be customers that will consider that an invitation to take up an enormous amount of your time.

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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

I would not give him a refund and I would tell him that you don't provide support or custom work on a $17 site for free. He got what he paid for. If he wants to change it, fine, but you do not owe him anything else.

EDIT: I see from previous posts you offered free support for 60 days with no qualifications. That's a dangerous thing to do. There's always going to be customers that will consider that an invitation to take up an enormous amount of your time.

Thanks I definalty need to re word the 60 day support thing

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SunilTanna

11 years ago

Originally Posted by FitMarketer

Thanks I definalty need to re word the 60 day support thing

Thanks

You can do it going forward, but you can do it retrospectively for a customer who already paid under different terms and conditions.

The worst part is that your previous (current?) offer actually says $499 worth of free support is included with the purchase. That is a lot of free aupport fot a $17 product. But you made the promise, so you shold keep it. Well if your normal support price is say $50 per hour then you owe the guy 10hours!

Yea you could try and find some way to weasel out, but you made the commitment, voluntarily, when it suited you. Show some integrity by delivering what you promised. Or at least getting the guy to agree to a change in the deal - like give him the money back, and let him keep the product too, provided he is okay with that.

Don't make even 1 more sale with those terms. Change it now!

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wordwizard

11 years ago

Originally Posted by sbucciarel

EDIT: I see from previous posts you offered free support for 60 days with no qualifications. That's a dangerous thing to do. There's always going to be customers that will consider that an invitation to take up an enormous amount of your time.

Ouch! That's an expensive lesson to learn. I've had a customer like that too at one time. I'll need to lay out exactly how much support (and how much phone time!) is included in future offers. None of that "unlimited" stuff anymore, or even unspecified...

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Stefan Shields 11 years ago

Change your terms

I don't even put payment buttons on my sales thread now because I have had this issue before. I make potential clients contact me for payment details and when they do I let them know exactly what they are getting.

This may lose me some business but I would rather be upfront with them than allowing them to dictate what I should be doing after they have paid.

Stefan
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- TheEye 11 years ago
  
  In your terms and conditions put how many hours of support you are willing to give e.g up to 3 hours free support within the first sixty days after purchase and then $60 per hour for any further support.
  
  This creates great value as they get a web site and $180 of support for $17
  
  You are letting the person know they can come back to you for other services.
  
  These services you can outsource to Fiverr or other outsource sites. Ask the person who does the work to let you know how long it took them to do the work, add the time you have used and that comes off their support time total.
  
  You are providing 3 hours of support, not necessarily 3 hours support by yourself.
  
  Keep in mind that most people will not use/ask for any support.
  
  Thanks
  
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  NewRiseDigital 11 years ago
  
  You do need to set expectations clearly when dealing with work for hire clients. $17 should be a customer acquisition loss leader, not the actual price of your product, which I believe you may think it is. Any loss leader has to have a back end to upsell, so the advice of making sure there's a solid back end makes complete sense. Making it clear that changes will be charged at an hourly rate (and make that hourly rate worth your while if you are trading hours for $) could be a good strategy.
  
  If you don't want to do changes to client sites then you could simply market it as a template, but if you do want to earn from the changes (as most web design agencies do) you should make it clear in your terms upfront to avoid these kind of misunderstandings.
  
  Since this customer might not have been made fully aware of your terms at the time you could turn this particular customer round by doing the changes for this customer on a "one time only basis" in return for a testimonial if you are short on these, just be very clear about what you'll do for him now you're aware that expectations need to be set clearly
  
  Good luck!
  
  Thanks
  
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angela99

11 years ago

FitMarketer, people only know what you tell them. Be kind, professional and polite.

Say something like:

Hey Bob (or whatever his name is :-)). Thank you for getting in touch. It's great to hear from you.

I'd love to help you to create a custom design. I can definitely help you with WordPress challenges, too. WordPress can be confusing until you get used to it.

My fees are $60 an hour (or whatever you charge.) I'll invoice as we go.

From your message, you need me to:

* 1 thing he wants you to do

* Another thing he wants

* And yet another thing he wants

That should take me around 45 minutes, perhaps a little longer. Please send me your log-in details, and I'll get started. I'll invoice you when I'm done.

Looking forward to working with you on this.

Best wishes,

FitMarketer.

(Add your phone/ Skype info so he can get in touch.)

Good luck with your client, FitMarketer -- you'll do great. :-)

Tip: Why not turn your "done for you" clients into regular clients? Create a list of things you can do for your clients, and publicize these offerings.

Another tip: Make sure you add all your customers to a mailing list.

Cheers

Angela

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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by angela99

Tip: Why not turn your "done for you" clients into regular clients? Create a list of things you can do for your clients, and publicize these offerings.

Angela

What exactly do you mean by this?

Please elaborate

Thanks for your other advice though. He seems much happier now I explained it politely and in a professional way

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angela99

11 years ago

Originally Posted by FitMarketer

What exactly do you mean by this?

Please elaborate

Thanks for your other advice though. He seems much happier now I explained it politely and in a professional way

Hi FitMarketer

When I said:

Tip: Why not turn your "done for you" clients into regular clients? Create a list of things you can do for your clients, and publicize these offerings.

Another tip: Make sure you add all your customers to a mailing list.

I meant two things:

1. UPSELL

2. Create a mailing list.

"Done for you" sites at $17 is a great offering. However, some of your clients will want more.

Think about how you could upsell them. (You can always upsell.) This client wants further customization, so make that an upsell. Create a One Time Offer (OTO) which pops up when they buy your $17 offer. Make them a deal for some customizations.

Other upsells depend on your market. Who are they?

This is why you need to create a LIST. Once your customers are on a list, you can ask them what they need.

You can do that now, of course. :-) When they buy, send a quick message:

Hi, thanks for your purchase. Please contact me for any help you need. I'd love to know how you're using your site too. You can call me on _________ (phone #) anytime to chat.

It's always easier to sell to someone who's purchased from you before. Companies focus on their Customer Acquisition Cost, because once you have a customer, you can sell to them again, and again.

This customer is a gem. He's showing you how to make money. Create an upsell, today.

Good luck with it. :-)

Cheers

Angela

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onSubie 11 years ago

Originally Posted by angela99

I meant two things:

1. UPSELL

Just to follow along with angela99's great ideas....

The $17 site you sell is probably a basic site and your customers are most likely relatively new marketers.

There are tons of additional products and servces you could offer with no extra work for you.

Content
Tell them how important it is to add regular new content. Then offer to provide new content for a monthly fee, or offer 'PLR Packs' of ready to go content they can add right to their site. Buy PLR to resell, or outsource to iWriter or something.

Offer a "How to Easily Create Killer Content" ebook. There are many PLR ebooks that teach this.

SEO
Explain how they need to rank in Google and get traffic to help their web site. Then offer SEO services like backlinks, social bookmarking, link pyramids, etc. Charge a reasonable fee and outsourse to Fiverr or a Warrior for Hire.

Offer an SEO course or ebook. Again, plenty of good PLR/MRR.

Video
Explain the power of video marketing and offer to create/publish/promote a video. Lots of Fiverr gigs will do this for you.

Offer a Video Marketing ebook or course.

There is an endless supply of marketing services you could offer.

If you build a list of your buyers, you can follow up with email asking how things are going, offering tips and advice and promote your other offers.

The 'tips' would all be things they could/should do that you happen to have a solution for.

So a few emails about the importance of SEO, how SEO works and a few specific tips and tricks followed by a push for your "Comprehensive SEO Course".

Your $17 website should be a front end product that leads to a relationship that allows you to promote many other products and services on the back end once they become a customer.

Mahlon
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Anne0521

11 years ago

Originally Posted by angela99

FitMarketer, people only know what you tell them. Be kind, professional and polite.

Say something like:

Hey Bob (or whatever his name is :-)). Thank you for getting in touch. It's great to hear from you.

I'd love to help you to create a custom design. I can definitely help you with WordPress challenges, too. WordPress can be confusing until you get used to it.

My fees are $60 an hour (or whatever you charge.) I'll invoice as we go.

From your message, you need me to:

* 1 thing he wants you to do

* Another thing he wants

* And yet another thing he wants

That should take me around 45 minutes, perhaps a little longer. Please send me your log-in details, and I'll get started. I'll invoice you when I'm done.

Looking forward to working with you on this.

Best wishes,

FitMarketer.

(Add your phone/ Skype info so he can get in touch.)

Good luck with your client, FitMarketer -- you'll do great. :-)

Tip: Why not turn your "done for you" clients into regular clients? Create a list of things you can do for your clients, and publicize these offerings.

Another tip: Make sure you add all your customers to a mailing list.

Cheers

Angela

Great suggestion! I think this is the best way to deal with your client. It's going to be your lose if you work on that without getting paid properly!

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JohnMcCabe

11 years ago

Originally Posted by FitMarketer

I had a customer purchase a done for you website

The price was very low $17

Everything on the site was done. Domain research, site installation etc

The site has high quality PLR and images and videos and premium theme all done for them

Once I handed over site he changes the theme and template completely.

Now he is asking me how to do things on the new theme and expects me to do custom webdesign on his new theme

He is pretty clueless how WP works

How can I nicely tell him that I won't work on his new theme and all the things he changed for free?

Or should I just refund?

How would you deal with this

If you are talking about the offer in your sig, you might be over a barrel. You promise 60 days of free support with no restrictions. Nothing says "if you change the theme I won't do free support."

You might be able to weasel out of it, but you would likely take a hit to your rep, especially since this is a special "review price".

One thing I would do is add a qualifier to that support offer before anyone else does the same thing...

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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe

If you are talking about the offer in your sig, you might be over a barrel. You promise 60 days of free support with no restrictions. Nothing says "if you change the theme I won't do free support."

You might be able to weasel out of it, but you would likely take a hit to your rep, especially since this is a special "review price".

One thing I would do is add a qualifier to that support offer before anyone else does the same thing...

Thanks John,
I will definatly add this in.

I am happy to help someone but I won't rebuild the entire site from scratch

I used some of the help here on this thread and he seems to be happy now.

Thanks for all your help

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Snowclone

11 years ago

Honestly I would cater to his needs. Normally I would say "Tim Ferris his ass - Refund him and put your time into something else" BUT many times I've use Flippa to capture leads for a variety of other services, I sell a website for cheap or even at a loss, only to later sell the client 30 websites, or keyword research, or anything else in between.

Spend 10 minutes and get some reference documents together for him teaching him how to do much of what he needs. Don't let him take advantage of you but it could potentially turn into a client for life.

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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by Snowclone

Honestly I would cater to his needs. Normally I would say "Tim Ferris his ass - Refund him and put your time into something else" BUT many times I've use Flippa to capture leads for a variety of other services, I sell a website for cheap or even at a loss, only to later sell the client 30 websites, or keyword research, or anything else in between.

Spend 10 minutes and get some reference documents together for him teaching him how to do much of what he needs. Don't let him take advantage of you but it could potentially turn into a client for life.

Thanks for your advice.

Love the Tim Ferris quote haha

He seems happy and I will continue to provide support for him on any other issues he has

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drbrucehoag

11 years ago

It's an unfortunate fact on the internet, but the people who pay the least for your expertise, complain the most.

Unless you really need the $17, I'd refund him his money and take him off of your customer list.

I've "fired" a couple of customers myself. One had no respect for anything I did.

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CJLBW 11 years ago

Is there any way you could create another small product as an upsell or bonus? "30 easy tweaks to customize your site" That kind of thing.
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FitMarketer

11 years ago

Originally Posted by drbrucehoag

It's an unfortunate fact on the internet, but the people who pay the least for your expertise, complain the most.

Unless you really need the $17, I'd refund him his money and take him off of your customer list.

I've "fired" a couple of customers myself. One had no respect for anything I did.

LOL love that you fire customers.

Yes I did consider refunding but think he is happy now

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travlinguy

11 years ago

I think you suck it up and do what you can for the guy. Then I think you get a little more specific in your support statement and make it clear that your support is limited to what you've delivered and not themes or anything else they might add after taking delivery.

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CRGreen

11 years ago

Great suggestions given about how to handle the situation. I really like what Angela99 suggested in both of her responses to you. You definitely want to offer an upsell and collect names/emails for your mailing list!

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John Romaine

11 years ago

Originally Posted by FitMarketer

I had a customer purchase a done for you website

The price was very low $17

I read this far.

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ClaireVWalker

11 years ago

I had a guy like that on flippa last year. I politely told him no, I think he was reported and banned a few days later by other unhappy sellers. It's not your fault he doesn't have a clue

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Eric R

11 years ago

First of all sort out your terms and conditions when selling items, so it is crystal clear as to what you will do and will not do!
Then help the customer as much as your time will allow, they could be the customer that buys the top end product that you could be selling in the future. The worst thing that can happen is that he/she will tell/share their story of how helpful you are and that can't be a bad thing.

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metaarticles

11 years ago

I would politely tell him that I am ready to help him out, but I will charge him a nominal fee. Otherwise, I will give him an alternative option to contact a Fiverr Seller.

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debra leroy

Banned 11 years ago

Working with people seems to be the most difficult job, isn' t it?
I simply lived how Angela99 answered. And yes, she is right: you must provide a professional answer.
Also, terms and condition beforehand! :-)

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Stripe

11 years ago

I love Angela's comment as well. At the end of the day it is only $17 that you are refunding if that is the route you go.

I would probably offer to help, but layout my "hourly" costs after the $17 promotion. Get his agreement and go from there. You may end up making a lot on his site. If you really don't want to do it, set your rates really high. If he still takes your offer, at least the money will be good.