Specialized service isnt cheap, especially when it involves designing a new web page. If your uniform marketing company is considering building a customized online store for a specific customer, funding questions are certain to arise. Typically, your firm covers its own website and ecommerce development costs, but given that you would not have built the website if not for one client, it may make sense to charge them. Still, requesting payment for a website is risky. To determine when to ask for payment and how much to request, consider the following scenarios:
1. Footing The Bill
Even if you tailor the website specifically for one client, charging that client may not be reasonable. This is particularly true if you earn high profits from their purchases. Loyal customers who buy in large volume deserve to be rewarded with convenience and specialized service. The website is only a reward if you build it for free.
Footing the bill on your own also makes sense if you expect the website to boost sales substantially, more than making up for the cost of creating it. If this is the case, asking the customer to help pay for the site only serves to raise the risk that they will turn your offer down. The more confident you are in the ROI of a specialized website, the less reason you have to take such a risk.
2. Going Dutch
The middle ground between paying for a website yourself and charging your client for it entirely is to split the cost with the client. This option makes the most sense given:
- Sparse Sales– Customers who have not done much business with you in the past should not expect you to build them a website on your own. Even if they plan to order more uniforms going forward, they may end up not liking your company and choosing a different distributor; the fact that they have not ordered much from you in the past makes it hard to know whether you will work well together. Partial payment will moderate this risk.
- Dubious Demand– Clients who have bought a lot from you in the past may not have much potential to buy more. Perhaps they already have enough uniforms for all their employees, and have no plans to hire more people. If potential revenues are limited, costs should be, too.
- Considerable Costs– Even when the customer has a longstanding relationship with you and will buy more, the more expensive the website, the less reasonable it is to expect that you fund it on your own.
Requesting partial funding is also a good way to determine how badly your client wants the website. If they respond with an offer of how much they are willing to pay, that suggests it is important to them. If they refuse to pay, they probably would not have used the site much anyway.
3. Full Fees
In some situations, you do not need to pay for any of the website. Say that you do not ordinarily offer the services that the client is requesting. If you have to go out of your way, the client should make it worth your while. Charging the client also makes sense when you do not expect any other clients to need a similar page. The skills and specialists you assemble to create the page thus will not be useful again.
No matter your decision about website financing, what matters most in uniform marketing is that you and your clients communicate with each other. For more information on client service success, contact UniformMarket today.