Hello,

One thing I have noticed is that new projects often come with lots of misinformation and grey areas.

The issue of price remains a major one even though the reason for price differences is not usually easy to explain especially when the prospective client would tell you that he/she paid N30,000.00 to the designer that worked on the project before or that we have received proposals from other people and none of the prices quoted is anything close to what you are asking for.

One thing that has worked like magic for me is this -

Prepare two proposals for the client

First proposal will be for a static website with the basic functions

Second proposal will have all the features of the static website but will now include database, programming, other dynamic features that will require custom coding

With these two proposals it becomes very easy for the client to understand why your price does not have to be the same with with another person is proposing even for the same project.

NB: This applies when discussions about the project must have been finalized and price remains the only issue and certainly not before concluding on the understanding and workability of the project.

Good idea! I never thought of it that way.

My approach is to have a long, nice talk with a potential client so as to know what they really want (when you say "dynamic", what do you mean? What is the site for? Will you be updating it regularly? When do you want this done? etc). Time limit varies but as recently as last week, my conversation lasted 1 hour at least. Why? Same reason as the poster's. I want to know exactly what the client wants. This, IMHO also has the added effect of letting the client know that I actually know what I am doing and that I am a professional.

When the client starts asking for price, I will tell them, "let's not focus on pricing now. I would rather focus on how I can help you or if I can even help you at all (this usually draws a laff or 2 )". After I gather all the info I need, I repeat it back to them ("So, you are saying you run an NGO, your website will have pictures of your projects, etc?" to make sure I didn't miss anything. I then give them my price, which accounts for a possible negotiation. Some at this point try to negotiate down at which point I tell them why I charge as much as I do. I also give them the "isn't it worth the peace of mind?" line. Conversion rate for me is, I would say, around 90%. Why this high? I am thinking it is partially because I deal strictly with referrals which means past clients have already done the selling for me.

The above has worked for me but I don't mind trying new things and will definitely try anything at least once. Again, nice idea. Thanks.

Proposal e don tay oooo ppl just google me up and find me or through nairaland, naijaborn,facebook, twitter. recent job coming now  was from naijaborn, proposal ke? can't remember. ooooo. ehen  i remember, the sheraton website thing lol. but on a must serious note na referral ooo like one artiste now i was introduce to, a well known guy he needs a website too but now for a reality show. hehehehehehehe na referral from an Entertainment TV i do freelance visual design for.

nice idea.

smart:

u r obsessed with sheraton

ya waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

abeg uche, no vex o, pls wetin be the web address to sheraton site cos i don google tire.

naaaaaaaaaa it was suppose to be IKEJA PALACE HOTEL WEBSITE Sheraton was were i finished the job with the HOD of IT Sheraton,  they have this kinda link. Sheraton and ikeja palace hotel and federal palace hotel this job are suppose to be given to me but my bills got them scared. if i collect 2.5million for everything is bad ?? but i was turned off cos they were like humm this small boy wan chop all dis money alone, but all the functions nko ? one i told them you guy will have online payment system, online ticket system, online this and that! which i did a demo for but meeeeeeeeeeeeeeen, the rest na story. Ya wa know every!

That's was when i was coding but this job actually discourage me about the whole fin called PROGRAMMING

guy, u know nigerians now, you for don give all the top guys some money. ooo u don Bleep u .
on a serious note, some months back,i also lose some good cash becos the general manager of the hotel wan share for the money and me i know until the man take back go give the job to other person. it was not funny cos i had a lot of plan on the money den.
that is nigerians for u

Being able to consistently develop websites and applications without having problems is not an easy task considering a lot of factors that come into play. From factors you have control over to those you don't.

However, it is possible to develop some principles and and stick to those principles.

I must state here that what works for Mr A may not work for Mrs B so there is certainly no "one size fits all" solution here.

Feel free to trash the advice below and if you like them implement at your own risk. Put differently, I am not offering any warranty on them.

Closing deals is not really easy but from past experiences I have come to insist on the following

1. Always remain professional - stress the fact that you must be compensated well for professional services rendered

2. Never do a free demo or presentation - I have lost projects due to this but at the end of the day some of them return after bad experiences with others and for those that don't come back to you they respect you even though they don't like your guts. I tell them time is money and that I could develop a static website from start to finish by the time I come back from any free demo or presentation.

3. Insist on reasonable payment schedule. I usually ask for 100% before commencing on any project but when we have a clash of company policies I insist and settle for 70% advance, post a copy on a testing server and allow the client to see and comment on the project as it is being developed and once everything is certified ok by the client I get the 30% balance before moving the project to the client's server. That way the client cannot use the live project until my money is 100% paid. The cost of chasing people for balance is rather high as you will be the one making the calls or paying for transport.

4. Be ready to refund part payments if the client becomes too difficult to work with or if he/she continues to ask you to integrate or add extra features that he/she is not ready to pay for. I have had to refund hundreds of thousands of naira on some occasions anytime I notice that the project may bring problems because I will not take any insults regardless of how much I am being paid for the project and I will not implement extra features without charging for them. I usually tell clients that throw insults around that the money they paid was for the project and does not give them any right to insult me and that if they want me to forward a quote that will cover insults they should just let me know and I will send to them.

Trust me, the road is certainly not easy but worth the stress and very rewarding.

good points Afam. I have encountered similar issues myself and have applied some of the above in resolving them.

humm AFAM you just made ma day!!!

i just learned

Finally, b/w this thread and 2 others, this board is coming alive!!!

afam i feel you but it looks unrealist for me as a business man now paying 7o% in advance i can only part with 40% in advance and that is what i charge which have been very rewarding though the 40% advancement is not refundable

afam i feel you but it looks unrealist for me as a business man now paying 7o% in advance i can only part with 40% in advance and that is what i charge which have been very rewarding though the 40% advancement is not refundable

Different strokes for different folks. I have always charged 60% and it has worked for me thus far. I was actually told that in Nigeria, in order to prevent ppl bolting with your money, you should get at least 75% up front, which is much closer to Afam's %age than yours, Syvalam