Service Your Web Design Customers

Step Nine: Check How the Meal is Going

About 5 minutes after a meal is served, a waiter should check with the customers how they are enjoying it, and whether it meets their satisfaction. The same thing should happen for each course that is served. It's no good finding out that the customer didn't like the meal after they've eaten it. The chance to rectify things will have passed, and they won't be back to eat at the restaurant again, and nor will their friends.

Make sure the clients are happy with what you are building. No one wants to deliver a site that nobody likes, so make sure you're on the right track while you still have time to change it. It's useless asking the clients if they like what you've done the day before launch, because there's not much you can do at this point if the response is bad. Show the clients what you can when you can and gauge their response. If they're not impressed, and they have reason not to be, consider options to improve the situation.

Step Ten: Offer More Courses

Once the main meal is over, it's time for the waiter to offer her customers dessert, if they're not too full already.

If you've delivered a great site and not managed to exhaust totally your clients' software development budget, you can start talking about phase two. If your service has been good so far, they should be happy to commit.

Step Eleven: Deliver the Bill

When the meal is over and the waiter has provided her customers with everything they could possibly want, she must wait for them to ask for the bill. The bill should clearly state what the customers have received and how much each item cost. A good waiter can receive a generous tip if she's done her job well.

Your invoice to your clients should also be a concise statement of what you have built for them. However, in web development it's probably not advisable to wait for your clients to ask for the bill. I have to concede that this is one stage in which the whole restaurant/web site analogy doesn't quite hold - in a restaurant you can not let your customers leave until they've paid, in the internet industry your hold on your clients is a little less tangible.

Financial generosity is also less common in web site development. But it's not unheard of! Some businesses offer equity deals and incentives that can be lucrative. In all cases if you've served your customer well you can expect the rewards of referrals and repeat business, which last much longer than a once-off tip.

Step Twelve: Say Goodbye

An excellent waiter will end her service with a thank you, a goodbye and a final expression that she hoped the meal was to her customers' satisfaction.

Excellent customer service in web development should end on the same note. The project should be formally closed, preferably with a review of its success, the clients should be thanked for their business relationship and there should be encouragement of the possibility of everyone working together again soon.

So there you have it - customer service in 12 easy steps. And if your clients aren’t completely happy with your service from now on, at least you’ll have the necessary skills for a career change!