Ask Your Customers the Hard Questions:

“The following is republished from The SitePoint Tribune #418.

Here’s a question for you. When your last project finished, what was the final communication the client received from you? Was it a bottle of wine and card, a ‘Thanks for the work, call me if you need anything,’ or just an invoice in the mail?

It seems to be very common for us designers, developers, freelancers, and businesses to be keen to talk at the start of a project, but shy to speak at the end.

What we really need to do at the completion stage of projects is to thank the client for their business, and then ask them some hard questions.

Why do I say hard? Well, maybe it’s the human condition, but we as service providers don’t like to imagine that clients are ever anything but absolutely impressed with our work — but I have to tell you, the truth is that they often aren’t.

Think back to the last time you were out for a meal. When you paid, the waitperson probably asked you about your experience. In answer to ‘How was everything?’, you probably mumbled something like, ‘It was good, thanks’ — even if you didn’t feel that way.

Why? Few of us like confrontation. We don’t like to give neutral or negative feedback (unless it’s within the relative anonymity of an online auction web site!) and we don’t like receiving it, either.

However, feedback is very important to us, as individuals and as businesses, in order to grow and improve — even if that does mean we open our ears to possibly negative feedback as well.

The next time a project wraps up, consider emailing your client a link to an online survey. I have found people are far more willing to be honest completing a form instead of speaking directly to you.

Ask them what they liked most about the project — and then ask them what they liked least. You really do want to know. It could be something really simple that you or your firm is doing over and over, with every project, assuming clients like it when in fact they don’t. This habit or process could be holding you back from success!

In my business, we’ve been seeking feedback in this way for a few years now. We get some great feedback, both positive and negative, which helps us tune our processes and our services to better suit the next customer. We’ve had some really crazy input, too — for example, our coffees were too strong, or we were so good that the client was going to miss our weekly meetings!

There are countless survey software systems available (see below for a handful of them), many of which have a free plan. Alternatively, it’s a trivial matter to whip up your own web-to-email form. The trick is to avoid asking questions that are too leading: ‘Did you find our design team very enthusiastic?’, or that allow for only yes or no answers — keep questions open. Keep the form brief, too — if it goes on for pages and pages, clients will be hesitant to complete it.

The next important step is to act on the feedback. It may warrant a call or meeting with the customer for further details, or speaking to team members (or yourself) if there was something amiss. And remember to give praise where it’s due — we all enjoy a pat on the back from time to time!”

(Via SitePoint Blogs » Business.)

How to Pick a Shopping Cart: 7 Carts Reviewed:

“Eager to integrate e-commerce functionality into your web site, but don’t know where to start? Overwhelmed by the options? Let Tim do the hard work for you, as he puts seven of the most popular online shopping carts through their paces.”

(Via SitePoint.com.)

“Poor programming by web designers is being exploited by hi-tech criminals to steal login details, warn experts.”

(Via BBC News | Technology | World Edition.)

“Don’t let a lack of free time keep you from learning HTML to build better websites! Sams Teach Yourself HTML in 10 Minutes, Fourth Edition is a compact, task-oriented tutorial that will show you how to perform the most common tasks involved in designing, creating, publishing, and administering web pages and sites. The book covers only those HTML tags and technologies that are likely to be used on a beginner’s web page, and it is organized in a logical step-by-step order that reflects a natural progression. The book’s modular design allows you to jump in and learn only what you need to know anywhere throughout the book. This fourth edition of the bestselling book is completely rewritten to make it even more accessible for the beginning Windows and Macintosh user. The easily accessible reference material and updated examples will help understand how to execute tasks to get the results you desire.”

(Via InformIT :: Web ServicesStore > Web Services.)

Next, we’ll be taking submissions from the artists where we’ll eventually select a number to work with for a wide ranging marketing and promotional effort. This has been one of the goals of Miami Art Exchange, now working through our Meetup group, South Florida Artist Entrepreneurs. Thank you everyone for your attendance! More to come!

Why you should incorporate your business:

“Dear FSB: I’ve been in business for seven years now. I’m a sole proprietor and I have an SBA loan from 2002. My question: Is it better to incorporate now, or wait? How will incorporation protect my personal assets if my business fails?”

(Via CNN - FORTUNE Small Business.)