Number sixty-four: Give them host details
Good day. I'm Troy Dean from Video User Manuals and Agency Mavericks, and this is the 101 Ways to Elevate Yourself and Demand Higher Fees: a practical guide for WordPress consultants to start attracting better quality clients, work on better, more interesting projects, and get paid better fees. Now, let's go elevate.
Number 64: Give them host details. Now we don't host websites, if you do, that's totally cool. If you don't, then you need to give your client the details of who is hosting their website. And don't assume that your client, if they've opened their own hosting account, don't assume that they will know their host details, because they won't. It's not on their radar. The only time it's on their radar is when their website goes down or they can't send or receive emails. And guess who they're going to call then. You.
Now if you're hosting their website, then that's fine. That's your responsibility. I would set up a support desk using Desk.com or FreshDesk or one of the support desk systems available on the internet. I would set up a dedicated email address so that their emails stay out of your inbox and go via your support desk, which you can then manage in your own time and in your own way.
But if you don't host websites, you need to give your client the support email address or phone number of the company who does host them. And say to your client, “If your website goes down, or you can't access it, or you think there's a problem, or you're having trouble with your emails, these are the people you need to contact, not me, because I might not be available. I might be in a meeting. I might be at a conference. I might be overseas. Contact your host. They have dedicated staff there that will be able to help you. And if it's a problem that I need to fix, they will let you know, or they'll let me know that it's a development issue, not a hosting issue.”
So make sure your client has their host details on file. It will stop them from calling you when something goes wrong. In the next video you'll learn why it's dangerous to be an eager beaver. Until then, go elevate.
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