Services: Cost Policies

From consulting to design to programming, Metheney Consulting, Inc. has a very simple, if somewhat abrupt, policy: "If we are working for you, we are billing for the time spent."

This may sound obvious, and it is, but you would be surprised how many people don't understand the Service Business Model concept. The only product we have to sell is Time and Expertise.

Why tell me this now?
Now you are probably asking yourself, "Why would they put this on a web site clearly designed to get more business?" The answer is: we believe that clear communications, set expectations and an upfront understanding of how the process works is the best way to create a great relationship from the start. No surprises. No sticker shock.

In a world where everything is productized and pre-packaged bundles, professional, personalized service is still a valuable commodity. We charge by the hour for time spend on your projects. There are only 2,000 billable hours per employee per year and a limited number of professional web developers, programmers and consultants. This means that time on the phone consulting is just as valuable as time spent programming and we have to charge for it.

Free Estimates & Initial Consultations
We offer an initial free consultation at our offices to any new customer. This allows us to gather the information we need to develop a simple, ballpark estimate for your project. This is based on a 30-60 minute consultation. Any time spent over this initial 60 minutes will be included in your estimate as billed time. With over 14 years experience in web development, this is usually enough to estimate basic web site projects at no charge to you. We will take the information we have gathered and prepare a free estimate for your approval, usually within one to three working days.

Cancellation Fees
At our discretion, Metheney Consulting may request credit card information when making an appointment with a new prospective client. Why do we do this if the consultation is free? The answer gets back to the limited number of hours in the day. If we do not get 24 hours notice for the cancellation of an initial appointment, we bill the credit card for the time and expense lost in that hour set aside for the appointment. If the prospective client does show up for the appointment at the specified time, there is no charge and the initial 60 minutes of the consultation is free.

Consultative Estimates
Sometimes, web initiatives are complex enough to require more time to understand all of the intricacies involved. For example, we may need to talk with your I.T. personnel, your marketing staff or other involved parties. We may need to delve into your existing codeor access your online database to evaluate. When a project is more complex than your basic web site, we may suggest creating a smaller, quick project to develop a Project Brief and documentation to more accurately estimate the scope of your project. As your purchased property, this documentation can then be used with us, or any vendor, to more accurately propose and estimate the cost of a solution.

Phone and Email Consulting
We are always happy to service our customers in anyway possible. Customer service and full time access is one of the competitive differentiators at Metheney Consulting. However, on demand access means we stop the billable project we are currently working on, pull the necessary files and projects, shift trains of thought, and focus on your requests. Then once completed, pull up the project we were on initially, associated files and programs, and focus on its requirements. Your call or email response may only take 15 minutes, but multiply that times the hundreds of customers we have helped and there literally, are not enough hours in the day to provide free phone support. This is why we charge our hourly rate for phone and email consulting.

 


Call (704) 544-7758 for a free consultation &
estimate/proposal today.


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Friday, July 25, 2008

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