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.
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.
