I’m the WP Nurse.
In my WP care centre I offer WordPress care, technical support, training, consultancy and site audits. For clients who are feeling lost in the complex world of WordPress, I can help get them back on track, or take the weight off their shoulders completely.
How do you sell website maintenance plans?
I think the main advice I’d give to others who are selling WordPress maintenance plans, would be to think of the value to the customer.
What difference would it make to their business if they didn’t have to worry about all that techy stuff and were able to concentrate on the things they’re good at?
I also make sure I don’t undercut myself if I’m doing peripatetic work for people who aren’t on a regular maintenance plan.
It takes time to find your way around a site that you don’t know or manage and so the price has to reflect that.
In a lot of cases businesses can save money in the long term by signing up to a regular plan – so be sure to demonstrate that value to them.
What advice could you share on retaining maintenance clients for longer?
I always make sure I answer my maintenance clients within a short time frame – even if it’s just to let them know when I’ll get back to them properly.
They need to know that I care about their site’s health and security.
Of course, when it’s all going really well, that’s when clients might wonder what they actually pay you for; so when I make a little tweak or improvement to their site, I sometimes drop them a little note to let them know.
A speed test with a load of green numbers and an A score always goes down well!
If they request extra work I’m always upfront about the timescale and the charge – and I always stick to what I’ve said.
I don’t work on an hourly rate, I give a price for the entire job and make sure they confirm before I start work.
That way, they don’t end up with a surprise bill at the end of the month.
How do you ensure the most efficient delivery of your website maintenance service?
Little and often with maintenance.
I go in at least every week and make sure everything’s working well and I always check through the site after each update – which might feel long winded, but if something goes wrong I can easily pinpoint the cause, which saves lots of time in the long run.
Why do you use Glow to help with managing your clients' websites?
I love the fact that clients can log into a branded dashboard to see what’s going on with their site.
There’s no sense that they are on a third party site and it saves me loads of time when I do my monthly reports.
The support ticket system is great too. Clients feel cared for and I look slick into the bargain.
