Core Philosophy
At Market Moose, our marketing philosophy is also our philosophy of client service. “High value, through efficient use of technology, without wasted effort and needless cost.” Every time inefficiency in your own business is passed on to you in lost income, less time for your life in general, and a greater strain on quality. The same is true for a marketing consultant – he either works efficiently, using the very tools he touts as your best friends to create efficient client working relationships that cut costs, waste, and time for everyone, or he just talks a good game while passing the price of inefficiency on to you. Likewise, why would you rely on a technologist who doesn’t create efficient customer relations through technology? It’s not like we can’t use a fax, a typewriter, or an analog phone line – but is that what you expect from a cutting edge tech company?
The primary cost in this business is one thing and one thing only – time. Wasted time is always, always your biggest source of inflation. Technology provides the superpowers for the web heroes (like the tools in Batman’s belt). Effective use of technology, combined with efficient business processes, keep inflation low. Want to know how we do it?
Protocols for Effective Cost and Time Savings
- The consultant keeps varying hours and is never on-call. We encourage our people to maintain a work-life balance amid the challenges of sometimes working in the night, sleeping in the day, or managing multiple projects.
- We don’t guarantee one particular response time on varying issues. Support for a ‘downed’ site is almost always coming from your hosting company, which is usually available 24/7. That’s actually what they do, stay on call. Consultants, by contrast, work based on appointments, always have multiple client work on the table (if they’re thriving), and so are able to deliver stellar results based on time management and professional consulting appointments.
- Your consultant likely will never give out his personal number – he has to have a family life and some freedom from the office, after all. If you happen to obtain it, or receive a call from it, don’t be offended if it’s not answered like a business phone would be. Some of us only use personal numbers for family calls, and all other calls go through the automated system. That way, when you’re in a consultation with your consultant, you’re not going to be interrupted as he’s answering other phones.
- Keep in mind, the automated phone system delivers much higher value to clients. There are consultants that usually answer their phones personally all the time, but they’ll charge much more per hour, because they must take fewer clients to provide that level of service. Our approach is to guide your resources and expenditures toward things that bring in clients more than expend them on temporary luxuries that feel good but don’t deliver any better results. Also, our niche involves using technology effectively, which is also what we do for our clients. Think of us like doctors for your internet marketing. We can work by appointment, but we can’t deliver quality work in a timely manner by manning the front desk, or letting other patients walk into your consultation room. And we’d have to bill you more if we put a desk person out there – that’s contrary to our marketing philosophy.
- We charge for all phone time (except an initial free consultation), unless we initiate the call. Every minute we’re on the phone not being paid is an extra minute we have to work into the night or pass on to someone with increased costs. Consultants, like doctors and attorneys must rely on being paid for all consulting time, since it is their primary function.
- Our outbound calls are by appointment, and are payable in advance, though you can ‘bank’ hours with us and we’ll just draw on that time – we do that for a lot of clients. Unlike a customer service center, where an hourly wage for reps is spread across a very large client base, and an annual retainer is built into the fee, business consultants are available 24/7, and so only get paid for the time we work. Consequently, we cannot do any work for which we are not paid, including free telephone or e-mail consulting.
- Requests for advice, opinions, or analysis by e-mail or phone are always regarded as requests for billable activity, unless they’re part of an initial web site build or project in progress. If you ask us to think about a problem, make a recommendation, offer alternatives, etc., then the time must hit your timesheet. This is the only way a consultant gets to eat. Even small requests will fall under a minimum. Also, if you revoke a request, we may have already performed it, so that service cannot be refunded.
Other Terms of Service
Payment: All invoicing and payment is electronic. No paper checks, no cash. All payment is in advance and is non-refundable. This keeps our financial transaction and collection costs as low as possible, and so keeps our rates down.
Refund Policy: Services we provide cannot be un-performed, and therefore there are no refunds on any services under any circumstances. If you elect to leave your line of work, go with a different site platform, change directions on your business, understand that no refunds can be issued.
Style: is subject to individual aesthetic preferences. We ll attempt to accommodate differences of perception on style issues, but ultimately some things are a matter of taste.
Limitations: your platform provider has some technical limitations which cannot be exceeded. All of them do. Some of these can be legitimately bent, but overall we will work within the technical specs. We do not promise to be able to exceed the specs and documentation from the platform provider.
Turnaround Time: depends on the project – we’ll estimate a turnaround time before beginning, but it’s dependent on the client deliverables coming in a timely manner. If we’re waiting on the client for correct login credentials, crucial information needed to make progress, images, content pieces, etc, the completion time may be affected.
Link: While we don’t require you to carry a link to us on your site, we would appreciate it. An artist gets to sign even a commissioned portrait.
Communications and Tracking: For efficiency, status updates are sent by e-mail, at varying frequency, when there is something to report. Action items (for you the client) are likewise provided by e-mail or e-mail link, so that you can provide your deliverables in a timely manner for project completion. Timesheet information for tracking any consulting, training, and maintenance hours is maintained online in a live document, so you can see updates.
Billable Increments: Minimum billable increments are 15minutes by web and 30minutes by phone. We encourage web-based contacts wherever possible, because they save everyone time. We gladly accept phone-based consulting time but, to meet our costs, we charge a higher rate for it, with a larger minimum, and require an appointment.
