<br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/11/17 Sam Cohen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:sam@samcohen.com">sam@samcohen.com</a>></span><br><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">
I think a lot of folks here do you a disservice by dismissing your concern that teaching your friend might result in you losing work. That is a very real and legitimate concern.</blockquote><div><br>The concern is not that you'll lose work. That's almost a given if your client is looking to (and skilled enough to) do some of the ordinary maintenance themselves.<br>
<br>The concern is whether your need to maximise your own billable hours is worth destroying a trust relationship that may threaten all your business with that client and beyond.<br><br>It's all about customer service, and giving your client what they want. Stop doing that and someone else will. The comfort zone is far more fragile than you think, especially if the client starts to believe that you're no longer looking out for their best interest.<br>
<br>You may find that a little Drupal training of your client -- by you or someone else of quality that you trust -- will not reduce their need for you as much as you think. Training may demonstrate to your client how many parts of Drupal config and maintenance are best left in the hands of an experienced professional. Or the client may become comfortable in drawing a line between routine maintenance work (that they can do) and site-critical maintenance which they will continue to entrust to you. It may be less work but they'll be happy with you and recommend you to others.<br>
<br>Or... they will try some DIY, mess it up, and you'll be the hero doing the cleanup (at double what it would have cost for you to do it right the first time).<br><br>But the WORST thing you can do (IMO, of course) is to be either dismissive or unhelpful in response to your client's request. This sends the absolutely wrong messages to your client; any of the following could be inferred by your blowing off their request:<br>
<br>- You don't trust their judgement in making their own IT decisions<br>- You don't think they're smart enough to do routine maintenance<br>- You're hiding from them that it's easy to do (and so they're easy money for you)<br>
- You're trying to be indepespensible, attempting a form of vendor lock-in<br><br>Indeed, some of these may indeed be the case in the relationship. But exposing them this way will poison the environment. At best, they'll continue to request your services but mistrust your future advice. At worst, they'll be looking for a replacement ASAP.<br>
<br>Moreover, think of the consequences beyond this one client. So much service business is driven by word-of-mouth (well, at least has been is for me) that you can ill afford to tick off a cornerstone client that has until now been utterly pleased with your work.<br>
<br>If you choose not to "assist in your own obsolescence", so to speak, you send them into the marketplace where a competitor (without your concerns) will gladly fill the gap. And then you risk losing ALL the client's business, as well as any subsequent referrals.<br>
<br>As the Drupal service marketplace gets more crowded, there will often be someone willing to do your work cheaper or faster than you. Ultimately the only thing that makes you stand out from the competition, and worth the extra money, is your reputation. And the reputation you want is NOT as someone who is seen to think of maximising billing over the client's best interest. That's like a doctor getting a rep for recommending needless surgery, or a taxi that takes a roundabout route to your destination to pump up the fare. It's just my experience that consumers -- whether as individuals or people in charge of IT at businesses -- have a visceral negative reaction to being treated that way. It's just not worth the risk IMO.<br>
<br>- Evan<br><br></div></div>