Go Back
Posted by: Avonelle Lovhaug
Publication Date: 1/18/2010 9:06:43 PM
Most programmers who have been around a few years can tell you horror stories about a software project they worked on. The stories are varied, but most of them involve an “unreasonable” customer who kept changing their minds, and the project suffered from lots of rework and frustration, or perhaps didn’t even get finished. (Even I have a story like that.)
Which is why programmers are often surprised to learn that I don’t charge by the hour. They’ll ask, “Aren’t you worried that the customer will change their mind repeatedly and you’ll lose money?”
Not really.
Most customers aren’t as dysfunctional as the stories imply. In my experience clients want their projects to go well, and they trust me to help them achieve their objectives. They aren’t trying to get me to do something for nothing.
But more importantly, charging by the hour changes the relationship with the customer – and not for the better. It forces them to trust the programmer without the programmer haven’t to show them the same courtesy. Now the customer must trust that hours are being reported accurately. They must trust that the programmer isn’t goldbricking. And it tells the customer that the programmer doesn’t care about results – only time.
Is it no wonder that the client relationships can deteriorate under these circumstances?
Category:
Tags: Consulting
- 19 Jan
Shawn Berg 09 Feb
Avonelle Lovhaug 12 Feb
Name: Name can't be empty!
Email (optional): Invalid email format!
Your URL (optional):
Comment:
Type the code shown
Top 5 Programmers to Avoid
What everyone should know about bugs
How to tell if an estimate sucks
The Secret to Building a Crappy User Interface
The Problem with Selecting the Lowest Bidder
5 Ways to Control Software Development Costs
From my experience with Avonelle, she can be relied on to deliver whatever she promises--always on time and for the quoted cost. She'll ask the right questions to make sure that what she delivers truly meets the business need. Her expertise has been invaluable. All that at a very reasonable rate!
Kim Merriman, Operations Manager @ HousingLink
Sitefinity ASP.NET CMS