Thread

Suppose a business - say, a restaurant - already has a website that they pay a Web design company to manage.  And suppose you think you could make a better site or offer a better Web presence than they have.

Do you think it’s ethical to pitch to that restaurant and try to ‘hijack’ their Web presence from the other Web design company?

I’m not encountering this problem; I’m just curious how you would all handle such a situation.

Thanks!

I am sure it happens all the time, and I don’t see it as much of an ethical question. It’s called competition, and perfectly acceptable in my book if certain base rules are observed.

Suppose a business - say, a restaurant - already has a website that they pay a Web design company to manage.  And suppose you think you could make a better site or offer a better Web presence than they have.

Do you think it’s ethical to pitch to that restaurant and try to ‘hijack’ their Web presence from the other Web design company?

I’m not encountering this problem; I’m just curious how you would all handle such a situation.

Thanks!

I don’t think that it’s unethical at all.  In fact, I’ve done this in the past.  A few months ago I came across a non-profit that had a hideous website.  I particularly supported their cause and felt that they needed a better website.  I emailed the director and offered my services.  There was another company that did manage this site but after having a discussion the director dropped that company and hired us to redo and manage the site.  The other company was giving the NPO a discount and I guess didn’t have the motivation to do an adequate job.

As Ingmar said, it’s competition.  Make your case to the website owner.  If you can offer them a service that their current service provider is not, more power to you!

What if their current Web presence is handled by an employee and not an external company?

Same thing in principle, with one possible difference: the employee probably handled it as part of his internal duties, so cost = zero. It might be difficult to get them to spend the necessary amount of money to do an adequate job.

Here’s what worked fairly well for me.

1. Find out who is doing the website you think you can do better.

2. Pick one aspect of the site you could measurably improve.

3. Sell the improvement to the company who did the website, not the client. “Hey, I noticed you do this site for Acme Eats. I can make this aspect a lot more profitable for both of you and can do the same for your other clients.”

Why? Because if it works you’ve picked up a lot more work than just one site.

I think you have to be careful, if you don’t know who built the website, it could be the owner’s kid or sister, or just whoever. And they may think it is the best thing since sliced-bread in the world.
I think it comes down to finding who built the site, who is the decision maker for the site.
Many times that’s what is lacking the website sucks, somebody’s kid did it, and nobody will step up even within the company and say, our site could be so much better.
Like Leslie says pointing out “Here’s How…” the site could be so much better is the ticket, and finding the correct person to communicate with.
From a sales standpoint, pointing out that you represent a viable alternative to their current service provider that could ultimately enhance the site is what counts.
EE makes it so that you can hand the site back to them also.