A few months back, one of the outlets in my office stopped working.
No big deal, right? According to the internet, just pop the faceplate, wiggle a wire or two, and boom, back in business.
But as I walked back into my office, screwdriver in hand, something in me said, “Just call the electrician” (yes, it was probably my wife).
When he showed up, he didn’t start yanking wires. He started asking questions.
What stopped working? When did I notice? Had anything else been acting weird?
Five minutes later, he came back and told me the outlet wasn’t the problem, it was just the symptom.
Half the room was daisy-chained on one overloaded circuit, and that outlet had basically sacrificed itself to keep my house from catching fire.
Suddenly, that $600 invoice didn’t feel like a rip-off. It felt like a bargain.
I didn’t feel upsold, I felt educated. Once I understood the risk, I wasn’t just willing to pay for the fix… I was happy to do it (and leave him a glowing review).
I don’t think most of our clients are actually cheap. I think they’re just very uninformed.
The Squarespace ads on YouTube and the Shopify commercials on TV have convinced them to just wiggle a wire or two, and boom, you’ve got a website.
They don’t understand the risk of skipping discovery, rushing strategy, or jumping straight into design. To them, it’s “just a simple website.”
But when we fire off a proposal before taking the time to dive into the details — their business, their market, their customers, their competitors, their strategy — we’re the ones standing there with the screwdriver poking at a live wire.
I think it starts with a proper discovery process. It’s where we ask the right questions, uncover the real problems, and show clients what’s actually going to help them succeed.
If we want clients to invest more, we’ve got to invest in teaching them what they don’t know.
They don’t have to understand the nuances of flexbox vs. CSS grid, but they do have to understand why jiggling the wires might just burn the whole house down. Othewise, of course they’re going to go with whatever’s cheapest.
