Questions and answers
What companies ask on the first call. If your question is missing, write to me; I will answer and add it here.
Access and security
How does access work, and what about passwords?
A separate, named account for me in every system: site admin, hosting, CRM, email. Passwords in a password manager, not in email. Two-factor authentication. You can switch my account off at any time, and at the end I hand back access and an inventory of what is where.
We do not have the passwords to the site or the hosting.
I help recover them: domain registrar, DNS, hosting, site admin, email. It happens more often than you would think. The list and the order are in the article on taking over a site after an agency.
Do you take backups?
Before every change, without exception. With monthly care, backups run automatically off the hosting, and once a quarter I check that the site can actually be restored from them.
Do we have to change hosting?
No. I work on what you have. I suggest a change only when the hosting is the cause of the problems, and I show the measurement or the log that says why.
What about data security and GDPR?
A confidentiality agreement on request, access only to what is needed, a data processing agreement where I process personal data. Customer data stays in your systems. I do not copy it to my side beyond what a specific job requires, and I delete it afterwards.
Working together and billing
How much does it cost?
Quoted after a call, depending on scope. A single job with a price up front, a block of hours, monthly care with a pool of hours, or an integration at a fixed price. I bill time worked in half-hour increments, with a VAT invoice.
What is the response time?
I reply to a new enquiry within one business day. With monthly care the response time is in the contract: outages the same day, routine changes within a few business days.
Do you work remotely?
Yes, fully remote. On-site meetings for larger projects, by arrangement.
We still have an agency or an implementation partner.
I can work alongside them: they take the big projects, I take the day-to-day and the integrations between systems. We split the scope in writing so nobody overwrites anyone else’s work.
What happens when we stop working together?
I hand back access and leave the documentation and the inventory of systems. The domain, hosting and licences were in your name all along. The next person does not start from zero.
CRM and systems
Salesforce or another CRM?
Salesforce is what I know best, and for companies that sell as a team and want to connect the CRM to the website, email and invoicing, I recommend it for the long run. For a very small business a simpler system or a tidy spreadsheet is often enough, and I will tell you so. More in the article.
We have a CRM but nobody uses it.
Usually because it demands more clicking than it gives back. I simplify: fewer required fields, email and forms arriving on their own, one report somebody actually looks at.
How much does connecting the website to the CRM cost?
A fixed price after a short analysis. A simple form connection is a few hours of work; a two-way exchange of orders and invoices is a project of a few days. Every integration gets an alert for when nothing has arrived for a few days.
Do you do AI as well?
Yes, on separate sites: AI implementation in one specific place in your business, and AI training for teams. With Salesforce I start with a free permissions audit.
Your developer has vanished and the list of changes keeps growing? Tell me what needs doing.
I reply within one business day. The first call is free of obligation.