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From: Paul H on 12 Jul 2010 10:43
I have been developing in Access for many years and I am now looking
to formalise the support I offer my clients. The problem is that the
phone never stops ringing and my day is broken up so I become less and
less productive. I was thinking of issuing a web based ticketing
system along with voice mail where the clients can report a problem
that I will respond to depending on the type of contact in place: I
was thinking along the lines of this model (I haven't decided on
pricing yet, these are rough figures):

Support Type 4hr response 24hr response minimum invoice
val
No contract £100 per hour £75 per hour £125
Contract £70 per hour £50 per hour £75

People on contract will buy a number of hours at either the 4hr or
24hr rate in advance, if they do not use those hours each month they
do not get a refund. If they need more hours, they pay at the same
contract rate.

These are fairly small bespoke apps, the clients are spending between
£150 and £300 per month with me at the moment for ad hoc support at
£50 per hour.

What do you think of the model? Too simple?

Paul
From: John Spencer on 12 Jul 2010 12:10
Personally, I would not contract with you on the basis of my hours expiring at
the end of the month. I would expect a longer period for the hours remaining
available. At a minimum, I would want the hours to expire at a graduated rate
- perhaps 1 hour a month if no hours are used in the month.

John Spencer
Access MVP 2002-2005, 2007-2010
The Hilltop Institute
University of Maryland Baltimore County

Paul H wrote:
> I have been developing in Access for many years and I am now looking
> to formalise the support I offer my clients. The problem is that the
> phone never stops ringing and my day is broken up so I become less and
> less productive. I was thinking of issuing a web based ticketing
> system along with voice mail where the clients can report a problem
> that I will respond to depending on the type of contact in place: I
> was thinking along the lines of this model (I haven't decided on
> pricing yet, these are rough figures):
>
> Support Type 4hr response 24hr response minimum invoice
> val
> No contract �100 per hour �75 per hour �125
> Contract �70 per hour �50 per hour �75
>
> People on contract will buy a number of hours at either the 4hr or
> 24hr rate in advance, if they do not use those hours each month they
> do not get a refund. If they need more hours, they pay at the same
> contract rate.
>
> These are fairly small bespoke apps, the clients are spending between
> �150 and �300 per month with me at the moment for ad hoc support at
> �50 per hour.
>
> What do you think of the model? Too simple?
>
> Paul
From: Salad on 12 Jul 2010 12:54
John Spencer wrote:
> Personally, I would not contract with you on the basis of my hours
> expiring at the end of the month. I would expect a longer period for
> the hours remaining available. At a minimum, I would want the hours to
> expire at a graduated rate - perhaps 1 hour a month if no hours are used
> in the month.

Or one could apply a rollover hours plan, similar to AT&T rollover minutes.

>
> John Spencer
> Access MVP 2002-2005, 2007-2010
> The Hilltop Institute
> University of Maryland Baltimore County
>
> Paul H wrote:
>
>> I have been developing in Access for many years and I am now looking
>> to formalise the support I offer my clients. The problem is that the
>> phone never stops ringing and my day is broken up so I become less and
>> less productive. I was thinking of issuing a web based ticketing
>> system along with voice mail where the clients can report a problem
>> that I will respond to depending on the type of contact in place: I
>> was thinking along the lines of this model (I haven't decided on
>> pricing yet, these are rough figures):
>>
>> Support Type 4hr response 24hr response minimum invoice
>> val
>> No contract �100 per hour �75 per hour �125
>> Contract �70 per hour �50 per hour �75
>>
>> People on contract will buy a number of hours at either the 4hr or
>> 24hr rate in advance, if they do not use those hours each month they
>> do not get a refund. If they need more hours, they pay at the same
>> contract rate.
>>
>> These are fairly small bespoke apps, the clients are spending between
>> �150 and �300 per month with me at the moment for ad hoc support at
>> �50 per hour.
>>
>> What do you think of the model? Too simple?
>>
>> Paul
From: The Frog on 13 Jul 2010 03:58
Or simply sell a block of hours with a 12 month / 6 month expiry. Buy
20 hours for use in the next twelve months type of thing. If you make
the purchasing too small it becomes the very time waster that you are
seeking to avoid. Having larger blocks available also encourages them
to use your services more frequently (when they have purchased of
course).

The Frog
From: Paul H on 19 Jul 2010 03:10
On 13 July, 08:58, The Frog <mr.frog.to....(a)googlemail.com> wrote:
> Or simply sell a block of hours with a 12 month / 6 month expiry. Buy
> 20 hours for use in the next twelve months type of thing. If you make
> the purchasing too small it becomes the very time waster that you are
> seeking to avoid. Having larger blocks available also encourages them
> to use your services more frequently (when they have purchased of
> course).
>
> The Frog

Thanks for your comments chaps, all helpful.

Paul
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