Q: What's your name and position in the company?
A: I'm Sarah and I pretty much am the company.
Q: Describe your company in 5 words.
A: Websites for wellbeing businesses
Q: What's your business philosophy?
A: Ultimately I got out of the corporate programming world so I could not just design and build things but see a gentuine smile at the end of the process and feel like I made a difference to someone.
Q: Describe your office environment.
A: I work from home with my wife Sharlot, who's a counsellor.
Q: Describe how your team interact and work together.
A: I sometimes bring in help, either by asking friends things in online chat or by hiring a subcontractor if something is outside my areas of expertise. Mostly though it's me and a client working closely together.
Q: What makes you different from other web design companies?
A: Caring for the carers. I want to make a difference to people who make a difference: counsellors, massage therapists, psychologists and other wellbeing practitioners
Q: How do you get the majority of your business?
A: Word of mouth - past clients often tell people about the experience
Q: Describe how you manage projects from the initial client contact to completion and handover.
A: It starts with an interview, either in person or on video chat. This is so I can get to know you, and seeing you is important both for body langunage and lip reading (I'm hard of hearing)
That interview will determine the rest. I like offering clients a "portal" they can log into to see the todo list for their project and add comments, but for some it would just be "yet another web thing" so I just use email and text to keep in touch with them.
While I'm building the site I keep clients in the loop with sketches, ideas, and I ask for feedback: it's important to me that the site is effective but also that it makes you feel happy, like it truly captures something about you.
Q: What do you think is the most crucial element of creating a good client relationship?
A: Communication, for sure. As I'm hard of hearing, I can't do phone calls but I respond to all emails within 24 hours, so I'm reachable and if text isn't your best way to communicate I'm fine with video calls so I can lip read. The main thing is to keep you in the loop, so you always feel in control.
Q: How do you manage demanding clients?
A: "Demanding" can mean a lot of things.
Sometimes I have "demanding" clients who have an amazing vision of what they want, can communicate it and raise the bar for me and my designs. I love rising to that challenge.
Sometimes "demanding" just means I haven't set expectations well enough, so a bunch of extra communication is needed to help them feel like they understand what to expect and that we're on the same page.
Sometimes "demanding" means a client has had trouble explaining themselves, and are getting frustrated. Asking a lot of questions can help to clear this up.
Sometimes "demanding" means someone isn't a good fit, for example if they're after services I don't offer. I'll discuss that and often help them find a better fit.
Very occasionally "demanding" means "disrespectful". For example I've had a client expect all my attention but not give me theirs. After a long time of trying to communicate my way through it, I gave fair warning and eventually let them go.
Q: If a client was trying to decide between a shortlist of web design companies, how would you recommend they go about selecting the right one for them?
A: As long as they seem to have the basic skillset you need, the most important thing is going to be communication. Have a chat and see how you "click" with them. Do they "get" you?
Q: Where do you see your company in 10 years time?
A: Still keeping small and personal. I escaped the corporate world for a reason and beyond a certain comfortable size I don't plan to grow further, at least in terms of size. I'll always keep improving my work though :)
Q: Where do you see the web design industry in the future?
A: Less browser focussed and more accessible. Web sites are appearing in more places like watches, and also becoming more inclusive: subtitles are being provided more often and screen reader technology is being taken into account more when building sites.
Q: What computers do you have use in your offices, PCs or Macs?
A: Mac
Q: How was your company name chosen?
A: I wanted to communicate my values, that it's a care-centric company where seeing someone smile is the biggest bonus for a project. So I chost "Heartfelt". The "tech" part gives an idea of what kind of work I do without boxing me in too much. I mostly do websites but if you need help with other areas I'm there.
Q: If you were to give your clients one tip on how to get the most from their website what would it be?
A: A good website isn't "all about you" and it isn't "set and forget". Make it about the customers you want to attract, and offer information that's useful to them. Also keep updating it, there is always room to improve and more content to add to keep people visiting again and again.
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