This is a story about a pub in Knaresborough, a web designer who had stopped picking up the phone, and what happened when John Dixon decided enough was enough.
John had been with his previous designer for a while. It was not always bad. But over time, things got worse. Replies started taking longer. Then longer still. By the end, John was sending ten or twelve emails before getting a response, and that process could take weeks. Sometimes months. On top of that, the costs kept going up. He was not getting more for the money. He was just paying more and waiting longer.
If that sounds familiar, you are not alone. It is probably the most common reason people come to me.
What John did next
He searched for a web designer. Found my website. Had a look at the work, read through the reviews, and then just called me. Cold. Out of the blue.
I tried to call him back. It was a weekend, and I could not get through. Pubs are busy at weekends. I tried again on Monday and he picked up.
I was at Carriages the next morning, before they opened for the day. I do not drive, so I got a taxi to Knaresborough, knocked on the door while the team were setting up for service, and John let me in. We sat down with my laptop and had a look at his existing site together. I had already looked at it at home, so I had a rough idea of where things stood.
I told him what I thought. I told him what I could do, how long it would take, and what it would cost. No vague estimates. No “we’ll see how it goes.” A clear number, upfront.
He gave me a shot. I think the directness helped. After months of chasing someone for a reply, sitting across from a person who just told him the price and the plan was a relief.
No surprises before we started
Before I built anything, I put together a style tile. Most clients have not heard of one. It is basically a visual reference document: the colours, the fonts, the buttons, the general feel of the site. You sign off on it before a single page is built. That way, there are no shocks when you see the finished thing.
We had a bit of back and forth on the font. I tried something with a Mediterranean feel first, which I thought might suit a pub with that kind of character. John was not convinced, and he was right. We went with something he was happier with. The style tile is exactly what catches those moments early, before they become a problem.
A week later
The site was live in under a week. John’s review says it better than I can:
“Andrew immediately grasped the brief, and what we were trying to achieve in terms of look, feel, typography, copy and images. It was a refreshing change for us and I wish we had made the change far earlier. Andrew worked tirelessly to get our site up and running and completed the job in less than a week. In addition, he gave us excellent advice on how to run the site, introduced us to his social media associate and generally led me, a complete technophobe, to a superb end result.”
John Dixon, Carriages Knaresborough
He also seemed particularly pleased about the tree. I plant one with the Long Lands Community for every website I build. A small thing, but it meant something to him.
So what do you actually do when a designer goes quiet?
The honest answer is: act sooner than you think you need to. Most people in John’s situation put up with it for longer than they should, partly because switching feels complicated, partly because they hope it will get better. It usually does not.
Here is what the process of switching actually looks like in practice:
You find someone new first. You do not need to end the old relationship before you have a replacement lined up. Get a conversation going. Find out if there is a fit. Once you are confident, you hand over the keys to the new designer and they take it from there.
The things you will need to pass on are your domain name login, your hosting login, and access to whatever platform your site is built on. If your old designer holds any of those and is not cooperating, it can get awkward. But it is usually solvable, and a good designer will know how to handle it.
If you are in that situation and not sure where to start, feel free to get in touch. I am happy to have a conversation before you commit to anything.
The short version
Ten to twelve emails for a reply is not a working relationship. Fixed pricing and a clear brief are not complicated things to ask for. And getting a new site built and live in under a week is not unusual when there is nothing in the way.
If your current designer has gone quiet, you already know what to do.
