If you’ve heard of The WOM, or spent 2 minutes on the website, then you’ve probably had the “why didn’t I think of that?” moment.
The concept itself is really simple.
Clearly explain the maintenance and upkeep of a WordPress website, helping the client to realize (on their own) that they don’t have the time or technical expertise to handle it themselves.
With your care plan taking care of all the hosting, maintenance, backups, security, etc. (or whatever you include in your plan) it becomes the obvious solution to a problem they now find themselves with.
Website Care plans were traditionally a hard-sell.
We’ve all had this experience. We’ve mentioned the idea of a care plan to our clients, and heard a “we’ll think about it” or a maybe even a “no thank you”. I clearly remember feeling like a sales associate at Best Buy trying to push the “extended warranty” – and the truth was, I didn’t give them a very good reason to say yes.
A care plan is absolutely a great idea for both you and your client. The problem is, they don’t see the value, because they don’t understand it.
Without a comprehensive understanding of the pitfalls of open-source software and WordPress, it can be hard for a business owner to understand why proper care of a WordPress site is necessary in the first place. Not to mention the relentless Wix ads on how easy it is to have your own website. The only way to sell technology services to technologically-impared people is to educate people first.
The Website Owners Manual educates in a non-threatening way.
The WOM itself is a simple, brandable pdf document that you deliver to your clients simply outlining all the new responsibilities that are required to keep their website safe and online.
It covers important details about their website (like where it’s hosted, where the domain is registered, how to login, etc.) a required maintenance schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, and annual tasks) as well as an FAQ section that will preemptively help them troubleshoot common WordPress frustrations (like caching or plugin conflicts).
This reframes the entire conversation about signing up for a care plan.
When your client has a better understanding of the requirements of keeping a WordPress site alive, they are more likely to want a solution.
They may still decide they can handle it themselves—and that’s okay, because they were never going to be care plan customers in the first place. And I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to sell anyone on anything they don’t want to buy. At the very least, you’ve proven to be a proactive partner in helping them succeed.
However, for most clients, one quick glance at the time commitment and skills they will have to gain in order to handle all this themselves is enough for them to immediately see the value in your care plan.
It’s at this point when you have buy-in— which is key to onboarding a willing participant (not a reluctant one).
Should you build your own Website Owners Manual and save a few bucks?
At this point, you might be thinking to yourself “I could do that myself, why do I need to buy anything?”. That’s a great question, and yes, you totally could create something like this yourself. Or perhaps you even have something already!
There’s a few reasons why we recommend The Website Owner’s manual and tweaking it to suit your needs:
Time.
Sure, you can create all of this on your own, but it’s going to take you at least a couple hours to come up with all the details, format everything, and create a system for cranking these out easily for each one of your clients. Out of the box, The WOM already has all of this in place. What is your time worth?
Ready-made scripts.
Not only does The WOM have the pdf ready to go, it comes with several email scripts that help you deliver it to your clients in different scenarios (eg. when a client refuses a care plan, cancels your care plan, or you never offered them one in the first place!).
Effectiveness.
What’s really awesome about The WOM (and perhaps why it’s been so successful) is that there are subtle nuances to how specific things are worded (in both the pdf and the email scripts) that frame the entire conversation perfectly. In fact, the creators (Matt Sebert and Kyle Van Deusen) spent over 6 months testing and experimenting with the language to dial it in perfectly.
Why we love The Website Owners Manual
While we’re not on the front-lines with agency work now, it’s not hard to remember what the roller-coaster of living project to project felt like. Recurring revenue is the key to an agency model that is stable and sustainable.
The WOM is such a simple way to improve conversion rates and get client buy-in—and by sending it you’re adding value to your clients.
The Website Owner’s Manual claims to be “the most effective way to turn project clients into recurring revenue”— and we agree.
Check out The WOM here and use the coupon code: SureFeedback for a 30% discount on us!
Note: we do NOT use any affiliate links nor do we make any commission on this product. We wholeheartedly recommend the Website Owners Manual and do not make any money from its sales.
