Best way to pitch for a contact.

Hi,

We have recently come across a pretty large local companies website that has a few massive gaping holes in the system. Things like parsing database query's in the URL on lots of different occasions. It would be possible to delete the entire database just with a few variable changes on a few different urls.

Needless to say we haven't done such a thing, but we feel this site needs fixing.

What would be the best way to pitch for this contact? I don't want the first contact we make with the company sound like a threat. More a suggestion, but wording that we could take their entire site down in a few minutes isn't going to be an easy thing to portray to a non-techy person.

Write a proposal and email it over? Call them and try and make it sound like a suggestion and not a thread? Take their site down and make it forward to our company site? (that isn't a serious suggestion btw :lol: )

Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jon

I wouldn't email them about something like that.

Phone up and ask to talk to the person in charge of the website and see what they say. You want to be talking to the most tech savvy person there else it could be like banging your head off a wall. Try to arrange a meeting with them.

Then just say "have you ever thought about updating your site?" Explain you had a look at their site and you noticed some outdated and potentially unsafe techniques on it.

A lot of companies we do work for don't really care about their website so don't expect them to panic and hire you straight away.

Originally Posted by jon Needless to say we haven't done such a thing, but we feel this site needs fixing.

Just because you 'think' the site needs fixing, doesn't mean they do. I would do some more research about the company and who runs the site. If it's a large company, chances are they have an in-house site administrator.

When I first started designing sites, I looked at a bunch of local sites thinking, "wow, these sites are crappy, I know I can do a better job." But, companies will not spend money on something that isn't broken. It takes a lot to convince a company that their site is broken and even more work to convince them to hire you as opposed to who they know.

Good luck.

What kind of business are they into? If they have a retail location it'd be best, I think to have a chat with them first about their website and then later on reveal to them you're a web designer and are willing to do an amazing job for them.

as chaka42 said be wary about contacting the company its self with out a bit of reserach. Its very hard to convince a claint that paid xx,xxx for a website five years ago to payout again when they are still getting visitors.
Reaserch them and then when you feel confidant go to them and talk business. Why do they need the site to be updated. you should talk about cost's being lower because of less data being used, better SEO etc.

Just think about it in other trades. You would want to pay for a new bolier if the old one was doing it's job, if the plumber was a really good sales man he would try and convince you that you would save more money per year this way because this boiler uses less gas etc.

Take a little of chaka's and Ryans advice, and mix it with some of mine

Be very careful in your approach. I personally would consider letting them know there are some quite major security flaws in their site, and would they like to meet to discuss it.

If they want examples of the flaws don't give explicit details of them (or they will probably get their in-house team onto resolving it and bypass you), just give them very broad explanations (if at all). Tell them you are not there to make any deal, but only to let them know of their security flaws. Let them know you provide secure solutions and can help them out. If they want to talk business then tell them they can have a think about things and leave them your contact details to contact you if they require your services. let them know you can fit them in at any time (or specific time if you are fully booked), thank them, and walk out. Don't give them the hard sell.

3 days later send them a "thank you for the meeting" note, and maybe even a small personal gift (nice pen, gift basket etc). Do not hard sell them at all here. This is where you are building customer relations. Every time that person sees/uses the gift they will think of you and your security solutions. If male go for a nice pen or desktop gadget, female go for flowers or feminine decoration. This personal gift and handwritten note will get you further than any amount of talking. They realise you have given them a gift for nothing, so your advice must be sincere etc. If you do not get a contract this time you might have spent $10 on a future relationship with this company and it's network of clients/partners. That's called an investment.

If there is no reply, or meeting arranged, then contact them again within 3 days (6 days from first meeting). Let them know you were thinking of them, and were hoping they were closer to a solution. Wish them all the best and leave it at that.

If there is no contact from them, keep sending them a note, or email every week asking them how things are going etc. Be politely persistent, don't stop trying until they actually say "no".

Good luck.

Any word on how you are going with this jon?