replacing ZClasses for customer (was Re: [Zope] Zope 2.7 Problem w/Value Error: unpack list of wrong size)

Paul Howell paul at smoothstone.com
Thu Mar 25 07:30:21 EST 2004


At 11:25 AM 3/25/2004 +0100, Milos Prudek wrote:
>I don't think that anyone uses ZClasses for new jobs. Old sites 
>unfortunately use them. Rewrite them to products may be expensive 
>time-wise. How can I charge my clients for a rewrite that brings no new 
>funtions? That's not a rhetorical question. Please tell me and I start 
>removing ZClasses from an old project and charging my customer for it.

Basic upselling, Milos.  What follows are silly versions, but wrapping new 
functionality around upgrades is a time honored approach to 
consulting/services.

Upselling 101.
    "You've always wanted to be able to have Feature X with your website, 
and now for only 1800 silveros more, we can solve this problem and offer 
you Features V, W, and X as a package.  Not only that, this upgrade will 
set you on the path toward adding Features Y and Z in a cost-effective 
manner, features you've only dreamed about before this.  This is truly a 
step toward your fuller vision of the potential of this project."

Upselling 102: Good News, Bad News approach.
    "Well, the problem here is in the plumbing.  As time goes on and 
upgrades to other parts of the plumbing have taken place for security and 
performance issues, these older parts of the website are less well 
connected, less maintainable, less compatible with the rest of the 
plumbing.  We're going to have to replace them with shiny new Python code 
if we're going to build toward your future in an appropriate 
fashion.  That's the bad news, and it will cost 2000 silveros and take us 
about 3 weeks for full implementation, testing, etc.
     The good news is that with this upgrade complete, this also provides 
us with many new piping, new capabilities that will allow us to add some of 
the functionality you've been considering at a discount.  We propose adding 
Features W, V and X at the same time, for only 500 silveros more.
    What?  How can we do that so cheaply?  Because, adding those Features 
while we're in there working on the plumbing allows us to save programming 
time.  In fact we can add Feature Y now for just 750 silveros more, and 
that will allow us to add Feature Z too, whenever you're ready."

Good luck.
=Paul




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