Feature Request: Allow Partners to become a 'middle man'

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1

I know this topic has come up before, and there is a divided opinion about this.

The current structure to the Partner Program is that we come alongside the client and design their sites, whilst they are directly involved with Wix.

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A lot of the clients that I work with need a website, but don’t understand anything when it comes to domains, code, hosting etc.

They often ask me to take on the management of the technical side of the site, this includes dealing with the billing, hosting and code of the site. They don’t want anything to do with it.

This often causes a disjointed feel as I don’t want my agencies bank details accessible to the client in a way that they might accidentally (or deliberately) upgrade the subscription or change the domain details. This would take my time away from dealing with other clients.

I am aware that there are roles such as billing manager and domain manager, but this doesn’t solve the problem of the client accidentally changing the technical side of the site. This often means that in the contract between us, they sign to say that they technically Own the site, but I have the role of owner and they are added with access to everything apart from subscriptions and domains turned off. (There are clauses that if they wish to move away they are free to do so, and everything is transferred as quickly and efficiently as possible)

My proposed structure
I would love to be able to allow partners to become a ‘middle man’ between Wix and their clients.

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I imagine a structure where when a partner starts creating a site, they are faced with 2 options:
The traditional structure (top image)
The ‘middle man’ structure (bottom image)

After choosing out of these 2, they are faced with the option of choosing Editor X vs Wix editor.

This way, if a partner chooses the ‘middle man’ structure, then the clients site is created where they appear as the ‘Owner’ of the site, and the Partner can handle the domain and hosting, without it ever appearing in the Clients dashboard.

If you have any questions about this, I would love to discuss it, as I think this will help Partners who deal with clients who don’t understand websites.

2

This is currently available by creating the structure that the site remains in your account. You can give the client billing permissions, which they attach their credit card to their site. You purchase the required services, and furthermore can bill your client from your partner dashboard for services monthly and ad-hoc.

Totally doable already. :slight_smile:

3

So, just a few things.

I create the site in my partner dashboard.
I then design and create the site.
I then add them via the site with billing permissions. (Does this not mean that they then can access the different hosting plans etc?)
I then purchase what they need with their card?
And then bill them from the partner dashboard?

I was hoping that I could take on the payments and then just bill them directly. This way I could incorporate the admin fee in one.

4

This is how we set up most of our clients. The roles and permissions has so many options now and the great thing with icon status let’s you brand the dashboard with your own brand.

5

@shane Hey Shane :wave:

Would you be able to share in a little bit more detail about how you have it set up. t read what Brett has written but am a little bit confused as how to achieve that.

I’m trying to set myself in a position where I handle the domain, coding and the hosting of the site for my client, without them really having much to do anything with it. My clients are often people who don’t understand things about websites but need a website, mainly charities etc. (I don’t really want them to be able to see the billing history as I handle all the information, I invoice them for the cost and bundle the admin fee in with it)

I’m not quite at a stage where I have my brand on the dashboard, but hoping to get there one day.

Thanks in advance :facepunch:

6

@noahlovell I attach my company’s card and purchase the Wix plan, and markup the client for web management through an invoice management software (we use Wave Apps) that connects with our bank account.

Our company would remain the role as site “Owner”, and give whatever necessary access the clients needs depending on their internal team needs. Some clients may want blog access to write blogs, some editor access to edit web content, etc.

Hope that helps!

7

@rhen That’s perfect! That’s the method that I am using at the moment and it seems to work, but does feel a little clunky at times.

Most of my clients don’t understand technology, so often prefer it this way.

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Hi @noahlovell , I can actually help you here. It would be easier for me to guide you through this. Do you want to jump on a quick voice call or even Zoom? Shoot me a dm if so.

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@mattcici Hey Matt, :wave:

Would love to hear a little bit more.

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@brett All of that setup is perfect until it comes time for the client to be paid by their customers. ie someone buys a product or books a service. Maybe I’m not seeing something (please enlighten me if so!). But as the site owner we would have to set up the payments account under our name/info, and then be a pass-thru for the revenue. Is that correct, only the site owner can set up payment accounts?

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 This is how I handle this and have always handled this since having two nightmare clients. I got burned by 2 clients that were awful, awful experiences. (Side note the worst experience is transferring a website to the client and leaving you the co-owner especially if it's a client who understands NOTHING about computers.) So the way around this I have discovered is in my contract I state you are the website owner, however the client provides a down payment and I begin designing. Once the basic design is done and I start doing back end connections like business info, google setup, etc, I meet with the client (in-person, zoom, Google Meet, Phone call, etc.) and they provide a credit card and we buy a WiX Plan and a domain (if one isn't already owned). While I'm the owner, all Credit Card info for the plan is under their CC. If the company is taking online payments, we set that up as well. All money then regarding the website hosting is not managed by me at all. Sure I can see earnings and such, and also it's helpful when they want added features (ascend, etc) that need a subscription. I simply tell them what it costs extra, and purchase it with their CC on file for them. I'm still managing the hosting but it's not on my business account. Now I don't have to worry about when it's time for renewals and collecting payments. 
 Now I understand some partners are making a profit off this by up-charging when it comes to hosting because they have to deal with the money. For me, it's more headache than it's worth to manage all of that. I clearly state in my quote the price for hosting (with possible discounts the first year) and what payment goes to me, the designer.
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@daniel3614 Awesome glad to hear how it’s working for you. Since writing this post, Wix have put a new feature into Beta to help with partners adding their markup to the hosting plans.

Head to Partner dashboard> Client Billing> Recurring Invoices> New Recurring Invoice> Your services and a Premium plan