Just after lunch on a Friday afternoon, our team was busy finalising a website for a new client. The schedule for launching the site the following week was on target, and one of the many tasks for the afternoon was to complete all forms and thoroughly test. This required access to the client’s domain name to add a couple of DNS settings—a standard procedure.
[Note to the reader: GoDaddy and Cloudflare are mentioned in this story, and they did not do anything wrong.]
In this case, while the domain name was with GoDaddy, the nameservers pointed to Cloudflare, where the DNS was held. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. We had access to the client’s GoDaddy account but not their Cloudflare account. So, I asked the client to request the incumbent agency to either add the DNS settings we sent them or provide us with access to do it ourselves.
This is where the story truly begins...
About 45 minutes later, one of my team members said, “Their website’s down.” I checked, and indeed, it was down. I promptly emailed the client, asking them to speak with the incumbent agency to restore the site. Nothing happened until we got a call from the client: "My emails don’t work, and my website is down. This is a disaster." She was understandably very upset.
In my 30-plus years of business and over 25 years of developing websites, my stock answer to any concerned client is, “Don’t panic!” (It works in *The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy* and in business.) There is always a solution.
I asked the client what the incumbent agency had just done because when we checked the DNS for their domain name, there were none; all the settings had vanished. The client, caught in the middle, asked the incumbent agency, who replied, “Nothing,” and informed the client that they didn’t have a Cloudflare account in the first place.
This was untrue, as we knew the nameservers were pointing to Cloudflare, meaning the DNS was with Cloudflare. Someone had deleted the records or the account, causing the email and website to go down, essentially shutting down the client’s revenue stream—not good, especially on a Friday afternoon.
I asked the client if they or the incumbent agency had the DNS details for the domain name, maybe saved in a notepad file. DNS settings are the building blocks of a business’s communications; without them, your email, website, and anything else connected to your domain name won’t work.
The answer was no, and the other agency (via the client) directed me to another platform unrelated to the domain name DNS settings and sent me a link to the ReadMe documentation. It wasn’t “Oh, let me reverse the mistake I’ve just made.” It was a moment of washing hands of the situation, even though they caused it.
So, the A-Team principles came into effect: “If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the BBI-Team.” We had no DNS settings but knew what the client used as their email service and were finalising their new website, luckily hosted on our robust platform.
The upshot was that after guessing some of the email DNS settings and moving the new site to its live environment ahead of schedule, we updated GoDaddy nameservers and DNS settings (2FA on GoDaddy is very secure). Within an hour or so, emails were flowing, and the new client website was online (ahead of the checklist, which we did post-launch!). Within minutes of going live, orders were being received.
The Morals of This Story (and it is all real)...
- If something changes, then someone or something has changed it. Go back to the source to resolve.
- When selecting an agency, look for one with a solid track record of supporting their clients, especially during tough times, not one that washes its hands of problems.
- Ensure you have access to your online business settings. A domain name may seem low in priority, but without it and the accompanying DNS settings, your business and its communication could become vulnerable.
- In case of emergency, stay calm and don’t panic. Nothing is impossible.
So, if you have an agency that doesn’t react positively to your digital requirements, maybe you should hire the BBI-Team.