Someone asked me at the pub recently what makes a client hard to work with. The answer came out before the question had finished: when there’s a picture in your head and you don’t share it.
We’re good at what we do, but we can’t read minds. We’re not listening in on your team meetings, and we’re definitely not stepping into your dreams. If it’s in your head and not in our inbox, we don’t know it’s there.
So here’s the short version. Tell us what you’re picturing, tell us when anything changes, get us your content and decisions on time through one person, and read what we send you. Do that, and you’ll get the best of us. And here’s what we commit to in return.
1. Tell us what’s in your head
The picture you’re carrying is the most useful thing you can give us. What you love, what you can’t stand, the website you secretly wish was yours, the thing your members always ask about.
That’s what our onboarding questionnaire is for. It asks a lot, so take your time with it, and if something matters to you, put it in, even if it feels small. There’s no such thing as too much detail at this stage.
2. Be ready to kill your darlings
Here’s the other half. Sometimes the picture in your head isn’t the one that gets you where you want to go.
If it won’t meet the goals you’ve set, we’ll tell you, and we’ll explain why. Then you might have to kill your darling. Sorry! It’s for a good reason: your website has a job to do, and our job is to make sure it does it. (If you’d like to see how we handle a decision like that, here’s what happens when plans change.)
3. Remembered something? Tell us now
We all forget things, even things we thought were important. If something comes back to you halfway through, tell us the moment you remember. The earlier we know, the easier it is to fit in.
And if it’s the one thing you care about most in your whole website, it’s worth a second look at your questionnaire before we start, to make sure it’s in there.
4. Tell us when anything changes
Your organisation doesn’t stand still while we build. Launch dates move, ownership changes, products come and go, and sometimes something becomes essential because it’s now how you run things.
Please tell us when it happens, not the week before launch. If we know, we can plan for it. If it’s a surprise, it costs everyone time and money.
5. Get your content and decisions to us on time
Every project has a timeline, and it runs on two things: our work, and what we need from you. Photos, logins, information, feedback, sign-offs.
We plan our work around yours, so when we’re waiting on something, your project waits too. Your agreement sets out what happens if a project goes quiet, and our regular roundups always tell you what we’re waiting on and by when, so a clock is never a surprise.
6. One person, one decision
Choose one person to be our contact, and give them the authority to make decisions. They gather everyone’s views, settle any differences, and send us one clear answer.
It keeps your project moving, and it means we’re never caught between two people who want different things. Here’s more on how to give feedback as a team.
7. Read what we send, and watch the videos
A website is a big project, and you’re investing real money in it. So we put a lot into keeping you in the loop: roundups that tell you where things are, what’s next and what we need from you, and videos that show you how everything works.
Some of them are long, because your project has a lot going on. Please set aside time to read and watch them. They’re how you’ll know what’s happening, what’s coming up, and what we’re waiting on to keep things moving. If something doesn’t make sense, ask us, and we’ll explain it another way.
What we commit to in return
This works both ways. You can expect us to:
- Ask the right questions, and lots of them, so the important things come out early
- Give you a written scope, so you know exactly what’s included
- Send you regular roundups, so you always know where your project is and what’s next
- Show you how everything works, with videos you can come back to whenever you need them
- Tell you straight when something won’t meet your goals, with the reasons, and suggest another way
- Tell you early if something is outside your scope, with the cost, before any work starts
Ready to work this way?
If this sounds like the kind of working relationship you’re after, have a look at our process, our Turn Key and Full Tilt websites, or talk to us about your project. Organisations, here’s how we work with boards and committees.
