Strategy and marketing
We all have the same problem
A call to action! If you are a web design agency and feel you want to change the way clients go about commissioning a website - we’d like to meet you.
My brief foray into the web design business has resulted in this conclusion, and the nature of ‘the problem’ will manifest itself later in this article! Lets first have have a bit of background.
I have been involved in quite a few industries over the years from retail opticians to regeneration consultancy. I maintain that all businesses are 90% the same, the 10% being differences peculiar to that field of endeavour. The web design business is no different and I plan to discuss this further in a future article.
The web industry is relatively new but has parallels with many others where there is intercourse (steady now) between creatives, engineers and clients.
So what is a similar business?
Creating a building is the one that immediately springs to mind.
Often the client is drawn to the architect due to their reputation and/or love of their designs. They then have to find a builder to make sense of the design and create something physical.
As the job becomes more complicated other disciplines are introduced. Quantity surveyors, structural engineers M&E consultants, the list goes on. So in many ways this is very similar to our business, but there are some very distinct differences.
In the business of the ‘built environment’, process is controlled by professional associations. In the case of Architects, RIBA not only provide a framework for the ‘design process’, but also specify fees that are usually based on a percentage of the final build cost. They also give potential ‘domestic’ clients advice on how to appoint an architect and prepare a brief.
Inevitably, from the outset, the architect knows the budget of the project before they begin to design and the builder provides a firm cost based on a very detailed and specific brief. Any changes to the original specification is costed and charged as a variation to the original contract.
The budget problem
In our profession, clients approach us in a multitude of ways, many with a poor specification and without a budget. During the design and build process, some expect the cost remain the same, whilst the project spirals over budgeted time due to unclear and changing business goals for the site.
We often get ‘If we tell you the budget, you will work to it’. Or the classic: ‘We don’t really have a budget’.
h3. Buying a car
Man (M1) goes in to a car showroom. The salesperson (S) asks, “How can I help?”:
M1: I want to buy a car please. S: Do you have a budget? M1: Yes, but I am not going to tell you!
S: OK, what sort of car do you want? M1: One I can go to the shops in
You can see where this is going.
Man (M2) goes in to a car showroom. The salesperson (S) asks, “How can I help?”
M2: I want to buy a car please S: Do you have a budget?
M2: Yes, the maximum I want to spend is £25,000 S: Good… Let me show you some alternatives
The salesman can give a series of alternatives to satisfy M2’s requirements. Big car with few ‘extras’, small car pimped to the max, or somewhere in between.
In the event of the less knowledgeable client, the responsible firm will attempt to educate before they even get involved in producing a proposal, resulting in many hours of work that we don’t have a hope in hell of being paid for.
In addition, we are often asked asked to attend meetings, prepare extensive proposals and detailed project plans for the builds that, we all know, will never take place exactly as envisaged. No other profession would do this.
This of course is not really the fault of the client. Unlike the built environment example above, they often have little idea how much a website should cost or how to commission one. In fact some of our clients, who have commissioned a number of previous sites, are more confused than commissioning virgins.
A process
Erskine has managed to create a process now that prevents us from falling into many of these bear-traps. This consists of a combination of being firm with clients from the outset, providing them with a very simple way to understand what they need (as opposed to what they think they want), using agile methodologies during the design/build and finally not going for jobs where they don’t reveal the budget.
What are we going to do about it?
Last week, I was speaking with Mark Boulton at the Future of Web Design conference in London. We were talking about this very issue, coming to the conclusion that we need to meet up to discuss how we can work together to create a way of solving the issue. I then think “Hang on, there are loads of firms out there that face these issues: we all have the same problem”.
Erskine therefore plan to host a get together where we can discuss these challenges (and more) in a safe, informal environment.
So, a call to action. If you are a web design agency and feel you want to change the way clients go about commissioning a website just contact me and we will stick you on the list. Once we have a date, we will publish on the Erskine Socials site. Of course if you have any comments please spew your thoughts out below.
Published: by Erskine Design
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29 Comments
Thank you ~ you’ve really set me to thinking…
will there be a free bar?
Another great post and for me you have hit the nail directly on the head with this! I for one would love to be able to have my clients understand more about this and understand the concepts behind your thoughts. Please put me down on your list please.
Very interesting.
Last year I went along to a one day workshop put on my the DBA (Design Business Association). It was called 'Beating the Big Guys’ http://www.dba.org.uk/events/BeatingBigGuys.asp
I was getting frustrated that my studio was working like crazy but we were not really making much money. I felt I needed some help and advice.
The event was fantastic and really opened my eyes to what we should be doing in the future.
What was even more important was seeking the help. Sometimes you need to step back and find out what other people are doing, and see if you can learn from them. Never be afraid to do that, which is why the meet-up suggestion is such a great idea.
I’d argue that this isn’t entirely true. Many individuals who are knowledgeable when it comes to business management feel that a website’s (design and/or development) value depends more on the user base, not the underlying architecture – not entirely my view, but picking up a copy of HBR will attest to this.
This is backed up further by the media, who throw user-base statistics and VC valuations at us on a regular basis (Facebook & Twitter anyone?). This only leads to agency frustration when clients ask: “Can you make a Facebook/Xing clone for £500?”. Example: “Digg.com created for only $200.00”, for more information.
Comparing the web to architecture isn’t ideal for one reason: buildings are tangible. It doesn’t take a builder, architect or structural engineer to figure out that The Gherkin cost hundreds of millions of pounds to build. This isn’t quite the case with web design; you could state the case for the marketing industry here but it’s advantage is that it’s much more established.
An easy way out would be for agencies to publicly state their costs on their many “case study” and “previous works” pages. Not an ideal solution, but would remove client knowledge as a problem and help them understand possible valuations, but open first-mover advantage, price wars and snobbery as new ones.
I’m by no means an expert when it comes to the web industry but feel that stating client knowledge as a main problem for website valuation is not the fault of the clients but is something the industry (with the media) need to fix. Hopefully your 'get together’ will elaborate further on the problem are cover ways to break-down these barriers.
P.S. If they WANTED to Google it: http://www.howmuchdoesawebsitecost.com/ It’s a bit of cookie-cutter solution, but is a start I guess.
Well, we do seem to have some great feedback already. I am not going to comment at this stage as I want to promote a free thinking debate.
Please continue to comment. And yes Mr Mossiah, there will be a free bar :-)
Simonski
@Kushal
I think, but I can’t be sure, that you have argued that it is true.
@Glen
Short Answer: The general public don’t seem to understand realistic budgets for building a website, they do however seem to have a misguided figure in their minds, which is why this post exists.
Long Answer: I meant in respect to the built environment comment made earlier, due to tangible vs. intangible goods. Comparing the two is silly (sorry, don’t mean to offend you Simon) when many people clearly don’t see the investment potential of a website when, of late, some(?) agencies are charging the same as what you would expect to pay for a house/flat deposit. Is this seen as common knowledge? Arguing that clients don’t know how much a website costs isn’t true. They only seem to understand how much a specific type of website costs i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Digg due to the exposure they get.
Humbling Moment: Yup, you’re right in saying I agreed with it not being the fault of the client.
Client disclosure in regards to the total amount of information to be housed, accessed and displayed has more to do with the costing of a site than anything else, including (arguably) any end user or “user base”.
If we feel that our potential clients “have no idea how much a website should cost or how to commission one” then I think we underestimate their role and abilities as designers/developers of their 'stuff’. They know their product, they know they want a showroom for it and they know that we can build it for them. That’s where the building analogy is perfect, in almost every way.
To explain to potential clients how to gain an appreciation of web site development I think it works very well. They generally come around fairly quickly to the notion that there are stages in the development of a site, and that each of these has an associated cost.
Likewise, the more thought they put into how they want a site/home/showroom to function can save them quite some time and money, and again, the uninformed client can be best served by the building analogy.
Sites are made up of pages and a site is like a home. Pages are like rooms, functions on pages are furniture within the room, perform different tasks and can be the same in every room, or moved around to suit the needs of the occupants, some rooms receive a lot of use and their furniture is used all the time, some don’t but are necessary (think of the humble WC), some elements are never or rarely seen (PHP/electricity cables) but if you didn’t have them you couldn’t plug your TV in, etc., etc..
That changing some functions can be achieved easily by minute changes (css) and likened to a new coat of paint or feature rug and cost relative little, as opposed to a major redesign that involves hours of work to the 'building’ itself (html/tabular data/Flash site) that are more time consuming and are likened to getting a building team in to tear out walls, put in a new bathroom etc..
I think it is a great model, and with respect Kushal, quite tangible. it is one that has nothing to do with the “user base” – the two issues are separate. Most people looking at web site development via the House Model (as opposed to Architecture) know that The Gherkin is an exception, and not the rule.
Content is King – but the structure on which the King sits is not entirely dependent on the Content. What matters most when quoting a cost to build a home for the King is just how many rooms are going to be needed to comfortably house it.
@kuzushisan
This is not my opinion, but one which I used as an example: The HBR reference.
Yes, like a home. Are most people inclined to see the value of website comparable to that of a house though?
I’d say they understand how to commission one, as the line is slowly beginning to blur between marketing agencies and web design agencies. However cost is the main issue here. You state an ideal, which if was the case throughout, this debate wouldn’t be going on. Understanding a budget for a website is where prospective clients are failing and this needs to be solved.
Surely a better analogy would be to compare websites to shop fronts? You are selling your identity/brand/image/products/services over the internet. You have fixed costs: development/design and then you have variable short/long-term costs involved as well: web hosting, support etc.
You could make the point for adding additional pages being similar to making a house extension, but this isn’t quite the same for a website. Making that addition changes the shop-front experience more than anything else.
Of course, I could be very wrong and am ready to have my arse handed to me.
Agreed! Showrooms/Homes/Shopfronts – same bird, just different feathers (O: I think we are in general agreement.
An ideal? Not so sure it’s an ideal – my experience, limited though it may be, is that this analogy gives clients a very quick understanding of the method of construction.
Perhaps the error in understanding lies with 'us’, not the client, as I think is the gist of this article and your earlier statement/comment.
I believe there are many professions that quote free of charge, and may even include a site visit or two to secure work, knowing full well that they may in fact be passed up for another 'builder’.
I really do think that the onus is on 'us’ to be very clear with clients that 100% total disclosure is the only method by which they will receive a costing from us, and this gives us an idea of the 'scope’ of the request. Our professionalism comes into play here, and we are able to respond appropriately with a decent quote.
If this doesn’t happen, surely the alarm bells would be pealing, “Do you really want this particular client?”. I know it does with me…
(Off Topic) – Perhaps you could coordinate the Derriere Exchange with the Entertainment Officer of the Erskine Design get-together (O: Give me plenty of warning though, it’s a long way from Tasmania to the UK, and I wouldn’t want to miss that spectacular!
Nice article
Having faced this problems and improving my way to deal with this issues with the time, I’ll be glad to hear more from various experiences.
Please stick me in the list ;-)
It’s good to hear I’m not alone. I’ve recently gone solo after working as Webmaster/Sr. Designer for a large university for several years. The first thing people often ask is how much will it cost, or what is my hourly rate. But I like to prepare a project price, based on the needs and requirements of the site.
To help people get into the planning mindset, I first have them read my a series of blog entries I wrote while still at the university that I’ll soon update as an e-book. This helps them think about their goals, target audience and content outline so that when we first meet we define the true scope of the project. From that I can come up with a more accurate proposal.
But knowing their budget would be a tremendous help. Clients are concerned that we will “work to the budget” but I think that’s exactly what we should do. My goal isn’t to pad the costs of the project with bells and whistles if I learn they have plenty of money. It’s more the opposite, I want to make sure I come up with a plan they can afford.
If they have $5K and I give them a $10K proposal they’ll walk away because I’m too expensive. But if I know from the start that they have $5K I can work that into the original proposal. When we discuss their needs and wants I can can explain that we can do X, Y and Z within their budget, but features Q & R would cost more.
None of us can give them a Rolls Royce for the cost of a VW. But if we know their budget and core requirements we can determine whether a Jetta or a Passat will be most appropriate to their needs.
It is both reassuring and distressing to think that a larger agency like Erskine suffers from the same problems as my small web design partnership! I am definitely interested in discussing ways to help prepare and educate potential clients for what to expect of web design costs. Thanks for raising this issue and opening it up to a wider group for debate.
I like the idea Kushal P mentioned of putting prices alongside case studies on our sites, but there’s a few reasons why we don’t do this: – clients might not approve because they don’t want to disclose to the world how much they spent on their website. – in retrospect we realise we’ve underquoted. So if someone asks how much a site was I can tell them it cost more than the client actually paid, but I wouldn’t be so comfortable publishing this on my site (given my point above about getting client’s approval). – we often do work for public organisations or charities and tend to charge a slightly lower rate (a point that could raise a whole separate debate, I’m sure).
I still think some indication of costs is something we should all think about doing. Clearleft used to have this on their website but I can’t find it now, which is a shame (apparently they got some flak about including this, which I can’t understand – their prices are HIGH-end so I’d say they’re doing a favour to us smaller fish!).
Other points to consider (I realise I’m going on here, but just want to get these down so we can discuss later):
Use your client questionnaire/worksheet/project sheet as a place to indicate costs – instead of asking “What is your budget?” ask “Is your budget within price range a, b or c?”
The reason RIBA have a document outlining the process is because there is a qualification required to become a (chartered) architect – there are no qualifications for becoming a web designer/developer: partly because ultimately there is no one way to build website (and I think we want to keep it that way!).
Still, it would be good if we could band together to create something (UK specific?) that does what the “How much does a web site cost?” site that Kushal links to does. We could all link to it from our sites to help improve its ranking.
It all seems to point in someway towards having some kind of trusted network or association in place to try to raise awareness, but these are so problematic. For example there is the Guild of Accessible Web Designers and I’ve seen some really bad coders associated with them!
This is all good.
@Emily, I do remember the Clearleft section on budgets and I have to say it was a great thing to see.
We incorporate in our downloadable project sheet and extended contact form a budget range that does help as it shows at least the minimum. Of course budget it just one part of the commissioning process and we are still thinking about all this.
With respect to the way we design and build websites, I know many architects would vociferously argue they they use very different processes to design a building. RIBA provide a defined framework that’s all.
In addition to the comments above, I have had a good number of people asking to come along to our little 'soirée’. So, we are now in the process of arranging a date and are thinking about ways we can include our international contributors. @Glenswinfield is feverishly investigating methods (naturally using ExpressionEngine plugins), to deliver beer and pizza to them ;-)
We will be in touch with you all shortly. Keep the comments coming…
x
Simonski
@simonski that is great to see you include price ranges and since reading and contributing to this discusssion I have added them to my Client Worksheet as well.
But you are absolutely right that budget is just one part of the commissioning process! It is too easy get hung up on that particular issue, but another very important part I think we need to raise awareness about is timing!
In my experience clients do not have realistic expectations of the lifespan of a web design and development project. I’ve been shocked to received invitations to tender for large scale web projects with a completely unachieveable deadline and as much as I try to educate that this is not enough time, there always seems to be some cowboys out there saying they can do it. Or does everyone say they can do it in that time just to get the contract and then tells the client the truth?!
Another addition to our client worksheets then, as part of the “Do you have a deadline/launch date in mind”, should be a selection of dates depending on size of project, or at least a note to indicate 'Your deadline can not be within 3/6/etc months of the date on which you complete this form’!
There are two area’s that I feel you have all missed so far in this discussion…
Firstly, there seems to be this notion among so many that anything relating to the web should be cheap! Free this and free that is all over the web across multiple industries and therefore web designers get caught up in this too. How many web sites have you seen where you can get a site for less than £500 or worst still, free! From the client’s perspective it is then hard for them to understand why they should pay more for our professional services…
...and this leads into the other area about the web which we as professional designers have to contend with. It is too easy to 'build’ a web site – note I use the word build, not design. Anyone can do it, that’s not to say that anyone can 'design’ a web site and you only have to trawl the Internet to see how much has been poorly designed and developed.
Designing a building is not easy, that’s why you would approach a professional architect and expect to pay for their services. Printing a glossy magazine is not easy, that’s why you approach a print house and pay for their professional services. However, building sites is easy, too easy, but some would say that’s what makes the Internet so popular.
The big question I feel is how do we educate our audience?
...or is it already too late?
More good stuff.
There is no doubt that in the UK, design in general is undervalued. I do think though there are signs of recovery. The success of the iPhone/MAC et al has proved that great product design, coupled with all the other goodies, can make money – loys of it.
It’s not too late to educate. The industry is still very immature and we have plenty of time. I think that print graphics went through the same scenario with Desk Top Publishing. Most people realised though that even with the tools, the design expertise and flare is essential to success.
I am sure this will happen with our industry but I still think we need to have a concerted front, sewing the seeds for change. Its going to be a long job but worthwhile and eminently possible.
“finally not going for jobs where they don’t reveal the budget.”
I could not agree more. I’ve approached potential new clients with this methodology for nearly a decade … and, it’s worked wonders for my bottom line.
The simplest approach is the best in my opinion.
If a potential client holds back on submitting site requirements, doesn’t participate in my fact-finding, or refuses to discuss budget, I politely decline the opportunity and refocus my efforts on “serious” prospects. You simply can’t prepare an estimate or a proposal based on needs without information.
Case in point: I recently had a potential client ask me to submit an estimate before she would agree to send me the project requirements … Umm, thanks, but no thanks.
Great discussion Simon and I’m sorry to miss the social but you’re all sold out!! I hope you’ll post back on whatever comes out of it.
We have used the “architecture” parallel in the past – and the “what car?” one as well – and both help get clients more into the right mindset. We’re also talking to clients more about early-stage consultancy, helping them get to a point where they can put a sensible budget on what they might need without wasting lots of agencies’ time on pitching and proposals. It’s a tough sell though…
Sorry about the sell out. We will choose a bigger venue next time!
It is a tough sell but we all need to try, and not give up; this is the only way we will change the culture out there.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going (bad expression, but very true). Or as they say in my home town of Ramsbottom: “You’re shaping wooden lad, give it 'ere”.
Any news on the next event?
Lee. It will be March and I am not telling you what it is – our man Swinfield is organising :-0
Simonski
Have you got a precise date for march also where is it being held?
Richard
Greetings Mr Rutter…
It may be the beginning of April now as it is connected with moving into our new office :-)
The web industry is relatively new but has parallels with many others where there is intercourse (steady now) between creatives, engineers and clients.
Indeed mate, indeed…
A good customer service is always something you can use to compensate for any price difference. Last month I spent some good hours going through options and possibilities with a potential customer. I knew my price was not the best one but I end up closing the deal.
It is quite common to talk to a customer who has a mistaken view about how the process will happen or who is frustrated due to a previous bad experience. So, do your best and treat everyone with respect that you will certainly succeed.
Mr Codeware
That’s great, usually however, you can only demonstrate good customer service once you are working with them!!
We do like the pre-contract paid workshop model: this works best for us.
Thanks for your comment.