- Quick, run out and sign up for a Facebook, Twitter & Youtube account. Hurry!
- Disjointed Marketing Efforts & Dead-End Websites
- Tough Times - Tough Marketing. Invest in Your Customer, be Creative and Do More with Less.
- Beware of the RFP! Get over your giddyness and take a closer look at your RFP’s
- Get Paid to Think - not task.
- We are looking to appoint a marketing firm. Could you put together a proposal?
- The Communication Process - Importance of Educating the Client
- Introducing New Concepts:Communicating Value to Clients
- Kenny Rogers and His Marketing Genius
- Marketing & Creative Consultants - Are We Doing Our Job?
- Helping Your Cause | Helping Clients Prepare for their Marketing Project
- Dealing With Client Delays and Extended Timelines
- Top Eight People to Watch Out For in Creative Projects
- Maintaining the Upper Hand: Don’t Send That Email!
- Tone of Voice | Make Like a Pilot, Speak Easy and Gain Trust
- Customer Service, Attitudes and THE Recession
- The Fire Under your Ass and Creativity - They Go Together like Peas and Carrots
- Pondering Inbound Projects - A quick study for an Agency
- The Website is Down! All interactive agencies will love this one.
- How to NOT be a Jack-ass during the client-agency introduction process
- Clients, contractors, designers & developers…will always busier than you
- 2+2=3 | Scoping Projects and Compensation - Tales from the Dark Side
- Internet Marketing | Design Industry Truisms meets Murphy’s Laws
- Need a Design Quote ASAP!
- Bad Client Stories From the Front Lines
When asked to provide as many details as possible, client’s can mistake this request as a ‘blow-off’, or ‘pull a number and get in line’ type of response to new business. Though this process can be a means of qualifying projects (and it certainly is), having details about a project allows a marketing agency to get more intimate with the project and truly understand what the client is after. You see, a client doesn’t have to understand CSS, or be a usability expert or even know what Flash can or can’t do, they simply need to be able to convey their thoughts and intentions like a good little business should. Is this too much to ask? Certainly not. I think many agencies will tell you there is a higher correlation with businesses that write their intentions down on paper and good projects, than those companies that provide a minimal amount of information.
Having clients come back (after the agency’s request) with a detailed project overview or RFP is a good qualifying process, because it will give you some great clues as to how they are looking at this project. Are they sending a minimal amount of information it to 15 different agencies - solely after the lowest bid? Does the company have a good understanding of the services they are asking for? Or, is their information riddled with assumptions and ommissions (that will most certainly be needed)? Is the client trying to over-simplify a very complex project? Does the client have good business sense? Are they able to articulate their needs even though they may not be familiar with the particular arena, online marketing, web development, SEO?
There is much information to be gained by this initial communication process. While it is not our job to make the process of hiring an agency or consultant a painful process, or create unneeded hurdles, but getting details on paper and coming to a better understand of the project’s deliverables and goals will absolutely make your life easier in the long run. And it will also help you to be a better judge on leads and their potential to be a good project.
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