Having a chat with work colleagues in the kitchen when the kettle is boiling isn’t uncommon at We Are Empire. Great ideas, general chat and the occasional visit from ‘Banter Claus’ can all be heard over the sound of boiling water and clinking spoons. It was one of these chats that produced a conversation between me (Paul Gosling - Commercial Director) and Matt (Bayliss), our Technical Director otherwise known as ‘The Oracle’.

It went something along these lines:

Matt: “How’s it going?”

Me: “Really good thanks. I do feel like I’m having the same conversations with some clients though”.

Matt: “How do you mean?”

Me: “Well, when we pick up a new client there’s a bit of a theme with some of the things we need to work through to get them up to speed for where they need to be before we can get cracking on moving them forward”.

Matt: (Pauses) “It’s funny, I was thinking about that recently. There are (he pauses again)… 5 key things that a new client needs to have in place when they start a web project.”…

Don’t worry, Matt didn’t then look down the barrel of the camera at that point and break into song. We sat down and did something equally productive. We wrote down the 5 things that he thought of whilst drinking our coffee.

Here’s what they were…

1) Are your expectations right for the digital agency you’re hiring?

In our experience clients generally fall into 2 different categories. The first are what we call ‘Instructional’.

These are generally clients who know what they want and are looking for that idea to come to life with a little guidance from their agency. Usually these are digitally experienced clients who have been through builds in the past. On the whole, instructional clients want to focus on the technical output of the agency, as for them it’s more a ‘Point and Shoot’ relationship they are looking for in order to match the expectations around the creation of the idea they want to put into action.

In our experience ‘Instructional’ clients don’t achieve the best results. If you walked up to a sales person in a car dealership and said: “I want a black car, it needs to be rear wheel drive, have a leather interior and be good over long distances” I’m sure you’d get one. But… if you said “Hello, these are my requirements (blah, blah, blah) what car do you recommend?” As the expert in cars, the sales person will be able to give you a solution and it could be one that you hadn’t thought of. At the end of the day the sales person spends all day every day living and breathing cars.

The second group are what we call ‘Open Minded’ and these are clients who usually have a digital idea but don’t quite know the best way to make it happen. For ‘Open Minded’ clients their selection of agency is absolutely critical. Choosing the right partner will define how your idea is formed. Choosing the wrong one will result in your idea heading off in a direction you didn’t intend.

The client’s attitude to the build HAS to be communicated to the agency from the word go to cultivate the right relationship. In a way the “I just want a site, get it done” clients that usually reside in the ‘Instructional’ group are fine to work with if the developing agency is cool with what they are getting themselves into.

On the other side of the coin…

The ‘Open Minded’ clients can equally present potential pitfalls by not communicating the full spectrum of what they want to achieve with their project. Some ideas may require higher end systems, and if the agency knows that, they could then steer that journey appropriately. If the agency knows everything about the client’s goals they can future-proof the development of the company strategy and provide flexibility for the businesses growth, especially if the brand strategy is in the conversation.

As a client, there is no right or wrong in regards to which route to take. In our experience though, those clients who are open to collaboration are by far the ones that achieve the best results. We Are Empire encourages clients to ask questions like “How do you see the site working in 3 years time?”, “Are there any potential pitfalls building on a set platform?”, “Can this build cater for my businesses expansion?”

If you think of your site as your digital shop unit, you wouldn’t sign a 3 year contract for a premises without thinking about where your business is going to be in that time?

2) Create a two way conversation

Building on the ‘Open Minded’ client side of things, understanding the way that the agency will ‘handle’ your project is essential for a build, and ideally its ongoing growth. Asking questions like “How will the build management work day to day?”, “How will they grow your project?” are very important. Identifying if they work in the same way as your company and communicate the same way as your staff is going to steer the relationship you have - you are going to be speaking to them most days! Have you seen their premises? Is visiting them and having milestone catch-ups important to you as a business?

If you think of the agency you choose as a partner, you wouldn’t get married without dating first. That might get some divorce lawyers rubbing their hands together…

To reiterate an important previous point, as a client, if you know what you want then that’s totally fine. There’s probably an ‘off the shelf solution’ for you, but be aware of what that means. The clue is in the title with ‘off the shelf’ as you’ll end up looking like a million other online propositions.

If you are looking to grow your strategy and business online, you need a partner. It’ll be best to present your ideas and look for your agency of choice to supply a guide and level of involvement which you can then decide on.

3) Understand the capabilities of what you are asking for

This isn’t just about technical understanding. Going back to our previous point about knowledge and partnering with an expert, not knowing anything technical isn’t a big deal with the right agency. Understanding your goal is mission critical…

e.g. is the idea you have designed to sell stuff?

If it is then the online project needs to include a payment gateway and therefore needs to incorporate e-commerce functionality as part of the site. Likewise, if your idea for a site is a house for content then it sounds like you need a CMS system as part of the site. Understanding the difference and therefore the conversion goal is key.

The reason for understanding your goals fully avoids the aspect of a ‘bodge job’. If you don’t understand what your route of progression is and your goals fully, you could end up building the equivalent of Frankenstein’s monster. Getting annoyed at your digital agency as a result may not be entirely fair either, as they could be shaping to fit your ongoing requirements into a site that at the beginning had completely different requirements. If they knew this would be the case they could have planned accordingly.

e.g. “I sell a range of shoes now but I know that further down the line that I want to launch custom shoes.”

Therefore allowances need to built in for that at the beginning.

4) Set your ambitions for the project out at the start

If you’re an ambitious client who wants to be the next Amazon, be prepared for a ride. Alternatively, if you don’t have the budgets be focussed on possibly reinvesting your capital gains into your ideas growth and realise there are potential pitfalls of cutting corners. You may not be buying that super yacht just yet.

If you don’t know what the level of capital you have means for your digital idea, ask your agency as they need to be as ambitious as you are. They’ll need to understand what knowledge and finances are needed to make your ideas happen, both initially and ongoing.

If you have a big budget for your idea, give yourself flexibility and choose the right digital agency to plan revenue accordingly. Don’t just take the road to easy town. If you can invest in giving yourself the right scope for growth, it’s critical to make sure you aren’t over spending or under projecting.

Learning what you are creating as you are creating it is very important. Your digital agency should be able to guide your ambition the right way and make sure that it’s channelled down the right path.

5) Learn the effects your decisions can have on projects

At the beginning of a project we create a ‘Spec’. Understanding that spec is absolutely critical. Understanding the ripple effect of decisions as a project is in process is one of the most important things when working in a two way partnership. The effect your ideas, revisions and changes could possibly have on timescales and budget need to be understood before you start.

If your agency has worked with you before, kick off to extract all the information they think they need, ensure you’ve considered everything and this shouldn’t be an issue. Anything that you think is valuable to the project HAS to be raised before starting a project and ideas need to be discussed at that stage. Naturally, things will take a different route and progress as a project is in process, but be aware that this could have a domino effect and get an expectation on how much at the beginning of a project.

What to take from these 5 points

Ultimately, the biggest take away from mine and Matt’s chat is that the success of a project resides in it being a team effort. You wouldn’t employ one person to build your house in order to get an open and developed result. Embrace new ideas and grow with the specialists.

That is absolutely critical to choosing the right agency.