Tips on how to prevent a bad client experience.
If you have been doing web development for a while, you will have had a few "experiences" with clients that you wish you could have prevented. I'd like to share some advice that I have learned through experience.
Always have a contract. This is probably the most important document in the whole web development process. With a strong contract, you can prevent scope creep (adding more to the project once it has already started), not getting paid and many other misunderstandings between you and the client. Some key ingredients that you should have in your contract are:
• A summary of exactly what you will do and how much you will be paid. If you have a detailed proposal, include "see attached proposal for details."
• State when payments must be made, the amount, and what happens if they don't pay.
• State exactly what it is that the client will get on completion of the project (does he get just the final files like jpg's and swf's, or does he get source files like psd's and fla's).
You can find a great sample contract at Scott Manning's Website. But remember that you should always have a contract customized by a lawyer to ensure it will work.
Always have a downpayment. At Aesthetic Studios we require 50% upfront and then 50% on completion (they don't get the site until we receive the last payment). 2Advanced Studios requires 50% upfront, 40% in the middle and 10% on completion. Whatever payment plan you have, make sure you get paid at least some before finishing the project.
Have the client sign off on each part of the project. If you look at Our Process, you'll see the actual design and development is divided into three different parts: Concept Design, Comprehensive Design and Prototype Development. After each stage, we require the client to sign off on it, stating that it is done and that if at a later date the client wants to go back to the previous stage and change it, it will cost extra. This saves us from a lot of work.
Imagine we are working on a flash website. We do the concepts - the client loves them. We get to comprehensives with a storyboard of what the site will look like as the flash progresses - the client loves them. Finally we get the prototype done and the client wants the design completely changed. If he had asked for this when we were doing the concepts it would be easy, but now we need to redo concepts, comprehensives AND prototype. THIS is a form of scope creep.
Don't just offer web design. Clients don't know that just having a website won't get a lot of visitors to come - you need to market. Inform the client about how marketing is necessary to a website's success and offer to include it in your quote. What you don't want to happen is the site to be up for a month and the client not receive any visitors, then blame you with designing a bad website and demanding a refund. If you tell him at that point that you need to market and it will cost $XX more, he will be furious.
You will have many client experiences that aren't great, but you learn from them and improve your process for the next client. Some lessons are a little more expensive than others.
Always have a contract. This is probably the most important document in the whole web development process. With a strong contract, you can prevent scope creep (adding more to the project once it has already started), not getting paid and many other misunderstandings between you and the client. Some key ingredients that you should have in your contract are:
• A summary of exactly what you will do and how much you will be paid. If you have a detailed proposal, include "see attached proposal for details."
• State when payments must be made, the amount, and what happens if they don't pay.
• State exactly what it is that the client will get on completion of the project (does he get just the final files like jpg's and swf's, or does he get source files like psd's and fla's).
You can find a great sample contract at Scott Manning's Website. But remember that you should always have a contract customized by a lawyer to ensure it will work.
Always have a downpayment. At Aesthetic Studios we require 50% upfront and then 50% on completion (they don't get the site until we receive the last payment). 2Advanced Studios requires 50% upfront, 40% in the middle and 10% on completion. Whatever payment plan you have, make sure you get paid at least some before finishing the project.
Have the client sign off on each part of the project. If you look at Our Process, you'll see the actual design and development is divided into three different parts: Concept Design, Comprehensive Design and Prototype Development. After each stage, we require the client to sign off on it, stating that it is done and that if at a later date the client wants to go back to the previous stage and change it, it will cost extra. This saves us from a lot of work.
Imagine we are working on a flash website. We do the concepts - the client loves them. We get to comprehensives with a storyboard of what the site will look like as the flash progresses - the client loves them. Finally we get the prototype done and the client wants the design completely changed. If he had asked for this when we were doing the concepts it would be easy, but now we need to redo concepts, comprehensives AND prototype. THIS is a form of scope creep.
Don't just offer web design. Clients don't know that just having a website won't get a lot of visitors to come - you need to market. Inform the client about how marketing is necessary to a website's success and offer to include it in your quote. What you don't want to happen is the site to be up for a month and the client not receive any visitors, then blame you with designing a bad website and demanding a refund. If you tell him at that point that you need to market and it will cost $XX more, he will be furious.
You will have many client experiences that aren't great, but you learn from them and improve your process for the next client. Some lessons are a little more expensive than others.
posted by Bill Erickson at 11:20 AM