Good morning :-)

 

I am working along side a creative agency (actually only about 4 people within the business) and web design is very new to them. The problem I am having is, they quote a price for a build of a website BEFORE any design work or wireframing is done. So the general functionality of the website isn't planned correctly which can cause problems in the building stage for me when I start asking questions about how it will work.

 

So, my question is, how do other people work when quoting work?

1. Get a full brief (reject if they don't provide one)

Confirm the client understands what they have asked for (they often don't)

Confirm timescales (not just ASAP)

Set milestones (initial payments then stage payments)

Work out the costs

Tell them how much

Tell them anything else will incur extra costs.

Get written agreement.

Don't do anything until the initial payment has been paid.

The worst thing is when the client thinks you should add extra things without paying you. Make sure it's signed and you get a deposit before you start doing any work.

Edited April 14, 201610 yr by heylouise

Hi Charly, as others have said, it's going to get really difficult to work with this client if you can't get a proper contract and a deposit paid. I've had similar experiences even with really large agencies.

 

What's worked for me: Educate your client as much as possible and get yourself involved right from the beginning of the project, including client-facing planning meetings. Charge your client a few days of your time for this phase, depending on size of project. It's not free work - you're essentially protecting your client's interest by providing them with missing know-how. Finally, work with your client to come up with a feasible feature set within the budget. At this point you are ready to put together a contract stating deliverables and overall budget for the development work.

 

Apart from making the project much less risky for you, it puts you in the role of trusted advisor and not 'just' a developer.

 

HTH & good luck!