When ‘we’ becomes ‘ye’: Finding the right digital creative agency by Chad Capellman, Taoti Creative NOVEMBER 27TH, 2017
“Oh. My. God.” “We HAVE to redesign our website.” “And we need it yesterday.” So far, you’re nodding in agreement. Of course “we” need a new website. And “we” need the impossible, done yesterday.
And then it happened. Leadership has decided YOU are the perfect person to fjnd the fjrm and make this happen.
In an earlier post, we outlined some The other half of that equation is focused key areas of consideration for writing on what you need to make sure your a website redesign RFP. That focused agency of choice is the right fjt for your largely on what you should consider organization. about your own digital situation. With that in mind, please consider the following questions when evaluating your prospective agency partners for your digital project. What difgerent types of Technology isn’t the only piece of the puzzle. It’s also often not technology (CMS CRM etc.) do the fjrst thing that needs to be established. However, knowing an you have experience with? agency’s breadth of technology experience can help frame up numerous subsequent conversations. Why do clients usually hire you Firms often get hired for one or two key reasons. Knowing why (or not hire you)? others have chosen them in the past can help you prioritize your internal needs. Sometimes good fjrms are passed on because “they’re not a good fjt.” But that can be too vague an answer to be useful. Knowing why a fjrm doesn’t get chosen can help you better asses that elusive goal of “fjt.” What types of projects do you Given their druthers, many fjrms will say “what do you got?” as the most gravitate to? / What types of answer to this question. However, it’s good to know what fjts in the projects do you typically avoid? sweet spot of a fjrm’s collective interest and skillset. What is an example of an This is admittedly a broad question, but another one that can be innovative solution you have enlightening. It is important, however, to keep an open mind, as the developed for a client? notion of innovation can mean difgerent things to difgerent people. Technology isn’t the only piece of the puzzle.
Little changes faster than the digital marketing and communication What types of technology / landscape. Firms that aren’t growing are dying. The fjrms that show projects are you working on an ability to adapt are the ones that will win the future for themselves now that you weren’t 12-18 and their clients. In Taoti’s case, the answer is a combination of months ago? interactive infographics projects and some early-stage Internet of Things projects. But this post is about YOU, so we’ll get back to the remaining questions. The fjrms that show an ability to adapt are the ones that will win the future for themselves and their clients. Please describe your approach True story. I once was part of a 25-meeting process to get the idea to working with large stakeholder of a website redesign approved. Knowing how a fjrm handles such groups? Small groups? a large bureaucracy can be helpful as you’re planning out your next steps. Smaller stakeholder groups can bring their own challenges that include being too insulated to truly understand their audiences. Getting these questions answered can help you and your team get an early mental picture of what it would be like to work with them. Which is important, because you’re going to be spending a LOT of time together. What are your best projects Agencies are often trying to present an “apples to apples” overall? / What are your best comparison of their work to your industry / sector. However, projects at $x sometimes a project they are extremely jacked about doesn’t have a home in your RFP response. This is a good way to see what a fjrm is capable of in a longer-term relationship, after the initial project is in the rear-view mirror. Similarly, it’s great to understand what a potential fjrm can do at a certain price point. Knowing this can provide helpful context around what you should expect from a similarly funded project.
Your project manager will be the person you interact with the most Who would be our project throughout the duration of the project. Understanding what they manager? bring to the table can provide valuable perspective. Please note that this is a tough question for fjrms to answer during the RFP response phase as there can be several months before a project begins. Insisting the proposed PM attend a pitch meeting, however, gives you a chance to meet them in person and get a feel for your prospective working relationship before signing a contract. What is your approach to project It’s helpful to have an open mind with this question. When I was on planning? the client side, I remembered calling a reference and getting the following advice: “They do great work, but you need to be willing to adjust to how they do things to get the best results.” This then can become a question about your organization and how it works as much as how the agency operates. What clients have you had a If the answer to this question is “none”, you probably just saved multi-year relationship with? yourself a lot of time. At Taoti, some of our client relationships are old enough they could legally drive. Have you inherited other digital In the spirit of the phrase “you don’t know it until you can teach it,” projects or do you only do start I ofger “you don’t know it until you can undo the mess of someone from scratch projects? who did it before you.” It takes a certain level of organization, intuition and technical skill to efgectively and effjciently inherit an existing digital project that was started by another developer or team. If you are hiring a fjrm to take over an existing site / project and they haven’t done it before, you are likely to fjnd a level of optimism on their end that might not prove helpful in the long run. It takes a certain level of organization, intuition and technical skill to efgectively and effjciently inherit an existing digital project…
One of the most diffjcult areas to predict at the outset in a website What is the largest content redesign project is the level of efgort required for a content migration migration you from your current website to the new website. A hundred things have handled? can contribute to the migration going awry and slowing down the progress of a project. It is also very much a team efgort between your entire organization and the agency you choose. Understanding early how your chosen fjrm approaches content migrations can help you politically (and fjnancially) as you prepare your colleagues for what is about to be asked of them. How your chosen fjrm approaches content migrations can help you politically and fjnancially… What is your experience working One of my favorite Olympic sports is a favorite only because of its with another design fjrm? / name: Individual Synchronized Swimming. I mean, how hard is that? Another development fjrm? Similarly, it can be far less challenging to run a project all by yourself than it is to work with a larger team or other agencies. By knowing what tools, processes and experience a fjrm has when working with others, you can sometimes troubleshoot potential confmicts and get a sense of how you will navigate both the details of the project itself as well as who is responsible for what within a project. What type of projects do you Sometimes a fjrm has talents that it just doesn’t get a chance to wish you could work on more and demonstrate with its existing portfolio. Sometimes a fjrm has an why? infusion of talent who hasn’t had a chance to make their mark but brings capabilities they are itching to leverage for the right client. Having a sense of these capabilities can help you shape your perspective on what’s possible.
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