Internet project managers

I found an open letter to the project managers that I once wrote. Very relevant to the present day.

With this letter, I would like to appeal to managers who are leading website development projects for small business entrepreneurs. How strange it does not sound, but often not only the result in the form of the site, but also the success of the client’s business depends on you.

I sometimes observe a picture when a client abandoned a project, did not finish it, lost interest ... It really happens, and quite often. The project and its owner didn’t have enough energy and desire to start selling and become successful. But do you guess that it was in your hands that there was an opportunity to prevent this. How can this be avoided and why is it important?
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Meet customer expectations

As a rule, you know the needs of the entrepreneur who comes to order the site. But do you think about the expectations with which he comes? No matter how much we resist in meeting the needs with the help of technology, functionality, design ... a project can be failed if the work on it and the result do not meet the initial expectations of the client.

To be clearer, let me give an example of what the real needs of an entrepreneur who orders a site are, and compare them with his possible expectations. In my experience, consistency in the practice of one and the other can significantly increase the success of a project and initiate a long and good relationship with a client.

The customer wants to find new customers
I think you will agree that finding customers is probably one of the basic needs of all customers. What is waiting for the customer, coming for the site?

Any entrepreneur is waiting for a quick result from the money invested. He wants to quickly feel that the site benefits, and the business is in demand by potential customers. When an entrepreneur feels it, he has a desire to develop and tune in to a big victory. The customer subconsciously waits for a quick result, even if he clearly does not require it. Want a satisfied customer and a grateful review? It is necessary to give the opportunity to feel the quick result, by all means. It doesn’t matter that it’s website development, promotion or support services. We must achieve quick results.

The customer wants to tell about his company
In second place I would put the need for an entrepreneur to tell about his company. What you should pay attention to, working on the implementation of this need?

Ask the customer the question “Does he need a website if there are many customers without a website?”. Surprisingly, but most likely, he will answer "yes." Why? Like any normal entrepreneur, he wants recognition. The site is a good way to realize this expectation. Pay special attention to such sections as "Customer reviews", "Completed projects", "List of customers". Go qualitatively to their content. You will feel the constructive work of the client! Recognition and evaluation from the outside is a great thing for a small business that provides an incredible boost of energy to promote your business with much more confidence.

Small entrepreneurs need to help in systematization of their business.
You often observe that a significant part of customers who are applying for a site do not pay enough attention to the structuring of information. Coming to us, the client has no clear structure, no description of products or services, competitive advantages are unclear, etc. This is not the client’s fault. The entrepreneur does not have enough time for this. He is busy with his business idea and the shortest way to implement it.

At the same time, you know that without the “order” on the site (system) it is difficult to sell, especially on the Internet, where simple access to information, readability, accessibility is needed. When you run a project, you list the client's business on the shelves. Use a sequential algorithm for collecting information and form the "order". You have done this more than one hundred times for all kinds of businesses. Be professional this time too. This is what the client needs right now. Your efforts will help to overcome the deadly "slightly" and soon customers will come for another project.

The list does not end there. I, perhaps, cited the most obvious and close to me needs and expectations, corresponding to which miracles can be performed. You can continue them.

So why is customer satisfaction important to us?

The professionalism of an Internet project manager when working with clients is not only in clever words like “conversion”, “usability”, “failure rate”, etc. For professionals, all this remains behind the scenes. I want our customers to feel that we understand them in terms that are familiar to them. I noticed that if you follow customer expectations, we help ourselves. In this case, the client looks at us as a partner, re-applying for the third, fourth site. Meet the expectations!

Vasily Churanov and the web-canape team