Life tips from web studio owners: how to increase profitability and reduce risks. Part 2
As promised, I publish the second part of the article, written on the basis of discussions, observations and experience of UMI.CMS partners. Let me remind you that it was interesting to put together and share practical recommendations and techniques for owners of web studios, which allow minimizing risks and speeding up the processes at each stage of developing an Internet project.
In the first part, we talked about the "chips" at the stage of finding customers and concluding an agreement. Today - about the design, the actual development (implementation) and delivery of the project.
Design is most often the bottleneck in terms of project acceptance by the customer. It is in the design that the customer takes the most active part, makes recommendations and wishes, asks for various options. Acceptance of the design can often lead to protracted add. work unprofitable for the studio. Most often it is also unprofitable for the customer.
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The main point here is that the customer does not have to make his first impression of the design on his own. It must be compiled with the help of the author.
“Please note the color of the star for a special promotion. We have several options; without your participation, we cannot decide which will be better. ”
Practice from webprofy web design studio
Customer's participation in the project is logical and fair as long as it does not harm the quality of the Internet project and does not lead to losses or reduced pledged profits for the developer. The endless and fascinating process of acceptance of design, it happens, can not be stopped. In this case, both the customer and the developer suffer.
The “List of final remarks” on the company's letterhead will help put an end to this stage. It describes all the comments that the customer requests to make in the design, and they are supported by his signature. Regarding the implementation of these comments, even if this document was not drawn up as an annex to the contract, as a rule, neither the customer nor the artist have any reason to continue design work.
“We consider the transition to a boxed CMS very pragmatic from the point of view of business processes. As studio owners, we lost nothing. Just before, we actually paid for each CMS installation a salary to our programmers, and now a commensurate money goes to "outsource". In other words, now we pay salaries to programmers Yumisoft, but at the same time we do not incur any costs for their maintenance, management, etc.
On the other hand, it is also beneficial for our programmers. Firstly, they are now free from the need to develop a studio CMS, which they were never particularly pleased with because of the large amount of unusual work on describing the functionality of new modules, usability testing, user documentation, etc. Secondly, what is most valuable, now at the stage of selling them, managers with questions like: “can we do it and how long will it take” do not pull them. Standard UMI.CMS modules set clear limitations for sales managers, but on the other hand, customers themselves are loyal to such strictly described functionality - the box marketing marketing policy helps.
It is worth noting that the payroll of developers has not decreased since the transition to a boxed CMS, and even still maintains an upward trend, because not only sales, but also budget turnover in the project have increased - now we can make a corporate website 2-3 times faster. What makes this happen?
Situation number 1:
I work on my own CMS and take $ 1000 for the programming and layout stage. The salary fund (everything from the programmer to the administration), for example, leaves 60%, i.e. I, as a businessman, earn $ 400 as soon as I “ship the goods”, i.e. I will close this stage with acts. “The path from the cash register to the warehouse” in this case is rather long - from a week to a month, depending on the project. Those. I keep risky funds for a month.
Situation 2:
I work on a boxed CMS and take $ 1000 for the programming phase. Discount with CMS + reduced development costs (if previously a “standard” corporate site was created 5 days, now it is 3) give me the same $ 400 profit, but now I ship the goods for at least half the amount instantly - I can sell the system Act close instantly! In the case of a good flow, we are talking about significant amounts in terms of turnover of our business.
And situation 2 is also more profitable for the client - having received my own CMS, and having signed the act, he is forced to buy programming on it from me, since he has no other way out. Those. he gets the goods "virtual" to some extent. But having received a “box”, he gets a real product - after all, hundreds of developers can transfer it for further work. ”
Collect several types of projects on which the studio specializes - for example, a business card site for a company operating in the service sector, a site with a catalog of goods, etc. Set such a template site structure in terms of design, structure in terms of content and fill a number of pages with typical information. Such sites templates can be made on the basis of real sites that were made for the customer and which are typical for your company.
What it gives:
- the very next day after receiving the order, you can show the first prototype to the customer;
- Ready website template can reduce the cost of creating a website by at least 50%;
- the development of sites rises to the flow - an increase in production volumes and turnover while maintaining the expenditure part (the production process is accelerated due to its simplification and standardization) = increase in profitability.
This practice will be relevant with low and medium budgets and large volumes. Obviously, when working with a large customer, high budgets and an individual Internet project, it is not applicable.
Practice of the Internet Agency UMI Studio and Artics Internet Solutions
At RIT-2008, a separate report from the leaders of these companies was heard on the topic of project management systems - “They chose the director of the SUP web studios”. It can be downloaded here .
The practice of the Internet agency TRINET
A separate account is created for the client in the Task-To-Do system (an Internet agency's own development for the needs of project management) so that he can follow the project from the inside. In this case, however, it is necessary to regulate for the company's employees the nature of the use of the system so that it does not appear comments that are not intended in form or content for the ears and eyes of the customer.
Practice from webprofy web design studio
Placing a site on the web occurs only after full payment of the project and signing of acts.
I think that all the advantages are obvious and there is no need to comment.
Practice from a company that wishes to remain anonymous
The project can be posted on the Web and before full payment and signing of acts. Paradoxically, it can be beneficial if the customer does not want to accept the project. In spite of the fact that he was not formally handed over and not accepted, he is already on the Net and the customer’s representatives begin to work with him. At some stage, when the developer no longer sees the reasons why the project refuses to accept and pay, he suggests that the customer should “take out” the project from the Network, since he is not accepted. And the developer is absolutely right - if the acts are not signed and the work is not fully paid, then there is no product. Most often, with such a development of events, the customer either finally agrees on adequate refinements, after which the project will be handed over, or will accept it “as is” (if it cannot clearly articulate the claims). In the end, in any case, he gets a project that satisfies him.
Practice from the company Gekos
The main task of the developer is to keep the customer after the project is completed, providing various services for its further maintenance (advertising, SEO, technical support, copywriting, usability auditing, etc.). For this you can use traditional for other types of business discount systems. For example, if the site was developed in your company, then you can provide a discount on advertising, and vice versa, provide advertisers with a discount on the development of the website. For customers who use several services, you can provide a "wholesale" discount.
And finally, I want to reiterate that these tips should not be taken literally. Based on your particular company, the situation needs to be decided whether to use them or not. But in any case, I think that to have an idea of ​​such techniques would not harm anyone. And of course, it will be great if you also share your professional “secrets” in the comments :)
In the first part, we talked about the "chips" at the stage of finding customers and concluding an agreement. Today - about the design, the actual development (implementation) and delivery of the project.
3. Development and approval of design
Design is most often the bottleneck in terms of project acceptance by the customer. It is in the design that the customer takes the most active part, makes recommendations and wishes, asks for various options. Acceptance of the design can often lead to protracted add. work unprofitable for the studio. Most often it is also unprofitable for the customer.
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3.1. Personal presentation
It is extremely important to present the design for the first time in person. In no case can not send the first design options by e-mail. If the customer is in another city and a personal meeting is impossible, then you can agree on telephone conversations and simultaneously send the layouts. This is necessary first of all so that you can justify and argue your work. For the customer - this is also useful. Indeed, for a web studio, design is part of the specialization in which it is professional. The web studio makes dozens and hundreds of sites, and the customer - units, therefore, most often the web studio offers a quality product that is really beneficial for the customer. But his work should include an explanation of his product, since it is sufficiently complex to be obvious to an untrained user.The main point here is that the customer does not have to make his first impression of the design on his own. It must be compiled with the help of the author.
3.2. Customer participation
The customer must participate in the design process, because for him it is also a creative process and he has the right to take part in it. You can say even more - part of the money that he pays, he psychologically gives for his creative participation. The task of the developer in this case - to direct the energy of the client in the right way from the professional point of view.“Please note the color of the star for a special promotion. We have several options; without your participation, we cannot decide which will be better. ”
Practice from webprofy web design studio
Customer's participation in the project is logical and fair as long as it does not harm the quality of the Internet project and does not lead to losses or reduced pledged profits for the developer. The endless and fascinating process of acceptance of design, it happens, can not be stopped. In this case, both the customer and the developer suffer.
The “List of final remarks” on the company's letterhead will help put an end to this stage. It describes all the comments that the customer requests to make in the design, and they are supported by his signature. Regarding the implementation of these comments, even if this document was not drawn up as an annex to the contract, as a rule, neither the customer nor the artist have any reason to continue design work.
4. Layout, CMS implementation, programming
4.1. Use of boxed CMS
Practical experience of the company "Kinetics" , Barnaul, gene. Director Alexey Samoylov :“We consider the transition to a boxed CMS very pragmatic from the point of view of business processes. As studio owners, we lost nothing. Just before, we actually paid for each CMS installation a salary to our programmers, and now a commensurate money goes to "outsource". In other words, now we pay salaries to programmers Yumisoft, but at the same time we do not incur any costs for their maintenance, management, etc.
On the other hand, it is also beneficial for our programmers. Firstly, they are now free from the need to develop a studio CMS, which they were never particularly pleased with because of the large amount of unusual work on describing the functionality of new modules, usability testing, user documentation, etc. Secondly, what is most valuable, now at the stage of selling them, managers with questions like: “can we do it and how long will it take” do not pull them. Standard UMI.CMS modules set clear limitations for sales managers, but on the other hand, customers themselves are loyal to such strictly described functionality - the box marketing marketing policy helps.
It is worth noting that the payroll of developers has not decreased since the transition to a boxed CMS, and even still maintains an upward trend, because not only sales, but also budget turnover in the project have increased - now we can make a corporate website 2-3 times faster. What makes this happen?
Situation number 1:
I work on my own CMS and take $ 1000 for the programming and layout stage. The salary fund (everything from the programmer to the administration), for example, leaves 60%, i.e. I, as a businessman, earn $ 400 as soon as I “ship the goods”, i.e. I will close this stage with acts. “The path from the cash register to the warehouse” in this case is rather long - from a week to a month, depending on the project. Those. I keep risky funds for a month.
Situation 2:
I work on a boxed CMS and take $ 1000 for the programming phase. Discount with CMS + reduced development costs (if previously a “standard” corporate site was created 5 days, now it is 3) give me the same $ 400 profit, but now I ship the goods for at least half the amount instantly - I can sell the system Act close instantly! In the case of a good flow, we are talking about significant amounts in terms of turnover of our business.
And situation 2 is also more profitable for the client - having received my own CMS, and having signed the act, he is forced to buy programming on it from me, since he has no other way out. Those. he gets the goods "virtual" to some extent. But having received a “box”, he gets a real product - after all, hundreds of developers can transfer it for further work. ”
4.2. Creating standard templates for the main types of Internet projects
Experience Internet agency Gekos , CEO Artem Geraschenkov.Collect several types of projects on which the studio specializes - for example, a business card site for a company operating in the service sector, a site with a catalog of goods, etc. Set such a template site structure in terms of design, structure in terms of content and fill a number of pages with typical information. Such sites templates can be made on the basis of real sites that were made for the customer and which are typical for your company.
What it gives:
- the very next day after receiving the order, you can show the first prototype to the customer;
- Ready website template can reduce the cost of creating a website by at least 50%;
- the development of sites rises to the flow - an increase in production volumes and turnover while maintaining the expenditure part (the production process is accelerated due to its simplification and standardization) = increase in profitability.
This practice will be relevant with low and medium budgets and large volumes. Obviously, when working with a large customer, high budgets and an individual Internet project, it is not applicable.
4.3. Using systems for teamwork on a project (Task-, Project-Collaboration-management)
As a rule, the introduction of such systems in a company from scratch causes a strong rejection of employees, resulting in ignoring this tool. Demonstrative penalties to one of the employees most often help to solve this problem, after which the others begin to use the tool. As a rule, after that they can already estimate the increase in the effectiveness of internal communications for the project and in the future they themselves become the initiators of its use for new employees in the company.Practice of the Internet Agency UMI Studio and Artics Internet Solutions
At RIT-2008, a separate report from the leaders of these companies was heard on the topic of project management systems - “They chose the director of the SUP web studios”. It can be downloaded here .
The practice of the Internet agency TRINET
A separate account is created for the client in the Task-To-Do system (an Internet agency's own development for the needs of project management) so that he can follow the project from the inside. In this case, however, it is necessary to regulate for the company's employees the nature of the use of the system so that it does not appear comments that are not intended in form or content for the ears and eyes of the customer.
5. Delivery of the project
Practice from webprofy web design studio
Placing a site on the web occurs only after full payment of the project and signing of acts.
I think that all the advantages are obvious and there is no need to comment.
Practice from a company that wishes to remain anonymous
The project can be posted on the Web and before full payment and signing of acts. Paradoxically, it can be beneficial if the customer does not want to accept the project. In spite of the fact that he was not formally handed over and not accepted, he is already on the Net and the customer’s representatives begin to work with him. At some stage, when the developer no longer sees the reasons why the project refuses to accept and pay, he suggests that the customer should “take out” the project from the Network, since he is not accepted. And the developer is absolutely right - if the acts are not signed and the work is not fully paid, then there is no product. Most often, with such a development of events, the customer either finally agrees on adequate refinements, after which the project will be handed over, or will accept it “as is” (if it cannot clearly articulate the claims). In the end, in any case, he gets a project that satisfies him.
Practice from the company Gekos
The main task of the developer is to keep the customer after the project is completed, providing various services for its further maintenance (advertising, SEO, technical support, copywriting, usability auditing, etc.). For this you can use traditional for other types of business discount systems. For example, if the site was developed in your company, then you can provide a discount on advertising, and vice versa, provide advertisers with a discount on the development of the website. For customers who use several services, you can provide a "wholesale" discount.
And finally, I want to reiterate that these tips should not be taken literally. Based on your particular company, the situation needs to be decided whether to use them or not. But in any case, I think that to have an idea of ​​such techniques would not harm anyone. And of course, it will be great if you also share your professional “secrets” in the comments :)
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/64772/
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