[thelist] new client meeting - web site questionaire/goal setting

Janet Green JGreen at desmoinesmetro.com
Thu Jun 20 13:54:00 CDT 2002


Here are the questions I ask:

1. What is the goal or purpose of the site? To simply be an online informational brochure? To generate product sales? To generate sales *leads*? To create a sense of "community"?

2. Who is the target audience of the site, and is there any research available to show the extent to which that audience uses the internet (and for what purposes)?

3. What features do you as the business owner want to see on your site?

4. What features do your staff members want the site to have?

5. What features does your target audience want the site to have?

6. Do you have company identity materials (logo, letterhead, standard marketing copy) already created and available for use?

7. Do you have a preferred vendor in mind for hosting the site (so you can collect server/platform information from them *before* you begin development) or would you like help in selecting one?

8. Do you have in-house resources for graphics, copy, and marketing direction?

9. Do you have a "look and feel" in mind for the site? What's the impression you visitors to have of your company after they have looked at your site?

10. What do you want visitors to DO (what action do you want them to take) after they have visited your site? What role, if any, will the site play in your company's sales or service process?

11. Is there any reason to have "members only" or other secure areas of the site?

12. What is your budget for site development?

13. What is the timeline for completion/launch?

14. How many people will need to approve the work before it goes live?

15. What is your accounting procedure for accepting and processing invoices, and how long does this process usually take?


Then - be sure to explain that you *always* work with a signed contract, that you require a certain percentage of payment up front, that you will offer them an estimate based on the information they've provided but that major changes in direction and/or scope will lead to cost increases (which you will offer via email or in writing before you proceed), and that *they* (not you) are responsible for providing actual content unless they want to pay you for your time in researching and writing the content.

There's a lot more, but this always gave me enough information to develop a solid proposal/treatment.

Janet





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