[thelist] What would you do?

Bart Posselt BPOSSELT at dineout.org
Wed Apr 11 14:30:45 CDT 2001


<snip>
>>> gina at sitediva.com 04/11/01 02:05PM >>>
Sender Address Domain - sitediva.com

|Not so much our company's privacy as a waste of my, and possibly others', time.

I'd like to know which (if any) of the questions I listed earlier is
a waste of your time. 
</snip>

Some of the specific questions you wrote were fine. I was referring to the questions I mentioned in my previous post that I thought were inappropriate. For example, company size, who the decisionmakers are, etc.

<snip>
|If we were as involved and knowledgeable about what we wanted (and had
|more time), we'd do it ourselves.

Actually, knowing what you want and knowing how to build it are two different
things. I'm not asking a client to be knowledgeable about building web sites, I
want them to be knowledgeable in what they *want*. 
</snip>

I agree, they're different things. But if I know what I want, then I could figure out or find a solution for myself. Granted, like Bekah wrote, it may not look or perform as well as it could. The point is, I could do it once I knew what I wanted.

It's the not knowing that is the problem. If I knew I wanted a newsletter, there are many ways to do it. I view hiring outside designers as a way to bring new ideas to the table more than as hiring a workhorse to crank out code. 

<snip>
...knowing what types of information you want to
include about your company and products on a web site or whether you want to
sell online or not should not be a difficult task--and it's what we need to know
in order to make a quote.
</snip>

Getting back to the original topic about clients not filling out questionnaires - It's not difficult to do for the easy questions like if you want to sell online or want a newsletter. 
But it's much more difficult to answer your sample question, "What is the purpose of the Web site?" in writing, let alone on a Web form. Some type of personal contact is needed, either an in-person meeting or a conference call so the two (or however many) people can explore possibilities more freely. 

Otherwise, the person who fills out that form may not be giving you the best information you will need to make a solid proposal. The answer will depend on who's writing, what their experience (or lack) is, whose boss is breathing down their neck, and other issues.

Bart


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