Victor here, business developer at Provide it, which is both an exciting and often misunderstood role. I am in charge of our agency partnerships and that means so much more than just selling web. My main task is not to sell web projects, but instead to strengthen and create new agency partnerships.
So how do we help an agency?
Web production? Of course, but our goal is for the agency’s sales to increase by using us as a strategic toolbox. We help the agency win new clients or strengthen the trust of existing ones, by offering specifications on the right technologies and everything else needed to win a web project. We also provide pitches and other presentations to contribute our expertise in sales work. All of this is offered free of charge because we see agencies as partners and not just as customers. We are the agency’s free web expertise.
During my time at Provide it, I have started dozens of new agency collaborations by meeting many creative and talented people. I have gained insight into their way of procuring and running web projects. There are many good things happening, but there are a few typical mistakes that we strongly recommend that you avoid. Here are the three most common.
– Victor, business developer
Question the choice of web technology
According to research, the majority of web projects fail, i.e. exceed the project’s budget and schedule. The biggest reason is a lack of preparatory work, i.e. the work before the project starts, including choosing the right technology. In this way, you should avoid web agencies that always recommend a certain web technology. We often hear about web agencies that always suggest CMS even if it is a web system that is to be developed and not a website. Such a mistake can mean scrapping the solution, i.e. starting the development work over again.
In addition, a web agency should not offer too many established web technologies. Make sure that the web agency is niched in technology and beware that they always recommend the same technology, regardless of whether it is a website or web system, read more about it here. We see this among other things with so-called Drupal agencies.
Reasonable hourly rate
We understand that your client may have a low budget or that you want good margins on assignments, but that is no excuse for hiring a web agency that has an hourly rate that is far too low. We have heard of prices around 500-700 SEK per hour and at the same time we are told how skilled these web agencies are supposed to be. We find it very hard to believe, as it is not economically sustainable to have a supplier with such low prices and at the same time have sharp developers. A good developer will sooner or later probably want a reasonable salary, and these hourly rates are not going to work. Yes, it is possible if the developers are not resident in Sweden, but we almost always recommend not hiring project teams from abroad. And what do you think your customer thinks of that?
You should also avoid web agencies with a price tag of over 1,000 SEK per hour. Especially when developing a website. We believe that it is far too high if you are partners with agencies. We advocate a price tag of 900 SEK/h and that is more than enough for us to be able to afford to pay our experienced developers and project managers, as well as have a good margin and of course deliver great work.
Partner and not supplier
See the business relationship as a collaboration and not just customer – supplier. Web projects are complex and will require close cooperation with your web agency. Make sure it understands this and has a project process that advocates transparency and communication in the collaboration. Do you always need to ask about the status of the project? Will there be a last-minute delivery? Do you get to test everything at the end and not continuously in the project? If so, you have a sign of a lack of collaboration.
A collaboration partner should be able to help you win a web project free of charge through their technical expertise. They should produce technical and correct specifications and represent you at pitches. You should feel like a team and not two separate entities.
In conclusion
As I said, the above recommendations are based on what we have noticed are typical shortcomings in collaborations between an agency and a web agency. There is of course much more to point out, but that will be another post.
However, we want to emphasize the importance of following these recommendations even if you have not encountered problems in web projects so far. This does not mean that