Recently, I had a conversation with a client who wanted to build an app, and was bamboozled by the options, didn’t know who to trust, who could do a good job, or knew what they were selling; or could spot any warning signs before picking an agency to build their idea.
It was dishearting, I always assumed, perhaps wrongly, that the terminology, the technology, the common interaction we now increasingly in society have daily with computers and devices meant that being able to spot warning signs and pick an agency to go with would be pretty straight forward.
Before transitioning to innovation; I spent the better part of my earlier career in web design, working at web agencies and app companies; it never once occured to me what a client should look out for in actually picking an agency to work with. I just assumed they knew.
It goes without saying that the interactions between a prospective client and agency is two-way; its a relationship, built on conversations, trust, evicacy and how well client expectations are managed.
In terms of a project; I think there are three main levels, with varying costs:
- DIY – Do it yourself. (£)
- Do it with help / Do it with you. (££)
- Done for you (£££)
Of course, there will be some interactions that cross the different levels; and this comes back to themes of scoping a project, project management, roadmapping and managing expectations.
There are some basic pre-work that can be done before picking an agency; and there are some warning signs or red flags and some general notes that may help;
Authority – Offline and online
- Does the agency have a good track record via their online authority, check Google, Facebook, TrustPilot or other online reviews out there. Don’t just go on how many followers on social media they have.
- Check if they have case studies, testimonials; just be aware, in today’s world testimonials can be bought. See if you can do some due diligence on the testimonials. Telephone or email one of the case studies and ask them how it was like to work with the agency; what was the one thing they liked and what was the one thing that you should be looking out for
- Do they have a portfolio? Some big name agencies do not publish or disseminate a portfolio
- Ask for a referral or get invite for pitch. You can do this through organisations such as a University, or a business advise organisation.
Getting a feel of the agency
- It can be intimitading, bamboozling or frustrating working with “tech” companies who may use or drop technical language in a conversation. If you are unsure of what a term is but do not want to reveal it in your early conversations with an agency, write it down and check it later online
- Are you talking with a sales person / account manager or the team that will actually design, build the product in question? A sales person is there to sell, a team will try to define and reign in scope of the job.
Scope of the job
- Sometimes it can be hard to know what the scope of the job looks like or feels like, especially if you’ve never done anything like this before. As an exercise, before talking to any agency – get a few sheets of A4 and start jotting down all the things you want the app to do. Be as divergent as you like in this first stage. Then, maybe the day after – question it; why is each desire important. Naturally, the more complex the job; the more likely it will cost time, money, effort, etc.
- If you’re still uncertain or unsure about scoping out a project of this kind there are free organisations you can talk to. Organisations like Sunderland Software City, or a University; the organisation you talk to should have no conflict of interest with any specific app agency — usually they will have programs designed for small businesses. They may even connect you to funds, or part financing as well. So it pays to do some initial leg work before you starting paying big bucks to agencies.
- Reducing scope doesn’t always mean its cheaper to build; Some companies will try to reduce the scope of work to be undertaken; but do not assume that this directly impacts cost; but do ask.
- Some organisations will offer you a MVP – which stands for Minimum Viable Product. Some people actually differ on what MVP is actually meant for. In the context of a website product or app being delivered and launched, the idea would be what is the minimum number of features you can get away with to test the idea, and how quickly can your refine or rescope the project to fit intial customer needs and requirements. In some cases MVP can be a cheap way of proving to yourself that the product solves a problem. However, if you feel the product you are making needs to be right first time (for whatever reason), then an MVP may not be right for you.
Getting a pitch
- Some agencies/companies no longer pitch or will bill for it. So please be careful before asking for it.
- If an agency does sends you a pitch document, invariably, it will be a template or may feel it doesn’t really line up with what you originally asked for — this is because agencies rarely have the time to spend to map out all the challenges, or technical work or hours that will be required on your project; this includes any time spent on testing, development, or fixing bugs.
- “Yes, we can do it” – Promise now, deliver later. In this concept, an agency may say yes we can do it. But look at their portfolio, look at their track record. Look at any case studies. Have they really done anything like this before? See if you can talk to their team directly through a free discovery call. If its a wholly new product, or its a company that actually thrives on new challenges; then this may mitigate this.
- “Yes, we can do it at that price” – Undercut now, bill later. Some agencies will undercut the competition to win the bid, then price up later jobs under the banner of “outside of scope” or “overruning costs”.
- “Inflated ROI” – The wow factor. Do not assume the numbers presented in a report, pitch are accurate. They are there to win you over.
Who owns the code, assets and IP?
- This is an easy one to miss; who owns the code created for your app, who owns the account created to launch the app on Google or iOS; do you want to own it, or are you okay to have the agency own it and you rent it from them? It may be very important to know this especially if you are going for investors or want to sell it on in the future; because the app, its code, it’s IP are assets!
- Some of the more transparent companies will give you view-only access to a code repository. You can see check-ins, code being created. This may give you peace of mind that they are doing the work.
- Ask for all code, art assets, IP, etc to be transferred to your account or available via a secure process; this may be useful if you need to transfer your app, website or domain to somebody else.
On-going support and maintenance
- Retainers and monthly maintenance costs. A lot of agencies use this, its their bread and butter. In web sites, it may cover security updates, code fixes, etc. In native mobile apps, they can be similar in scope. However, for apps I’d be very weiry about setting up paying maintenance fees without asking for what you get. Is it hours? Is it a number of revisions or code fixes? In what time frame do you get the fixes done? You may even ask for monthly reports about where the time was spent, and who did the work.
- Retainers for app maintenance – This is a real bug bare for me. I’ve met some app agencies in the past who charge quite a lot for app maintenace but don’t actually do any fixes or maintenance of any kind; unless there has been an outside intervention (ie: The mobile app’s software has been upgraded) — Again, my tip here is — ask them why are they charging maintenance, what does it cover, how many hours, can you get reports, etc. I think a pro tip would be — Have a service level agreement, minimum hours with logs baked into your contract.
- Get a website app vs Getting a product partner – So there are two main schools of thought for app / websites. One is purely transactional; you pay for the building, hosting, maintenance, launch and general up-keep of a website or app. The other is more consultative, and more in-depth; and can be more expensive. But if you’re looking for results and not just a transactionary project, this might be up your street. If you are looking for a partner, try to ascertain how they work; what the relationship will look like – how long will it work for, etc. Set a budget, set expectations. It may be 3-month, 6-months or longer.
The above list is not exhaustive, but shows a breadth of the interaction journey with an agency from discovery through to delivery then; post-delivery.
It can be daunting to get a project off the ground, knowing what agency to pick, the issue of trust, managing client expectations, gauging the level of on-going support or assistance you might need to get the project up and running.
I feel, as a general rule of thumb – the more up-front paper and pencil work you can do on the idea before you go to an agency, the better the experience.
I hope this has been of help.