Internet project managers

I found an open letter to the project managers that I once wrote. Very relevant to this day.

With this letter, I would like to appeal to the managers who are conducting site development projects for small business entrepreneurs. How strange this does not sound, but often not only the result in the form of a website depends on you, but also the success of the client’s business.

I sometimes observe a picture when a client abandoned a project, did not finish it, lost interest ... This really happens, and quite often. The project and its owner did not have quite a bit of energy and desire to start selling and become successful. But do you realize that it was in your hands that there was an opportunity to prevent this. How can this be prevented and why is it important?

Meet customer expectations

As a rule, you know the needs of an entrepreneur who comes to order a site. But do you think about the expectations with which he comes? No matter how much we rested on the realization of needs with the help of technology, functionality, design ... a project can fail if work on it and the result do not meet the initial expectations of the client.

To make it clearer, let me give an example of what are the real needs of an entrepreneur ordering a site and compare them with his possible expectations. In my experience, compliance in practice of one and the other can significantly increase the success of the project and lay the foundation for a long and good relationship with the client.

The customer wants to find new customers
I think you will agree that customer search is probably one of the basic needs of all customers. What does the customer expect while coming for the site?

Any entrepreneur expects a quick result from the money invested. He wants to quickly feel that the site is beneficial, and the business is in demand by potential customers. When an entrepreneur feels this, he has a desire to develop and tune in to a greater victory. The customer subconsciously waits for a quick result, even if he clearly does not require it. Want a satisfied customer and a grateful review? It is necessary to give the opportunity to feel the quick result, no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it’s a site development, promotion or support services. We must achieve quick results.

The customer wants to talk about his company
In second place I would put the need of an entrepreneur to talk about his company. What should I look for when working on this need?

Ask the customer the question “does he need a site if there will be many customers without a site?”. Surprisingly, most likely, he will answer “yes”. Why? Like any normal entrepreneur, he wants recognition. A website is a good way to realize this expectation. Pay special attention to such sections as “Customer Testimonials”, “Implemented Projects”, “Client List”. Qualitatively approach their filling. You will feel constructive work from the client! Recognition and appreciation from the outside is a great thing for a small business, which provides an incredible boost of energy to promote your business with much greater confidence.

A small entrepreneur needs help in organizing his business.
You often observe that a significant part of customers who apply for a website do not pay enough attention to structuring information. Coming to us, the client does not have an understandable structure, there is no description of products or services, competitive advantages are not clear, etc. This is not the customer’s fault. The entrepreneur does not have enough time for this. He is busy with his business idea and the shortest way to its implementation.

At the same time, you know that without "order" on the site (systematicity) it is difficult to make sales, especially on the Internet, where a simple logic of access to information, readability, and accessibility is needed. When you lead a project, you lay out the client’s business on the shelves. Use a consistent algorithm for collecting information and create an “order”. You have already done this more than one hundred times for all kinds of businesses. Be professionals this time too. This is what the client needs right now. Your efforts will help to overcome the deadly "a little bit" and soon clients will come for another project.

The list does not end there. I perhaps brought the most obvious and closest to me needs and expectations, corresponding to which miracles can be done. You can continue them.

So why is customer satisfaction important to us?

The professionalism of the Internet project manager when working with clients lies not only in clever words such as "conversion", "usability", "failure rate", etc. For professionals, all this remains behind the scenes. I would like our customers to feel that we understand them in their usual terms. I noticed that if you follow the expectations of customers, we help ourselves. In this case, the client looks at us as a partner, repeatedly applying for the third, fourth site. Meet your expectations!

Vasily Churanov and web-canape team