5 typical mistakes that customers often make when evaluating a web agency.

Here are 5 non-exhaustive and spontaneous typical mistakes that I come across again and again.

“They are full service – they can do everything”
It is tempting to believe that an agency of 30-50 people can provide all the services an SME needs on the web perfectly. Less know-how is needed internally and communication channels are short. Everyone knows each other. The truth is, however, that many more people are needed to provide a truly competent full service. Less than 100 employees, skillfully distributed across different areas, is usually not enough. If different products and technologies are added to the mix, this can quickly multiply. It is often much more clever to hire one company for the strategic and conceptual part as well as the technology evaluation and another for the implementation. They may not be able to do as much across the board, but they really can.

“I can compare the quotes properly”
If you are not an experienced web professional, you should not be under the illusion that quotes are comparable. There’s a good reason for this: you will usually write a briefing that the agencies can’t really do much with. After all, you’re not trying to make a quote for the electrical work for your office refurbishment yourself. It’s kind of the same thing. I have received over 2000 briefings in my career and I remember about 5 that I think are suitable for getting really comparable quotes. Of course they can compare prices. But what they should get in return is usually interpreted very differently, without any bad intentions. Of course you should send out briefings and obtain quotes. But it’s better to see it as part of an overall picture that you form of the agency in order to ultimately gain trust in the future partner (or not).

“I’ll tell the agency how I want it”
Who hasn’t come across these briefings that come across as authoritarian, sometimes even a little bit condescending. Or briefings that are 400 pages long and have every last detail defined. Such briefings consistently create a false selection. Because good agencies usually have more than enough work to do. They choose their clients and think carefully about which offers they want to invest time in. In the best case scenario, they receive an alibi offer from the good providers, which includes a lot of reserves. Bad agencies generally accept all the work because they often have to. And these are the offers that are well prepared and make a good impression on them. Great offers from the “wrong” partner. So meet your future partner at eye level. Treat them with respect. Allow their expertise to flow in as early as possible. And if you give the job to someone else, show your appreciation with a small thank you. This works wonders for future contacts.

“We requested 15 agencies”
Unfortunately, you often see companies requesting 10 to 15 agencies for a web project. This is a senseless waste of resources on all sides. Good agencies are also reluctant to submit offers where half of Switzerland or Germany is expected to bid. Asking so many agencies means that the client cannot really take the time to discuss the project with the provider in peace. And it also means that the customer hasn’t really done their job when it comes to short listings. It’s time-consuming and expensive, but it’s part of the process. Alternatively, there are a few consulting agencies that know the market really well and can help. In any case, a shortlist of 5 well-researched providers is completely sufficient. It should just be the right 5.

“Technology is not so important – the main thing is that the agency understands my brand”
If you need a creative agency for your advertising campaign or microsite, this may well be the case. But if you’re tackling a CMS platform or an eCommerce project, the handling of technology is crucial. The differences are huge and the web area of software development is traditionally the tinkering corner. Ask the agencies to demonstrate in detail how development is carried out, how testing is done and how future developments are handled. Continuous deployment, zero downtime maintenance and automated testing should be standard for larger web projects. A simple test can help here: Ask the agency whether it occasionally carries out quality assessments for external projects. If they can answer in the affirmative, you are usually dealing with a leading provider in development. If you can now briefly consult with the expertise customer and the feedback is good, you are on the safe side with the partner. At least as far as quality is concerned.