Briefing: what and why we ask
About company
So, the manager has processed the lead and arranges a call or meeting. Now you need to get to know the client and learn about him as much as possible. It is important for us to understand the situation both within the company and in the market as a whole, since the site is one of the business tools.
We ask:
Tell about the company
Experience, sales geography, structure, activities, price segment, development plans.
Describe the target audience (CA) of the product and its segments
We will be able to understand the desires of consumers and model the main scenarios of their interaction with the site: where, when and under what conditions.
For example, this paragraph of the brief helped to find out that for the mobile version of the site of one of our clients, it was important to place valid promotions and coupons on the main page — the main audience comes for this.
Tell about the difficulties that the customer faces when selling a product to his target audience
This will also help in finding solutions. Real life example: a new client came to us, a manufacturer of motor oils. In the course of the briefing, we found out that the brand lacks recognition, potential partners treat the product with distrust.
So we decided to create a website with an emphasis on service quality and reviews, and then run an advertising campaign for it. Here the task was not typical, and it became clear thanks to the brief.
Tell about competitors
This information will be useful to us in the next step. Here it is important to adequately assess yourself in the market and not forget even indirect competitors.
Think about what unique selling proposition (USP) the brand has, this will help to place accents on the site
If a company has not formulated its USP, the task of the agency is to help it analyze its strengths. And after that — correctly present these benefits on the site.
After we get to know each other, we will definitely find out about the current site. The main thing here is to identify weak points so as not to step on the same rake.
- Do you already have a website? If yes, what are the problems with it?
- How do you process incoming requests? Is there a record of their number?
- Is there data from analytics systems? Can you provide them?
Having studied the metrics, we will better understand specific problems and be able to solve them based on real data.
About the site
Often you need help formulating the final task from general wishes.
We ask:
What tasks of users and business should the site solve?
What functions of the manager should the site perform?
For example, you can often hear from a client that it would be nice to make life easier for sellers.
Two years ago, we developed a website for an industrial organization and implemented a tool for comparing apartments. After the launch, we received feedback from their sales department: now managers almost don’t have to answer general questions about characteristics and availability from customers — now it’s all more convenient and easier to see on the website.
This means that managers receive better applications and can devote more time to processing them.
What is the most important thing for a client in a future website?
About site requirements
When global goals and objectives are set, it’s time for us to move on to questions that will help determine specific functionality. At this stage, we understand what the specialists will be doing and for how long, while the client receives an accurate assessment of the project. We clarify the following points:
Estimated directory size and number of users
This is necessary for drawing up requirements for the database. Sometimes the desired tools and technologies are immediately specified in the client’s request. Our task is to understand the reasons for this choice and offer the best solution, if necessary.
Example: a large service with ads. Lots of users, functionality, huge database, and heavy workloads. At the same time, Bitrix is specified in the requirements — due to this, it is planned to save the budget. The problem is that Bitrix cannot cope with such functionality, and the site will have to be redone. And this will require even more resources.
Type of content and its volume
Photos, videos, documents and so on
Integration with external services
Acquiring, shipping calculation, cards and so on.
Do you need additional functionality
Calculators, selectors and so on.
Will there be versions in other languages?
By the way, sometimes a light version of the site is enough for them — not all content is relevant.
We find out from the client which sites he likes
If there are no such examples, we ourselves select a moodboard from sites, pictures, font examples. And then we discuss it together to decide on the visual design.
Examples of «how not to do» are also very useful.
About content and promotion
The questions of this block are also important in calculating the cost of the project:
Who will create visual, textual content for the site
Photos, videos, banners, articles, descriptions and so on.
Who will fill the site?
How do you plan to promote the new site?
Not everyone understands that the site needs to be promoted. And sometimes a small flow of customers is caused by the lack of an advertising campaign. Therefore, we discuss this point in advance.
About the essential
These questions will help you think through everything and include in the first iteration only the functionality that fits into the estimate:
What is the initial budget for website development?
What is the planned timeframe for project implementation?
Perhaps the client has some kind of informational reason for which it would be great to launch the site. Or the optimal date, which is determined by the seasonality of the business.
About details
We have finished with the main points, let’s move on to smaller and more specific questions. They are also important, because a large system is always built from small elements. We specify:
- What target actions should the user take on the site?
- What fields are required for the feedback form?
- Is there a specialist to communicate through an online consultant on the site?
- Is there a CRM? What data from your personal account should be integrated into CRM?
- Is there a pool of core services (or product category) that should be emphasized?
- Is there a full-time system administrator (to maintain the operation of the server) and a 1C specialist (if integration is available).
- What is the geography of users?
Separately for online stores and projects with catalogs
If the store is being created as an addition to an existing business, you need to find out:
What accounting systems are used?
What integrations will be, what improvements may be required?
If not, then you need to find out possible expectations from the site and plans for the future.
Organization of the process
The project needs a realistic plan and deadlines. But often at the approval stage this plan “breaks”, because its speed directly depends on the number of people making decisions on the client side. Therefore, we made it a rule to ask important questions about decision makers at the briefing stage:
Who will approve the results of your work?
How many decision makers will be on your side? Are there any approval regulations? (preliminary, final, etc.)
Who will oversee the project?
Who will be responsible for operational issues? For legal support?
Life after the brief
We have been experimenting with structuring information for a long time. For example, we created a chat with a client. But today the most convenient option for us is a rally report. This is a file in Google Docs in which we record the results of all meetings and calls, and the client confirms them.
Each report consists of the following items:
- the date;
- characters;
- purpose of the call (meeting);
- the topic of conversation;
- description of problems and issues;
- the result of the conversation.
Why does this brief work well? Because all the questions in it have their own value and are connected to each other. We also never confine ourselves to correspondence with the client: we discuss everything verbally — this way you can find out more important nuances.
We hope this article will help both clients and studios who are just on their way to the right briefing.
