After all, a perfect understanding of online marketing alone is not enough to ensure a website’s success. We need to be able to communicate with key people across the company about what they expect from the website. At the outset, they rarely see eye to eye.
Who is responsible for what? What does the sales department expect from the website, and why is the owner investing in it? How does the marketing team envisage the whole thing? Who will have the final say, and who will assess the project’s success?
100 1 question that we take as a challenge. We feel a responsibility to draw on the experience and opinions of all the key people in the company who have a say in the website – from marketing, sales, management and IT. And also to help them find common ground in their visions. So… a bit of a tough nut to crack, but we never give up 🙂
Getting the marketing and sales teams on the same page
We’ve heard plenty of stories about communication breakdowns between different departments. The bigger the company, the more likely it is that individual teams don’t know what the others are doing or why. Everyone is focused on their own goals, and woe betide anyone who distracts them from them. And then? Marketing runs a campaign that sales knows nothing about. Or the company’s management is preparing a business strategy that they forgot to tell middle management about. Everyone is very busy and everyone is doing their best.
That is why, right from the start, we make a point of fostering open discussion within the client’s company. We know how to bridge any gaps in understanding between different departments. We want to give good ideas from across the company a chance to be heard, and ensure the best ones make it onto the website.
For the specialist who has chosen to work with us, we guarantee that we will do our utmost to ensure the satisfaction of the owner, colleagues and customers alike. And at the same time, that we know how to nip ideas that do not lead to the goal in the bud and explain our actions. In short, that we will guide them safely through the entire process and not let them get lost in it.
We start with an initial study
We never start work without a thorough analysis. We call it an initial study, and it contains everything essential about the future website. We’ve written a separate article on how and why we create the initial study. For large clients, we also organise so-called workshops at the start of the collaboration for people who have a say in the website. A space where we ask a lot of questions and listen even more.
What do the company’s management and individual departments expect from the website? What would help them in their work, and what is missing from the current website? How do they view the customer and their own product?
The time invested pays off for both the client and us. We then have a shared strategy that incorporates all the key perspectives, and with which just one or two people can work on behalf of the company. They don’t have to run around asking other colleagues about every new question or idea, because they have clear documentation and a defined objective to base their decisions on.
VPC
In our introductory workshops, we like to use the so-called VPC (Value Proposition Canvas) method. It is a simple and effective way to map out target groups and to draw on the experience of those within the company who are closest to the customers. For example, those providing support or after-sales service. They often know exactly what their customers’ needs, concerns and desires are. The VPC method is ideal for such analysis and brings the most important element to website development – the target customer’s perspective.
Between policy and the customer
For the whole website to turn out well, it needs an overview and good coordination. Someone to manage its creation and ensure we fulfil the main purpose of its creation – to support the business.
Working in a large company can sometimes feel a bit like politics for both managers and specialists. A bit of tactics, a bit of playing on one’s own turf, and a bit of hesitation to communicate openly with others. That’s where we come in, to keep the whole process firmly in hand. We involve everyone who wants to influence it in a timely and effective manner, and we establish a clear strategy early on that the development will follow.
This approach leads us to a website that truly benefits both the company and its customers. And that’s what we’ve all wanted from the start!
We create websites that are highly regarded by both clients and experts.
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