Communication is Key

28 Dec 2011

A client of mine recently asked me how they could reduce costs involved in updating their website. I examined all the facts and then asked them if they wanted to know the truth?

Thankfully, this client has been with Smith and Wise for quite a while and appreciates our honest and transparent nature. I told him the key to reducing costs is communication, how it is managed and how it is presented. This is true for most industries, proper communication can drastically reduce costs

Key cost reduction methods I found included:

• Fully Specing Everything
  All professional service providers will provide a quote based on time involved to carry out a service, but this is reliant on receiving all requirements up front. Changing a spec, or leaving a professional take their own, normally correct, approach to a project, amendments or other items can ussually result in wasted time, which is billed for.

• Keep Things Simple
  As much as possible, keep things simple, only detail items you are set in your way about, it is best to detail what is required in functionality terms than trying to self design or develop something on paper, because this rarely results in the most direct route to the same result - a detailed spec which is developed on guess work, rather than experience has often led to us rejecting work, or quoting 2-3 times as much as if we were able to do work the way we have recommended and specified, with the same functionality.

• Don't Constantly, Unnecessarily, Change Items
  The real beauty of the internet for many people is the ability to change things quickly and effectively. This is normally true, but expect to pay top dollar for items to be changed ASAP, which for most web companies means within a few hours, after hours or over the weekend. All good web professionals, the ones which actually deliver a decent ROI for developing a website or carrying out online marketing will expect to be paid more to work such hours, and all market trends are showing that wages in the I.C.T and Web sector are actually increasing in Ireland during the recession.

• Make Lists Where Possible
  Where possible, make a list of various items to work on at once. The actual time cost of accessing a website, connecting FTP and recognising site elements and files (even SME websites can have over 100 files) is often as great as the cost of the changes / additions which are being made. By bundling items, within the previous three suggestions, you can dramatically reduce costs by atleast 10 minutes per hour / roughly 15-20%.

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