How The Best App Agencies Collaborate With Clients On Projects

Thinking of hiring an agency to build your dream app?

We bet you’ve already had a debate with your team and weighed the pros and cons.

We don’t blame you for taking this decision seriously — after all, there are tons of horror stories about collaborations gone sour, so the extra time and research certainly doesn’t hurt.

Before you go full steam ahead and sign on the dotted line, you have to be able to differentiate a great agency from an average one, lest you partner with the wrong development team — a mistake that even some of the best companies make.

Why is it so important to partner with a great agency?

Because a reputable agency will not only meet your budget requirements, but will also deliver an app that fulfills your vision and engages your users. And possibly most important of all, a great agency will be easy to work with!

Yes, the best agencies show their true colors in how they interact with their clients. Are the developers always friendly or always moody? Do they communicate readily, or do you have to send five emails before they’ll respond?

With that in mind, here are a few characteristics to look for that will help you separate a trustworthy, focused agency from a mediocre one.

Let’s go:

#1 They Gather Company Insights Before They Begin Their Build

It’s true — no one knows your company the way your team does. That’s why a good agency will spend a great deal of time speaking with your team and gathering insights about your company, which are critical to the process of developing the app.

Think of it as a planning session where the agency and your team work together to explore the brand, the competitive landscape, the vision for the app, the expected functionality, as well as the target audience. In a nutshell, this process allows the agency to build a customized mobile app strategy that gets results for your business.

When building an app, we take every client through our blueprint process. This allows us to map out every detail required to design, develop, deploy a successful mobile app strategy.

#2 They Communicate Progress Every Step Of The Way

Open communication is key to any agency-client relationship — yet it’s often missing from projects across industries. Good agencies make sure their clients have a clear understanding of the timeline before the project even begins and are kept up to date on the progress of the build.

These agencies create thorough product roadmaps and then share those with their clients. Not only does a product roadmap ease any anxiety a client may have about the direction of the app build, but it also gives them time to determine their marketing spend and plan a launch campaign.

#3 They Involve Their Clients And Current Users In Design Decisions

A bad design can cause friction and app abandonment. Unfortunately, despite the importance of consulting clients and users in the design process, many agencies skip this step and go to the drawing board with their own preconceived ideas.

The end result?

An app that doesn’t align with the client’s vision.

Experienced agencies, on the other hand, create prototypes based on planning and research, the knowledge of their design team, and insights from the app company. That’s not all — good agencies also speak with users of the current app (if there is one) or users of competing apps.

#4 They Are Receptive To Feedback

Once the project is presented, there may be additional tweaks and adjustments to be made. The best agencies know how to balance client feedback with their own knowledge and expertise. They are nimble and quickly adapt to requests for changes.

Over to you:

Whether you’re building an Android or iOS app, outsourcing the development may seem overwhelming at first. There are a lot of agencies to pick through, and they may all seem like a good fit — at first. But if you look for the characteristics mentioned above, you will be on the path to finding the right development partner to make the process that much easier. Remember, an app build is a collaborative effort all the way around. Find an agency that understands this truth!

Looking for an agency who can check off these four points? Our product strategists are just a call away!

Originally published at mindsea.com on November 19, 2018.