10 typical mistakes while closing a deal

There is an opinion that the quality of project is being formed upon its ending period when you give everything to a client (time for testing). Well, this opinion is wrong because the quality of project is formed on its start.

For deal to be closed and transfered to deployment successfully you need to consider many small details that affect the quality. Today I want to share my view on typical mistakes that can be made on this part of the deal and how to escape them.

The core valuse of the project are starting to form during the selling period. If you imagine a project to be a strategical game like Heroes of Might and Magic, than you can simply compare it to a map fully undiscovered. Right now you don’t know what you will get in the end, but you know that to open the map without any dare conciquences you need to consider all the risks right from the start.

Here they are, the standard mistakes waiting any studio or agency in the field (actually such mistakes are also true from the client side):

1. The metodology was chosen wrong

Usually client comes with general idea of the project with no clear vision. If this is a case it’s crucial to choose the right metodology for the project. It’s very dangerous to sign up the documents based on waterfall methodology (fixed budget) because during prototyping there may be too much new features added. If you signed the fixed model papers you’ll need to do all the features with no additional money involved. It will be much more clever to offer a client to start with project design and polish all the ideas, describe it to its max and create a prototype of future mobile or web project.

It will also be great to work on a project with agile metodology with short iterations.

2. NDA wasn’t discussed

Every agency needs cases to apper in their portfolio. Every case creates an additional value for an agency because it brings new clients. If the project is created under NDA, it’ value can be increased by 10–15 % because it cannot be published in the portfolio afterwards. It’s important to talk about on the start and put it in the documents. From the client point of view it’s also important to discuss not to have any claims later. If there is a risk that agency can put the information in the case in a way client disapproves it, it’s better to coordinate the publication. In such case client always controls the publication process.

3. Project timeline

For many clients the timeline of the project is crucial. Typical mistake that involves time is that processes are not going as parallels. In such case project goes forward with a speed of a snail. To avoid such mistake you can, for example, coordinate processes of creating design and working on technical task to be paralleled.

Another typical time mistake is to forget about national holidays while making a timline plan. Such mistake can be often seen in the work of junior project managers who are just starting their work.

Clearing all the stages with a client can also became a typical timing mistake. The adjustment period is different in every company and in order to stay on time you need to plan it also. If there are some materials needed from the client side (such as API, design, brandbook, etc.) you also need to write down the timing for giving those materials to an agency. Even small delays in materials can shift the time of the project.

It’s also important to say few words about another timing mistake when it’s not coordinated inside of the team. It’s crucial to find the team right from the start and coordinate every stage of development because the timing can vary greatly according to the professional level of every specialist on the project. While developing an app for iOS it’s also important to count AppStore review time also (sometimes it can take more than two weeks).

All these timing problems are true both for agency and client, especially the adjustment time and AppStore review time.

4. Warranty cover

Typical mistake is to forget to discuss all the warranty details. After closing of the project it’s common for bugs to appear during using of an app. It’s important to discuss the warranty and its timeline, because during this period agency needs to fix the bugs without additional payments. Usually this period takes from 1 to 3 month. It’s also important to discuss the way cleint will be giving the details about the bug to the studio (text, screenshots, browser version, etc.) All these details will give agency the opportunity to fix the bug quickly.

Understanding its target audince and the way users will interact with the product is crucial for every client to find all the bugs possible on the closure. For example, if tere will be more users with Android devices or Explorer corporate desktop, you’ll better find all the bugs on this platform in the first place.

5. Tasks decription

One more typical mistake is to forget to add creative and technical tasks to an offer. On the whole this mistake is obvious, but sometimes there are cases when client didn’t signed up the document describing the whole pool of works. For project stage we usually create a specification, for a design we use creative task and for the developing stage the technical task is used commonly. All these documment are supposed to be created on the first stage of the project to be added to an offer. In case there will be new features appearing or new tasks created that were not placed in the initial papers, you can discuss the additional payment. If there is no tasks all the additional things will be developed for free.

6. All stages of the work / Closing the stages

Sometimes stages of the project are not covered in details or the agency agrees with a client for a postpayment. In case of longtime projects it may be considered a mistake to work without payment in several stages. First of all, postpayment can give an agency a hard time financially. Secondly, it’s more convenient to close the deal in stages in terms of risk management. For example, client can decide not to continue with development after the design stage, — if the payment arranged in several stages such decision will bring no pain for both sides. It’s crucial for every payment to be tied to a concrete task to sign the work completion certificate on every stage easily.

For client it’s also more convenient to devide payment in several stages. When client has work completion certificates it’s easier to ask for source (code, design) and change the contractor when needed. Not asking for source code or all login information is a typical mistake from the client side. In our practice we had several clients who asked us to work after some freelancers that didn’t provide any sources. Needless to say that such projects will be redone completely, there’s no other choice.

7. Cost sheet

Commercial proposal is usually being formed togheter with list of all the task during the sale stage. It will be incorrect to sign the offer for the whole price without a commercial proposal. It’s important to add it to an offer to avoid the risks. In such a case you’ll be able to devide the price in stages and easily count what tasks were done and what were were not. It’s also useful in case of tax inspections.

8. People in charge from client side

Sometimes people forget to discuss this issue from the start which leads to long adjustment process with many people added to mail-list and skype-calls. In such a case it becomes almost impossible to have a final decision on a matter. That is why it’s crucial to know people in charge from the beginning and write them down in an offer.

9. To discuss a way of communication and its timeline

Different clients prefer different options such as skype, mail, phone or various messengers. It’s better to discuss this on start to make the communications on the project as convenient as possible. Moreover, there are clients how like to communicate regularly or even daily, there are also clients who dissappear for a long period of time without informing the team. It’s neccessary for every team to get a feedback from a client on their quastions as soon as possible, but it will also be a waste of time to have a long phonecalls. That is why I recommend to agree in the beginning upon a time (e.g. once a week on Friday) when client will be available for questions and answers. It’s also improtant to discuss on a time of calls and meetings and when and in what form client will get the reports from the project team.

It will be wise to ask the contractor for midterm results of the project. Studio, for example, can invite client to Hockeyapp to show the test builds of an app or web-site. Client needs to monitor the processes to be satisfied with the results. Some clients don’t want to know anything about the process, but when you see only the final result it much more difficult to change anything.

10. Checking legal entity of the client

Right now it’s easy to find all the info about company. You can see the basic legal entity info online. If you want to have zero problems with taxes you’d better ckeck all the info about your contractor or client beforehand. Also it’s important to ckech the closing documents and acts after every stage of the deal.