10 Tips for Choosing the Right Design Company – Part 1
Last week, I wrote a post titled Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Large Design Company Than a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm in response to a great post from Calvin Cox of StyleApple on Top 7 Reasons Why It’s Better to Hire a Freelance Designer or Small Design Firm Than a Large Design Company. Both posts generated some fiery debate.
The point of our posts was not that a large company or a freelancer is better or worse because of their size, but that there are some advantages and disadvantages that generally come with size. I think we both wrote our posts focusing on the average large design company or small design company. We were not trying to stay that this is what ALL large or small design firms are like.
The real key is the quality of the company and people who work there, not the size. With that in mind, Calvin and I have co-written this post with 10 little tips, 5 from each of us, on ways to select a great design company.
- Interview 2-3 of their clients
Don’t just call their clients and ask what they think of the design firm, prepare a list of detailed questions beforehand. Ask about budget, communication and delivery times. How much did the design firm interact with the client? Think about what’s most important to you and ask their client about it. - The devil is in the details
Most attention-detailed people pay attention to detail all the time. Call them at a weird hour, what does their voicemail sound like? Is it professional or an afterthought? Can you tell the last time they updated their website was? Was it recent? Consider all the details of the designer’s website because your website might be next. Do they have a written contract? As it should be, for most businesses, this is a must. But for others, a written contract is just a detail that’s not important. - The questions they ask
When you do contact a design firm, you should be extremely prepared and have a very good sense of what you want. Even still, the designer will should always have a lot of questions. Analyze what kind of questions they’re asking, Can you think of something they’re forgetting to ask? Does it sound like they’ve worked on projects similar to yours before? - Ask for samples of documentation they’ve provided to clients
If you’re talking to a freelancer or very small firm that typically only works on relatively simple projects, this may not apply - but for a larger firm or if you have a larger project, be sure to ask this. Many design firms provide more hands-on training and support and less written documentation, but this is a good question to ask regardless. You should get a good feel for their perspective on supporting the client after the project is complete. - Ask who they’d recommend
This is a relatively well-known trick, but I’ve never had a potential client ask me before. E-mail all the local design firms or designers you can find on LinkedIn.com and ask who’d they recommend besides themselves. Simple but extremely effective. Hint: Connect with me on LinkedIn.com, I’m connected to about 500 web developers.
For the next five tips, read Calvin’s Post: 10 Great Tips for Choosing the Right Web Design Company Regardless of Size – Part 2. If you liked this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed. My next post will offer some great tricks for the Smarty template engine.
neil:
good tips, i guess with so many web design companies out there its hard to know which to use. tips like this make sure you dont get stung!
larisa:
Great article, James! Very informative
Andrew Ameron:
Not perfect but very informative tips, Thanks James
MN Web design:
Very good points, ask to see their previous work and figure out what kind of a company this is before you sign a contract. Figure out how they’ve worked with past customers.
Jollymoon:
Very nice tips on web design.
We Like. . .
Tim@Will2Design:
I must admit, #5 would be a tough one for me. Since Will2Design is a smaller company I would definitely have no hesitation in recommending Perficient to someone looking for a truly huge application development partner.
Your other points are very good although I have never even considered working without a contract… and none of the clients we have ever worked with has ever suggested it.
Web Design Minneapolis:
Excellent points, seeing a portfolio is one thing but talking with a former client is a whole other ball game.
What Do You Think?