Website Redesign: Are you planning to succeed or succeeding to fail? It all starts with your RFP.

Website Redesign: Are you planning to succeed or succeeding to fail? It all starts with your RFP.

Raleigh, NCMay 7, 2014#DMFBRFP

David Minton &Stephen Pashby,DesignHammer

Slide 2ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Building smarter websites since 2001.

Slide 3ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Who are you?

Slide 4ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Your experience with RFPs?

•Ready to do first?

•Have done one?

•Have done many?

Slide 5ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Overview

•Part 1: Preparation

•Part 2: Resource allocation

•Part 3: RFP elements

•Tips & Tricks

Slide 6ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Part 1: Preparation

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 7ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Planning for success

•Create a short list

•Know your audience

• Identify goals

•Define success

•Define budget range

•Determine timeframe

Slide 8ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Create a short listCreate a short list

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 9ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

How to find your people

•Order takers vs. partners

•Get referrals

•Meet in person

•Ask & listen

•Consider an RFI

• Identify priorities

Slide 10ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Know your audienceKnow your audience

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 11ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

What does your audience want?

• Internet/tech savvy?

•Demographics

•What do your users want from you?

•Why will they choose you over another business?

•What do you want from them?

Slide 12ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Identify goals: Identify goals: strategy vs tacticsstrategy vs tactics

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 13ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

How to identify goals

•What are your business goals?

•What are goals for your website that will support your business goals?

•SMART goals

•Strategy vs. tactics

•Remember ROI

Slide 14ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tactics

•Focus on user interaction

•Measureable

•Should follow from goals

•Remember ROI

•Don’t be trendy

Slide 15ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Define successDefine success

IMAGE: HUFFINGTON POST

Slide 16ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Imagine the end result

•Be specific

•Think in terms of supporting your bottom line

•How will you measure success?

•Minimal viable product, iterative releases

Slide 17ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Possible metrics

•Page views & visits

•Lead capture

•Online orders

•Sharing

Slide 18ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Selection

•Clearly define goals

•Define metrics for success

•Don’t lose sight of users’ needs

•Plan for user feedback to influence later development phases

Slide 19ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Define budget rangeDefine budget range

Slide 20ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

IMAGE: Openphoto.net

Slide 21ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Size of budget affects:

•Technological approach

•Level of customization

•Level of integration

•Ability to plan for future expansion

Slide 22ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Budget factors:

•Do you have a budget?

•Total cost of ownership

• If not paying cash, opportunity costs

•Flexibility of budget/schedule/scope

•How you measure success

Slide 23ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Budgets

•Projects always cost more than expected — plan around priority 1 needs.

• Indicate who created your current website, as well as the development cost, and annual maintenance.

Slide 24ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

ScheduleSchedule

Slide 25ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 26ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Plan time for

•Deployment

•Design, Development

•Planning content/data migration

•Selection process

•Submission process

•Creating your short list

Slide 27ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Schedules

•Allow enough time to review and compare your short list people

• If you think you have set aside enough time, you probably haven’t

•Projects often take 2x3 times longer than you think they should

Slide 28ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Part 2: Resource Part 2: Resource AllocationAllocation

Slide 29ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Your choices

•You

•Staff members

•Volunteers/interns

•Freelance/individuals

•Agencies/firms

Slide 30ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Slide 31ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

You

Pros

•No additional cost

•Readily available

Cons

•Opportunity cost

•Do you have the necessary skills?

Slide 32ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Staff

Pros

•No additional cost

•Readily available

Cons

•Opportunity cost

•Less scalable than freelance or agency

Slide 33ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Volunteers/interns

Pros

•Free or cheap

•Augment internal capabilities

Cons

•Less stable than freelance or agency

•Less scalable than freelance or agency

Slide 34ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Freelance/individuals

Pros

•Less expensive than agency

•Augment internal capabilities

Cons

•Less stable than agency or firm

•Less scalable than agency or firm

Slide 35ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Agencies/firms

Pros

•Stability

•Technical capabilities

•Scalability

Cons

•Most expensive

Slide 36ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Who runs the project?

Slide 37ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Project management

• Improves efficiency

•Lowers costs

•Reduces chance of failure

• Improves chance of success

Slide 38ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Management

•More decision makers lead to longer and more expensive projects!

•Provide single points of contact for project production workers.

Slide 39ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Slide 40ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

RFP Process

•Writing an RFP

•Selecting firms to approach

•Comparing vendors

Slide 41ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 42ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Vendor information

Without real information, responses are just a guess.

Slide 43ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Vendors need to know

•Functionality

•Constraints

•Schedule

•Budget

•Decision making criteria

Slide 44ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Functionality

•Specific functionality

•Public vs. private content

•Third party integration

•“Must haves” vs.“Nice to haves”

Slide 45ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Constraints

•Technology requirements

•Hosting requirements

•Security requirements

•Organizational requirements

Slide 46ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Schedule

•Timeline for selection process

•Desired start date

•Desired launch date

Slide 47ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Budget

•Without a target budget, firms will guess

•What is minimum feature set for budget?

• If you don’t know your budget, you aren’t ready for an RFP, go for an RFI instead

Slide 48ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Selection criteria

•Price?

•Schedule?

•Technical experience?

•Samples of similar work?

•Company infrastructure?

•Geographic location of vendor?

Slide 49ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

IMAGE: WIKI COMMONS

Slide 50ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Some questions for vendors

•Sample of past projects

•Minimum/average project budgets

•Do you subcontract, if so why?

•Design & development philosophy

•Technological capabilities

•Capacity

•References

Slide 51ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Qualification

•Schedule initial calls or meetings to allow both you and the vendors to pre-qualify each other.

• If you openly publish your RFP, don’t be surprised by the number of responses you receive.

Slide 52ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Qualification

•Limit the length. Saves you and the vendors significant time and effort.

•Ask specific questions to better compare vendors.

•Effort required to respond to your RFP should be commensurate with your budget.

Slide 53ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Slide 54ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Which ones?

•Ask your peers

•Attend conferences (like DMFB)

•Do web searches

•Review your competitors’ websites

Slide 55ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

How many?

•Does your organization have a minimum bidding requirement?

• Ideally 3–5

• If really unsure, consider Request for Information (RFI) to narrow number

Slide 56ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Compare vendors

•Review proposals with vendors through meetings or calls

•Ask for an apples-to-apples comparison if vendor proposals do not line up

•Everything is negotiable

Slide 57ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Selection

• Indicate what type of vendor created the current website.

•Was the current vendor invited to submit an RFP response?

•Why are you seeking a new vendor?

Slide 58ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Selection

•How many vendors have been invited to respond? What types of vendors?

•Most professionals will not provide spec work, but you should ask for samples and/or portfolio.

Slide 59ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Tips: Selection

•You want to select the vendor most qualified to successfully complete the project, not most qualified to win the account!

Slide 60ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

It Doesn’t End HereIt Doesn’t End Here

No website lasts forever.No website lasts forever.

Slide 61ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Conclusion

•Planning is essential

•Understand the pros and cons of resources

•Make the most of RFP process

Slide 62ARE YOU PLANNING TO SUCCEED OR SUCCEEDING TO FAIL?

IT ALL STARTS WITH YOUR RFP.

Thanks!@designhammer

@dh_david@dh_stephen