How NOT to Choose a Digital Agency

I don’t know about you, but I often prefer to find out how NOT to do something than hear yet another recommendation.  I’m sure you’re thinking we’re a bit bias (a post from a digital agency about how to choose a digital agency), but suspend your cynicism just long enough to read through a few of our “Top 10 ways NOT to choose a digital agency” and feel free to comment your cynicism (if there is any left) below.

01. Keep your budget a secret

That way, you’ll be sure to receive really differing and hard to compare offers. The web is scalable and there is more than one way to answer the brief, depending on the amount of money the agency has to work with.  And, if you won’t necessarily choose the lowest bidder, why not give your budget?

02. Do not let anyone know which agencies you invited

I never understood the logic of this one. What are you afraid of? Price collusion? Anyways, it’s a small agency world and the invited agencies will end up knowing who’s competing anyways. In the meantime, great agencies will have refused to participate because they won’t want to end up competing against desperate agencies willing to price dump.

03. Invite a dozen agencies, preferably a mix of small, medium and large ones

It’s a sure-fire way to let everyone know that you didn’t do your homework by pre-selecting digital agencies you know nothing about.  As a bonus, you will receive an array of offers so different they’ll be impossible to compare.

04. Do not validate technical proficiency

This will make for interesting surprises along the way. From bugs, to crashing servers and escalating development costs.  If only there was a way of validating technical proficiency without knowing a thing about the techie stuff… Oh yeah, we’re working on just such a technology: ProScore (BETA release).  There’s also no shortage of free 3rd-party tools like W3C Validator,  Google Pagespeed Insights, GTmetrix, and about a thousand others.

05. Do not ask for references

Go ahead, trust your instincts with what the agency says during their well-practiced pitch.  Making a few phone calls and sending a few e-mails takes so much time and effort relative to the importance of the project that you can totally dispense with it.

06. Make the brief as confusing as possible with gaping holes for interpretation

That way, you can get all the digital agencies confused. The smart ones will irritate you by asking a thousand questions and the dumb ones will interpret the brief in a way that’s most advantageous to them.  In the end, it doesn’t matter because you’ll chose the lowest bidder – who didn’t bother reading the brief.

07. Have an impossibly tight deadline

This will tell all the smart agencies that you have unrealistic expectations and don’t have the faintest idea of the level of effort required to complete the project. Starving agencies drowning in debt and with a lot of idle hands will jump on the opportunity to promise you the moon and deliver a pound of dirt.  You’re realistic aren’t you.  Why not ask them to offer their own deadline?

08. Go for the lowest price

After all, it’s just a website. How complex can it be? Even your brother-in-law can design one.  Sorry, no.  You get what you pay for.  The right digital agency will be able to explain where the money is going and why it’s worth the extra doe.

09. Choose the agency that said what you wanted to hear

A ‘yes-agency’ is great for your ego and easier to present to your boss and colleagues.  And since you’re always right, smart people should share your opinions anyway, right?!  People like to be affirmed more than they like to be informed.

10. Offer to help complete the project in exchange for a lower cost

Of course you could learn AJAX-powered CSS3  in an afternoon if you had the time.  Just offer to help complete the project and demand a lower price for your effort.  Reminds me of when I tried the same thing on the contractor who built my deck.  Stone-faced, he looked at me and said, “$1500.  $3000 if you try and help.”