Expectations vs. deliverables
While browsing on the web, we found this interesting blog post from an e-commerce entrepreneur, which we thought was a really interesting case for explaining the ongoing situation with high expectations, but low budget.
Marketing Media does not take a stance on this issue. We only express our opinion based on our own experience, and we draw our own conclusions based on the facts outlined in the post.
The Post
We had been using Corecommerce for almost a year with great success. The shopping cart system and options available to novice users was impressive and intuitive. We recently learned about their custom page design service, and looked through their client gallery. We were impressed with the sites they built. With such an enjoyable experience using the e-commerce platform, we decided to go forward with their custom design service. To start off, they sent us an exhaustive questionnaire about what direction and inspirations we want to use for the design. After submitting that, we had a one hour phone consultation with Steven, our designer for the project. We told him in detail the direction the custom design should go, our company’s core goals and the image we wanted to portray. We also showed websites that we liked as sources of inspiration, as well as websites we didn’t like. We were told a first draft would be provided within 10 days, and we had 3 stages of minor revisions to help finish up the design. The call was pleasant and communication was clear, we were very excited to see our custom design.Link to the survey we filled out: The first draft they gave was lacking any kind of creative spark. It looked like a premade cookie cutter template you could choose from the regular interface. We were more than a little concerned. We expressed our concerns for the next revision, giving more design direction, asking for custom graphics and for a more directed design towards our product, a big push for more creative output. The second revision was literally a change in colors and a few gradients added. This set off alarms, and we strongly voiced our concern that we would need to have a phone call and bigger changes than what was made in the first revision. We were given a cookie cutter response, saying we had two revisions left and what we were requesting was beyond the scope of a minor revision. Phone calls were not allowed, only communication was through the email ticketing system. We were very disconcerted by this. They basically said the first draft, like it or not, was what they would base the design off of, and they could only make incremental tweaks. After much back and forth and stress requesting a real life person to speak to and not the same policy over and over again, we finally got on a call to Nikita, who listened to our entire story.
The Ugly
He agreed there was a disconnect in our expectations and their output. In short, he said we had to verbalize EXACTLY what we wanted and where to put it for our custom design. To us, we paid $1,800 for them to figure it out and BE CREATIVE. He tried to say it was our fault for not being specific enough, when in fact there was a complete lack of creative effort on their end. We included the fact that we have a creative team and programmer, but we wanted to outsource this because in their portfolio they have good examples of the work they had performed. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, we even asked them what or how did they get to that the product of the examples in their portfolio. He stated for those specific ones, the client asked for every detail, meaning they did none of the creative work other than the execution of what the client specifically dictated. Nikita agreed that there was a disconnect between the design and what we had laid out as the direction we wanted them to move in. But, again he stated that was OUR FAULT! Exasperated, we stated since they had only done 10% of their work for the project, and since we would not receive an end product to our satisfaction, we would like to walk away from the project and recoup our losses and get a full refund or at least a partial refund. He stated we could walk away from the project, but as a company policy there were no refunds ever. He said we could continue with the work (which he even agreed the end result would be something we’re unsatisfied with) and to change our expectations to suit “the reality of the scope available in the remaining revisions”. He told us to lower our expectations for a project which won’t be delivered to satisfaction. We were dumbfounded and frustrated by this clear lack of customer service and their hiding behind policy.
We even went so far as to ask for someone else higher up the chain to speak to. He said, he reports to the CEO and given this situation he knows there’s nothing that can be done, “as a company policy, we do not issue refunds, EVER.”
So in conclusion, I wouldn’t touch Corecommerce with a 10 foot pole, in fact, run away! Their inflexibility and poor customer service experience on the part of Nikita and apparently the company culture, coupled with the non-refunded failed project ruined the rest of the experience for me and my company. We are planning to withdraw our store from their E-commerce platform. If you know exactly what you want your site design to be down to the minute detail, and can communicate well, you should use another service, they’ll do a better job. But if you’re expecting them to take the creative reins, or even be creative, don’t even bother. You’ll end up paying $1,800 for a pre-made late 90’s template.
MARKETING MEDIA
The Beginning:
The process
In the beginning, we have a very satisfied client. He likes the software he is using and wants to take advantage of the design services. The client is impressed by the designer’s portfolio and wants to get his own custom design. But the client is off to a bad start himself, by pretending that the questionnaire is exhaustive. From the client’s perspective, the process was too demanding. From the designer’s perspective, the objective was gathering all the necessary information from the client and thoroughly study the information in order to reproduce as closely as possible the design that the Client really wants and expects. In addition, there has been a 1-hour phone conversation to try and cover all aspects. The client may not realize it, but 2-3 hours have already been spent trying to set a plan for this quick $1,800 project.
Expectations
I have read the answers from the “exhaustive” questionnaire and I quickly came to the conclusion that the project would take a bad turn. Look at the facts: the client has an $1,800 budget and wants to compete with Michaels, Pottery Barn and Pier One, which are multi-million dollar businesses. Expectations clearly outpace the budget. Second, the client does not even have a brand, and wants to compete with Pottery Barn. This is no surprise; at Marketing Media, we get that kind of call every day. People come to us with a logo they got from 99designs.com for $99, and they expect us to build them a website within 20 hours so they can compete with Top 500 Internet retailers.
Still on the questionnaire, we can see that the client was not even capable of answering the last eight questions about the home page. How can the website agency design something that will satisfy the client if he is cannot answer basic questions about his future home page?
The Bad
Disappointment
The client writes: “The first draft they gave was lacking any kind of creative spark. It looked like a ‘premade cookie cutter template you could choose from the regular interface’”. The client was expecting the designer to magically create a Top 500 Internet retailer website within 5 hours, when he had not even answered the most important questions on the questionnaire, and was expecting something in that short a time to be an outstanding creative masterpiece. The client was expecting a “a big push for creative output”. The clients wants major revisions, wants to talk to the designer and wants fantastic creation for $1,800. Such expectations are totally unrealistic and impossible to fulfill. Creation takes time and $1,800 will never, ever deliver outstanding creative results. There is simply not enough time, even for the most talented. See the video posted on our Marketing Media Blog.
Marketing Media: How creativity works
We understand that the client has far greater expectations than his budget can afford, but the design firm clearly failed to tell him from the start, that $1,800 and 20 hours could only yield a “premade cookie cutter template “, and not the next Zappos.
The Ugly
Reality check
In this part, the designer is clearly telling the client what I just mentioned above, but it is too late. The designer lost control of the project by not being straightforward with the client from the start. We now have a client who feels that $1,800 is an enormous sum of money, and a design firm that needs to finish this website within 20 hours, or risk loosing money with every additional minute spent with that client. To make matters even worse, the client adds that he has an in-house creative team and programmer, but wanted to take advantage of the software provider’s talent. Basically, he wanted to try the designer for free, and see if he could do better than his in-house “creative team”. If the Designer failed to deliver the “pottery barn type, super clean and chic with more color website”, he would simply bail out and ask for his money back. In addition, he asked how they were able to get the samples in their portfolio. The answer is simple, Mr. Client: By working with realistic customers who had sufficient budget for great websites. It is that simple.
The refund
Now that he has not received his “$1,800 magic website”, he is trying to put the blame on the design firm, and he starts pretending that only 10% of the work has been done because he has not received the expected $1,800 “pottery barn type, super clean and chic with more color website”. Now, he badly wants his money back. He feels he has been ripped off by the designer. In fact, the client must have wasted twice the time he has paid for, but he wants his money back big time. Mr. Client, dealing with a design firm is not like buying clothes with a lifetime money-back guarantee from L.L. Bean, that can be returned if you don’t like them. It is a mutual, creative and cooperative process. And when you only have $1,800 to spend on a web design, you should expect the design firm to work for about 20 hours only, and you should also expect a “premade cookie cutter template “.
You get what you pay for
To us, the client received exactly what he paid for, and the designer delivered a very honest design. The customer needs to understand that design agencies sell time, creation and talent, and that the only way to get the creative reins that he is looking for, is to pay for creation time.
How would you like your Web Design?
Templates
Marketing Media has too often been confronted with this type of client, but fortunately, with experience, we have learned how to cope with them. Right from the start, we set very realistic expectations, at the cost of losing them to someone who is ready to create false expectations. Our customers understand deliverables and no, they will not receive anything like the outstanding designs on our portfolio, if their budget is only $1,800. For that price, they will be getting a customized “premade cookie cutter template “. In other words, you get what you pay for. If you’re looking for a Top 500 Internet Retailer website, be ready to spend more than $1,800.
Great results
If you are looking for great, outstanding results, talk to one of our e-commerce design consultants and be assured that the staff at Marketing Media will tell you right from the beginning that in order to achieve serious results, you need a web design that is totally unique and created specifically for your business needs. Each custom design project goes through a 6-step process that ensures the Marketing Media design quality.
