Agency Contract Work
Last updated by jarod 3 years agoOverview
This document outlines the process and protocol for Adopt the Web (ATW) as it applies to design and development services provided to a Digital Marketing Agency (DMA) as contractual work. ATW conducts direct-to-client business and also “white labels” resources to digital marketing agencies. ATW offers a discounted hourly rate to DMAs where this process and protocol is followed.
Problem
DMAs often outsource their design and / or development to contractors who either freelance, are located offshore, or both. In some cases, the freelancer disappears or changes career objectives, the offshore contractor over promises and underdelivers, etc. Projects may be delivered incomplete, lacking follow-up or resolve, over budget, or out-of-scope, leaving the DMA to pick up the pieces.
Furthermore, a lot of time and energy is poured into quoting for design or development work that changes direction or scope throughout the process. Margins may be thin, as a quote for a project goes over budget due to scope creep or unforeseen expenses arise.
Solution
ATW provides an in-house team approach, overcommunicates, outlines clear deliverables, organizes every phase of a project, works from time estimates, bills hourly, and offers several resources that effectively solve the problems mentioned above. We believe that our work and communication reflect our drive and passion for digital marketing, and we want to provide DMAs with this same image.
The following sections take into consideration each phase of communication between ATW, a DMA, and the direct client.
Direction and Kickoffs
At each phase of a design or development project, we may request feedback, direction, inspiration (i.e. example sites), or follow-up for more information.
Prior to any project acceptance (post consultation, conception, and discovery) a kickoff meeting with all involved parties is necessary to ensure appropriate expectations and clearly defined deliverables.
Scheduling Meetings
We have created an unbranded calendaring system to schedule bespoke meetings for design / development purposes (as outlined below). We can also create a branded calendar for your agency.
Budgeting
ATW will provide time estimates to an agency with the following considerations:
Time estimates at a consultation phase may vary from time estimates provided post conception or discovery.
DMAs are welcome to view how many hours have been spent (and where) by opening the Monday board or group associated with each project. Where the time needed exceeds the estimate it will continue to be billed at the agency rates listed here .
Consultation
During an initial consultation, ATW will provide 45 minutes of consultation for any new design or development project at no cost. Agency rates apply for any time after 45 minutes. If a consultation is conducted via Google Meet or Zoom, a Loom recording will be available and kept for reference.
Consultation yields a general rundown of the current state of the project; a summation of the history of it; discussion about expectations and needs; brief overview of what is available and what will be needed; and a rough time estimate if one can be provided at the time.
Conception / Discovery
During conception or discovery, agency rates apply. All direct-to-client calls will be conducted via Google Meet or Zoom and recorded using Loom, transcribed and documented by an ATW admin, and saved within a shared Google drive folder made available to the agency and any third-party who require access.
Conception
A design or development project may not be fully realized and require time, feedback, clarifying questions, and preliminary research. During this phase, we gather information and work to determine initial scope and requirements. Conception and discovery may be consolidated into a single phase.
Discovery
Once a design or development project is conceived, additional research may be required, as well as tests, and demonstrations. We may require login details for third-party services, request further feedback, and ask additional clarifying questions. During this phase, we will determine a time estimate and deliverables.
Account Management
The DMA is the primary ATW client account. Where direct-to-client communication is required, the account manager will be the first line of contact.
Jarod Thornton
is the Account Manager, overseeing all communication (both with the agency and direct-to-client), as well as agency billing and budgeting. Secondary to account management, Jarod Thornton
spearheads any consultation, conception, and discovery requests. He also acts as lead PM on any project. There is no billable rate for his role as account manager. Project Management (PM)
PM is billed at the agency rate. Once a design or development project is approved, a PM will be assigned and be caught up to speed on consultation, conception, and discovery. A Monday.com project board will be utilized to organize tasks, internal assignments, status, and time tracking. PM is a part of our deliverable and time estimate on any project. Our team will follow internal PM SOPs and PM Client Deliverable Document accordingly.
Design
Billed at the agency rate. The ATW PM will spearhead any design project as assigned, according to what has been outlined as deliverables in Discovery.
Conception
During this phase, we will seek to understand how you need your design to work best for you. Our goal will be to understand the overarching thoughts you have for your design and the business needs that this design is intended to meet.
Discovery
This phase is crucial because it helps us make sure that we understand all of the functionality your design will require to meet your needs. In addition to understanding the functionality we need to incorporate, we may request additional login information so that we can integrate this functionality during the design process. We will also seek to understand your target audience for the design, and the exact deliverables that you need Adopt the Web to provide for your client.
Deliverables
While some of these deliverables* are vital for a successful design, there are some that you may choose to deliver for your client separately. Here are the deliverables that may be included in your design work. Additional deliverables: Search Optimization | Content Provisions
Content Review
Our team will review the content provided (and the deliverables you have included in this design work) then provide you with a checklist of content, logins, and information needed to complete the design work.
Design Aesthetic*
Once we have acquired the predetermined branding standards or established those standards, (b ased on your inspirational websites) we will identify a few style options so that you can select the best fit for us to build your website on. These style options may be based on existing layouts or themes, or be built from scratch.
Customer Journey
Based on your target audience, the primary action you want users to take on your website, and your design aesthetic, we will outline the recommended navigation menu and identify sections for the primary pages. A customer journey document will be provided and collaborated on to ensure everything is taken into consideration.
Development
Billed at the agency rate.
Conception
ATW will inquire about every desired feature, the entire scope of the project, and work to understand exactly what is needed to set deliverables and time expectations. Any issues or unforeseen hurdles that come later during the discovery or development phase will change the time estimate, thus affecting the budget.
Depending on the complexity of the development project, this phase may require multiple meetings. We will have a lot of questions, including questions for potential issues that may not have been considered. ATW may have recommendations during this phase based on past development experiences.
Discovery
During the discovery phase, ATW will review all notes and recordings gathered during the conception phase and create documentation that includes an overview of the project, a detailed breakdown of each feature, wireframes of each page/route/user-flow/function, a product development roadmap, a total project scope, and a development timeline.
This document may also include a breakdown of the technical structure and requirements of the project, including any third party dependencies, technology stack, hosting infrastructure requirements, database design, API endpoints, and file structure.
The overview document will provide references gathered during the conception phase. This documentation will be our road map for creating and scheduling tasks for the entire project, and reviewed for approval prior to development.
Development
Once conception and discovery documentation have been completed and agreed on, we can begin development. The assigned PM will create tasks in Monday.com based on documentation and time tracked accordingly.
It is possible that during development we may run into situations that require us to ask questions for clarification, or need to discuss an issue found that was missed during discovery. These questions will be passed back to the client for clarification - the quicker we can get responses, the faster we can work through the issue(s) and continue development.
Per the Project Management deliverable , Loom.com recordings will be utilized to ensure quick communication back and forth. We may periodically need to have a meeting to discuss the current stage of development and to receive feedback on our progress.
Hosting
We provide a variety of custom hosting solutions and maintenance services, but we can also help with and work within your existing hosting solution.
Development Staging
Our custom development projects, unless otherwise specified, are typically staged at an unbranded domain: https://devstagingsite.online/
Pricing
We have a price sheet located here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gbcLQpNJR68i19qhuwebK9hYuqTf19yOs8JSoCnfmlw
Use this calculator for help pricing out a more standard website build: https://devstagingsite.online/build/calc/
