Re: UKNM: Wasting time on tenders

[Leigh Blue Caldwell]

> Surely easier said than done?

> 

> is the market mature enough for clients to pay for ideas alone...??

> 

> ..I guess the guys at the 'new look' webmedia can answer that...

> 


I'm sure it depends on what part of the market you're in, and on

who your clients are.  But in all of our recent projects, we've

gone through a specification stage where we put forward our ideas,

our intended approach to the project, documented the exact scope

of it and did a lot of the other 'creative' work.  And we always

charge for this unless it's a client we have worked with before

and know they'll be going ahead.  But if we do charge for it,

then it's always on the understanding that the client gets to

look at the results of the spec stage and decide whether to go

ahead on the basis of it.  For one thing, they won't have a final

quote until the end of the spec stage.



Now, that's not exactly the same as being paid for a pitch.  And

in any case we're in a more technical area where this kind of

specification is absolutely necessary, while it is possible to

get by without it - or at least without something quite so

rigorous - in a more design/creative-led field.  But it is

comparable in that while we are happy to have meetings with

clients and present our general credentials and approach to

doing business - and often some informal ideas on the approach

to their project - we don't prepare either prototypes or major

documentation for a potential piece of business without being

paid for it.



Regards,

	Leigh.



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