Agencies and studios
Answer di brief with di thing itself, no be picture of di thing
One client describe wetin dem want on Monday. Di industry answer na deck on Thursday, proposal di next week, and first working version sometime after di second invoice. Another answer dey available now: di thing itself, running, for one address, on Wednesday afternoon.
Every agency know di shape of di gap between pitch and build. Di pitch cheap, persuasive and small small fiction. Di build expensive, slow and full of di decisions wey di pitch skip. Most of di wahala for client work dey live for di space between dem, where di client dey agree to something wey nobody don see yet.
To close dat gap worth pass di hours wey e save. One client wey dey look working site with working dashboard behind am go ask better questions — about di offer, di pricing, di audience — instead of about di shade of blue.
Where e fit inside one agency week
Three places, mostly. For di pitch, where working version na category difference from competitor own slides. For discovery, where real artefact go bring out di disagreements wey workshop dey hide for another two weeks. And for di small end of di client list, where di budget no go ever reach bespoke build and di honest options na template or polite no.
E still do something wey no too obvious for di pipeline: client wey don see dia idea working na client wey don already make di emotional decision. Di proposal wey follow na about scope, no be about whether.
Where e no fit: bespoke technical build with specific architecture, existing codebase, or compliance regime wey dey dictate di stack. Wetin dey come out from di pipeline na assembly from products wey already dey exist — na dat one be di source of di speed and na im still be di limit.
- 1Mon 11:00 — di briefOne regional builders' merchant want trade-only ordering portal. Vague, as briefs dey be.
- 2Mon 15:00 — di written caseRun am through di pipeline. Send am to di client as document, no be deck. Two things come back wrong.
- 3Tue — correctedTrade pricing tiers, no be flat discount. One correction, apply am once, everything downstream inherit am.
- 4Wed 14:00 — di meetingSite open for screen. Dashboard behind am. One order wey dem place live dey turn to invoice.
- 5Wed 14:20 — di questions changeNobody dey talk about di logo. Dem dey ask who dey handle di inbox, and whether Saturday delivery dey inside di work.
- ·Wetin you dey charge money forDi judgement, di correction and di relationship. Di two-week setup no be di part wey dem dey bill for before sef.
Two daysOne working thing wey dey inside di room
Show am on Monday. Show am as e dey work on Thursday.
Di practical side
Di questions wey agencies dey ask first
Which account e dey on?
Your own, or di client own, whichever one fit di work. To hand over one project mean say you dey hand over di account wey e dey on — no be agency-only wrapper wey dem go need comot di client from later.
We fit still dey work on am normally?
Yes. Di site na castomUI site, di board na dash-b board, di workflows na castomFLOW workflows. Your people go open dem inside di normal editors and continue. Nothing dey generated into one locked format.
E dey look like generated work?
Di brand dey come from one curated set of essences, no be one unconstrained generator, and na exactly dat one be di difference between "distinct" and "clearly made by di same tool as di last four". After dat, you fit change anything wey you want.
Wetin about plenty clients at once?
Each idea get im own run, im own brand and im own set of surfaces. Nothing dey shared between dem except di platform wey dey underneath — na di same arrangement as to run plenty client sites on one hosting account.
Di uncomfortable version of di argument
Part of wetin agencies dey sell now na di two weeks. No be deliberately — na just wetin di work don always cost, and di estimate dey show am. One pipeline wey remove di two weeks go remove part of di invoice with am, and to pretend say no be so go dey insult person.
Wetin e no remove na di part wey clients truly no fit do: to know which idea worth am to build, to see di hole inside di offer before dem build around am, and to be di person inside di room wey go talk say di pricing model no go survive when di second customer show. Dat one don always be di value. Dem just dey bundle am with two weeks of account setup wey nobody enjoy to bill for too.
Di agencies wey dis one fit na di ones wey don already dey sell judgement. For di ones wey dey sell implementation hours, dis na one technology wey go make dem no comfortable at all, and e go still be like dat whether e come from here or not.