Think about the last time you went to the doctor. Chances are, the health professionals in the office asked you to fill out forms about your history, the nurse talked to you about the problem, and the doctor did a thorough exam before he or she made a diagnosis. This process is called “discovery,” and no doctor would dream of making a diagnosis or giving you a treatment plan until they completed this step.
Likewise, good web developers and marketing strategists must complete the discovery process before they can create a plan or even give you an estimate. Now if you’ve requested estimates from web developers or marketing strategies recently, you may have noticed that some will give you an estimate without completing the discovery process. When that happens, you should run.
Why?
Below you’ll find three good reasons why you should work with a company that uses a paid discovery process, and why you should avoid anyone who doesn’t take this step…
Reason 1: Discovery Leads to a Custom Solution
A company that doesn’t make extensive discovery the first step of their process is very likely to provide you with a “cookie cutter” solution. This means that they develop a plan and market your business in exactly the same way they did for the last client who walked through their door.
Does that make any sense to you?
Of course not. Your business is unique. The way you need to find, approach and connect to your prospects is unique. And a good discovery process is the only way to determine how to create a custom solution for your specific business needs.
Reason 2: Discovery Eliminates “Gotchas”
Another good reason to go through the paid discovery process is because it reduces risk by eliminating surprise charges and other gotchas.
Think of it this way…
What if a mechanic gave you an estimate to fix your car before they even looked at your car and diagnosed the problem? Chances are, the estimate would be way out of the ballpark, and you’d end up paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars more to fix the true problem.
Same goes for your business. A good web developer or marketing strategist needs to thoroughly exam and diagnose your business problems before he or she can come up with a good estimate. If you don’t let the professional take this important step, then you might just end up getting gouged in the wallet later on.
Reason 3: Discovery Produces an Executable Plan
Sometimes business owners wonder why they should pay for the discovery process. The reason is because this process produces a customized, valuable and executable plan to meet your business needs and solve your problems.
Just like the discovery process at the mechanic’s shop or the doctor’s office, there’s no obligation after the process is complete. You can choose to do nothing. You can choose to have the developer or strategist begin executing the plan. You can take the plan (it’s yours, you paid for it) and have another company execute. You may even decide to have your own in-house marketing and developing team execute the plan.
Here’s the bottom line…
You wouldn’t trust a doctor or a mechanic with a diagnosis if they didn’t first go through the discovery process, and neither should you trust a web developer or marketing strategist who skips this important step.
That’s why here at Hireawiz every service offering begins with the discovery phase, which generally lasts about five hours, depending on your business. Once this phase is over, you’ll have an executable plan and a clear vision of how each step of the plan will grow your business.
To find out more about what we can do for your small to mid-size business, get in touch with our web development and marketing team by clicking here.