What we need from you to do good work
The nine things a client provides that decide whether a digital partnership produces results, from decisions to access.
The short answer
A digital partnership produces results when both sides do their part, and the client’s part is smaller than people fear but must be someone’s job. Nine things. A named owner on your side who decides and answers. Decisions made when asked, within the agreed time. Content and approvals delivered on the dates in the plan. Access to accounts in your name, granted once. Honesty about what the business is doing, struggling with and planning. Feedback on previews, on a phone, when they arrive. An hour a month to read the report and respond. An hour a quarter for the review. And early warning when the business changes. Most delays and disappointments in digital work trace to one of these missing on the client side, not to the partner’s work, which is why a partner who tells you what they need is planning for the work to succeed.
The nine things
| What | Why it matters | How much time |
|---|---|---|
| 1. A named owner | Someone who decides, answers and reads the report; without one, every question waits | Ongoing, a few hours a month |
| 2. Timely decisions | Work waits on decisions; a plan shows where | Minutes, when asked |
| 3. Content and approvals on dates | Late content is the most common cause of late websites | Depends on the project; on the plan with your name |
| 4. Access in your name | Nothing can be done without it; ownership stays yours | Once, an hour |
| 5. Honesty about the business | We build for the business as it is, not as the brochure says | A conversation at the start; a sentence a month |
| 6. Feedback on previews | Approving on a phone is how changes go live; silence is a delay | Minutes per change |
| 7. An hour a month | Read the report, ask questions, reply | One hour |
| 8. An hour a quarter | The review that sets the next quarter | One hour |
| 9. Early warning of change | New location, offering, market, campaign, system, staff | A note when the decision is made |
Making it easy
- Appoint the owner at the start and put the monthly hour and quarterly hour in their calendar.
- Agree decision times: how quickly the owner will answer, and who covers when they are away.
- Put content dates on the plan with names, and decide early whether we write it.
- Grant access once, properly, in your accounts.
- Tell us the truth about what works and what does not; it is the only thing we can build for.
- Approve previews from your phone as they arrive.
- Send a sentence when the business changes.
What you get in return
A plan that shows where your part is on the critical path, reminders before your dates, previews that take a minute to approve, a report worth the hour, and a review that sets a direction. And a partner who, because they know what they need from you and have said so, can commit to what they will deliver.
What this means for you
Give your partner the nine things: an owner, decisions, content on dates, access, honesty, feedback on previews, an hour a month, an hour a quarter, and early warning of change. None takes much time; all must be someone’s job. With them, the partnership delivers what it promised; without them, no partner can, and the plan will show exactly where the time went.
Frequently asked questions
How much of our time does a partnership need?
A few hours a month for a typical business: an hour to read the report and respond, time to approve previews as they arrive, decisions when asked, and an hour a quarter for the review, plus content when a project needs it. The time is small; what matters is that it is someone's responsibility, on the calendar, rather than fitted in when there is a gap.
What happens when content is late?
The project waits, and a plan with content dates on it shows exactly where. Late content is the most common cause of late websites, which is why we put content dates on the plan with your name next to them and remind before them. If content is genuinely hard for the business to produce, that is a conversation at the start: we can write it, or structure it so less is needed.
Why do you need to know about business changes early?
Because a new location, offering, market, campaign or system changes what the site and the software should do, and hearing about it early means it is planned; hearing about it after launch means it is a scramble. A sentence in the monthly reply, or a note when the decision is made, is enough.