One of the ingredients of a successful website project is engaging with stakeholders at an early stage and getting their buy-in for what the proposed solution will look like.
For example, the IT department will believe that the main aim of the website is to allow users to easily access support and documentation on products, thus reducing pressure on the helpdesk. Whereas the sales and marketing team will want to generate high quality leads and focus on providing content for potential clients. Both aims are valid and by drawing these requirements out in a stakeholder workshop, it allows us to develop a solution which will satisfy both groups as far as possible.
Bringing disparate groups of people together, all with different goals, priorities and preconceptions can be a difficult task, but by having their input at an early stage and allowing everyone to be heard, it can help the smooth running of the project further down the line and facilitate acceptance of the final website.
Whilst it may not be obvious to involve the client’s current customers in the development of a new website, they have a unique insight into the mind of potential customers that can be very valuable in scoping the website and so shouldn’t be overlooked.
Customer engagement must be handled sensitively and with clear guidelines on what should be discussed but getting their insights on why they chose the client, how they found the existing website and what could have been improved provides valuable insights that can be incorporated into the development of the new website.
To learn more about our approach to stakeholder engagement, please get in touch.
