Recently my team met with a prospective client to discuss a website development project. This great group of talented people mentioned that they have had difficultly with internal website projects in the past. We responded by explaining that this is very common, and is in fact one of the reasons StartUpSelling exists. We provide project management and become a forcing function to meet deadlines, goals, and to complete projects.
Many of you who have handled website projects internally (or outsourced design and coding but provided content, editing and project management) can relate to the obstacles standing in the way of success. Tell me if any of these scenarios sound familiar:
- Our CEO has not yet approved the design. Of course s/he hasn’t – s/he just interviewed a new producer over lunch and is trying to buy another agency this afternoon. Maybe the website will earn 5 minutes of attention on a Sunday night. Maybe not.
- Our benefits and financial services pages are not yet approved by compliance. And it might be weeks before they do. Your internal financial services director is in Chicago closing a 401k for a 500 life group. No time to make another follow up with the broker/dealer.
- We can’t agree on the navigation structure. Since there is no website design specialist on your team, it is going to be impossible to select the right nav. My web dev team would not be able to build consensus and select the best health plan for their needs – its not their job. Nav design isn’t yours.
These are just a few of dozens of stumbling blocks we have seen insurance organizations experience. Everyone already has a day job. Allocating time to project manage a website is not realistic. A forcing function is needed from an expert in the field. Without a forcing function, a project is destined for failure.
Originally Posted on February 22, 2013 by John Scranton