Providing a web design mockup at the pitch stage - good or bad?

During our many years in providing websites, myself and Steve have quoted for a lot of work, but we still see the odd one asking for mockups to be presented at the pitch stage.

Is this a good or a bad thing? Let’s have a delve into it.

When we present to clients they are generally interested in what sections they are having, what colours we are going to use, what functionality we are going to develop, etc.  But we always see their eyes light up and chairs shuffling when a mockup is brought out.  It’s something pretty to look at and here their idea goes from something in their imagination to something that is real.

Surely that’s a good thing and mockups should be done for all pitches then?  Maybe, but maybe not.

A design mockup is a striking piece of media that not only is highly creative, but also has to demonstrate how the site would work with the content the client provides and also the functionality they need.  At the pitch stage we haven’t quizzed the client yet and delved in to exactly what functionality they need, what colours they use or what messages they want to convey on the website. So for us to provide a mockup at this stage we would just be second guessing what they are after and if we did win the work then very likely only parts of the mockup would be used.  Seems like a waste of time to me.

In addition, the client may not have provided enough information in the brief so you are trying to create a mockup blind.  You then run the risk of getting the mockup totally wrong and then the client won’t appoint you the work, even though your proposal and costs are spot on. Alternatively they might love what you have done, but once you find out exactly what they do want from a content and functionality perspective, then you find yourself having to shoehorn it in as it doesn’t fit.  Or even worse, binning your mockup and starting again!

Add on top that a good mockup will take around a day for us to create. We pitch for around one new piece of work a week, so you can easily see that trying to send a new mockup out for each one we’d be out of business pretty quick.

So if mockups wow the client, what can we do?  Dead easy! We use our current portfolio to show our creativity and provide that wow factor.  A client should be able to look at our website and see all the past work we have done and make a good decision on our abilities based on that.  We also incorporate some of these current sites into our presentations and proposals to show the kind of stuff we have done.

Once we have totally quizzed the client to get a thorough understanding of their requirements, and thrown a few of our own in the pot, then we now have all the knowledge to create a beautiful, creative mockup that is totally fit for purpose!

So if you are a client, then please don’t ask or accept a mockup before you have chosen your new website provider or else you will just receive a half-baked mockup based on your initial information. A good web design company will always want to thoroughly investigate your proposal, ask questions and provide ideas in order to give you the best possible website. Only after this will they then create the mockup. Have a peek at their portfolio to see their creativity to help you choose a good one!

Also beware of companies who do provide mockups too - they likely have way too much time on their hands!

Cheers
Simon