Gathering information from clients can be one of the most painful parts of the business.
Plan out the info you need
A great first step is to create a complete list of everything you need from clients. It can be info, content, documents, files, or anything.
Think of it as a “master list” that contains almost everything you would ever ask for, even from different clients. When the time comes to gather info, you can duplicate it and delete the parts that you don’t need. That’s much easier than building it up from scratch.
Create bite-size chunks
When you need a lot of information, it’s overwhelming for clients when you dump it all on them in one go.
Break it down into small pieces and the process will be much easier for them. Easy things tend to get done faster.
Provide guidance
For each piece of information, add an explanation of what you expect from the client. Spell out exactly what you need and maybe even why you need it. This helps your client get it right the first time so you don’t have to answer tons of questions later.
Choose a system
The way you collect information makes all the difference. Let’s dig into the different systems which you can use to set up your process.
Sending out a big list by email can end up wasting hours on hours. Keep it short and to the point to fetch the required information.
Then there are attachments. Some PDFs are large enough to get emails completely blocked. This can wind up in arguments with clients saying they have sent something that you didn’t receive.
Documents
You can use Google Docs to create documents that your clients fill out. In both of these tools, there are endless ways to lay out your request.
If you go with documents, you will also need an external system to receive files and attachments. Dropbox or Google Drive can handle this.
In-person meetings
Carving out a piece of time to have you and your client together in one room can help you get a majority of information in one hit.
It requires your client to be organized enough to have everything ready before you get there – else you just wasted your time. Send over a list beforehand to help alleviate this.
Depending upon the services we offer, here are a few questions that you can ask your clients to fetch the information:
1. Video Services
1. What is the purpose of the video?
2. Who is the target audience for this Video?
3. Share the links of the reference video of the competitors if any?
4. What is the ideal duration of the video you are looking for?
5. Do you have any brand guidelines to follow? (Ask them to share with us if they can)
6. Have you selected any style of the video from our Portfolio?
7. Do you have a script for the video? If no do you want us to write?
8. Do you want us to do the voice-over for the Video? (Ask for the accent, gender, tone always)
- Ask if they have any character files in AI or EPS format (if it is a character animation project)
- Ask if they can share the footage with us (Video editing, screencast or Live animation)
- Ask if they want to sign an NDA to share those assets with us.
2. Website Services
2. Do you currently have a website or will it be designed and developed from scratch?
3. Do you have any sitemap in place or if the number of pages is yet to be decided? Please share details if you've any.
4. Do you have any reference websites or designs that explain your vision and requirements for the project?
5. Is there any additional information that you'd like to share with us?
- Ask for brand guidelines
- Ask for documented SOW for better clarity
- Cross- verify every detail for feasibility with the web team
3. Hubspot Services
1. Are you using any CRM as of now to manage your contacts?
2. Are you familiar with HubSpot CRM and the other Hubs of HubSpot?
3. Are you looking to get your HubSpot portal managed?
4. Which Hubs you're using right now?
5. Which licenses you're on for HubSpot?
6. Do you have any pre-defined scope of work?
7. You can always check out our HubSpot services here.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Article Update on 17.08.21