Ask HN: How do your structure your sale offers? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do your structure your sale offers?

5 pointsthevinter4 comments

I work in an agile environment and I find it very hard to make good estimates and sale proposals for new projects. When I make a proposal based on a mockup I feel that it restrains too much the development process, when I don't make a mockup the client always feels the need to ask for continual changes to the UI that don't fit in the original time estimate. What would be a good way to structure an offer offering minimal leeway to the client, while keeping him happy with a good and precise outline of the features that will be delivered?

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Why not explain the problem you just outlined in customer terms. Pitch an iterative development process:

1. Roadmap/Design/Mock up phase(maybe with 3 different mockups and a couple revisions)

2. MVP - work on must haves first

3. End User Feedback - add/remove features based on End User Feedback

if the customer built the perfect product stop here...lol...

4. Customer Approved Product

What really confuses me is how to deal with point no.3. Is everything priced in the initial offer? Do I estimate hours based on the feedback and add them to the initial price? How can I distinguish between features that were included in the original offer and stuff that has to be added? I usually follow the exact same steps you outlined but a lot of the features we're asked during step 3 are in a gray area.

I wouldn't include that in initial estimate but maybe explain that they may want to budget 0-30% for enhancements.

You might also want to explain no project is guaranteed to work. All you can do is minimize the risks and costs. by making as many mistakes on paper and mockup first and realize that ultimately it's the end users decide whether it's a good product or not. And anyone that says any different is promising rainbows and unicorns.

Also, try the sell the strategy session first(low cost to them and if they pick you for the strategy session your 90% of the way to selling the whole project)

If you really want to knock their socks off offer to identify frameworks, libraries, templates, third party products and apis to minimize cost and time to get the project completed faster and with less overall costs.

Now your starting to move into trusted advisor territory.

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