Open Letter To The Hinsdale Public Library

Dear Hinsdale Public Library Committee Members,

I just the heard the bad news. I understand that the Hinsdale public library committee has selected another website vendor that will do your website redesign project at a much cheaper price. That's ok. 

It's my fault that I didn't demonstrate our total value (outside of just price) to you.

But I hope you know that a project like this would require at least 3 professionals - Plus to conduct user surveys and interview patrons properly would take at least a solid 3 days of probing. Bottom line, I hope you get a good product out of these people, but doing the math, it's questionable how they are going to deliver everything you want for $5K. Seriously.

I know this is how it goes, but I felt that we developed a great rapport and could see us working together long term. If things do not work out with the your chosen vendor, I hope that you'll consider my team for future web projects. 

Best of luck! (sniff)

Comments

[Robert Rosenthal]

It sounds like you were offering a different (and far superior) product. With some shops, it's all about winning the business rather than creating a winning solution. You seem like a guy who operates with a fair amount of flexibility when prospects open up about their reality -- including the budget. Unfortunately, it's hard for clients to cop to that fact that they're simply going with the cheapest option.

[Naveed Usman]

We prefer to be upfront about what its "really" going to take to undertake a project. Especially since we spent a good time gathering requirements. We've been burned before, so it's best all parties are aware of the time and resources required. It may not be what the client wants to hear, but its the truth.