Top 8 website features for project services

I feel somewhat refreshed about this week’s blog topic. Because while I am exposed to other industries from working on client web projects, the ‘project services’ sector is the one that my own business operates in every single day.

So I can safely say that the advice here is based on firsthand experience rather than the second-hand experience of working with our clients.

Project services are services that are difficult to ‘fix’ in terms of the amount of service required to achieve an agreed result. In most cases providers estimate the price for their work by taking a brief from the customer or client, estimating what labour and materials are required and delivering a final quotation.
How long is a piece of string?

They differ from other services which have set perameters. For example, a hotel room is $X amount per night or a physio $X per hour. With project services, the exact figure is variable due to any number of factors such as size, weight, time, volume, distance, availability of materials and so on.

This in turn means that the website features a provider of project services is going to need are going to differ from other sectors.

First, the fact that it is a service (as distinct from a tangible product) means that the website has to work hard to demonstrate the quality of both the finished product and the production process of the provider.

Second it has to provide tools for the visitor to be able to activate the estimate process – even if it’s as basic as launching an email to the correct person within the organisation.
So here are the website features (or more accurately platform features) that a project services provider should shop for when considering a new website.

1. Email Marketing System (EMS)
You might well be surprised to learn that an Email Marketing System can be more vital than other website features such as the very centre of your platform, the Content Management System. That’s because in many ways the ability to send fast, personalised and targeted email communication is more valuable than being able to alter your own website.

It all comes down to ROI. Essentially I get a better return on investment by communicating with my different client segments than I do from altering my website on a regular basis. Though in my case I am able to do both simultaneously. For example, this blog piece (created using a CMS) is also sent as an email to subscribers within a few clicks.

2. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) System
Of course, an EMS is next to useless without a great CRM to underpin it. But in our case we also use our CRM as the online client database so we can access client data remotely and centralise main client information and communication.

A good, integrated CRM will enable you too to centralise all of your customer information and communications and keep unlimited notes and reminders about your most important asset.

3. Content Management System (CMS)
And of course the CMS couldn’t be too far down the list. The ability to manage your own website wherever and whenever you need to is going to save you a small fortune on having a designer do it for you.

What’s also important is the opportunity cost. By the time your designer can attend to your urgent website change the opportunity may well have come and gone and worse still – gone to a competitor.

4. Secure Shopping Cart
What, a shopping cart for project services at number four? This must be a cut and paste error!

No, this ranking is quite serious. Shopping carts can be a brilliant way to pre-sell certain bundled services or even vouchers. By bundling your services into fixed-rate packages, you will be able to sell them using a cart and add greater convenience for customers. Better still it can allow you to be paid upfront for a change. That’s the holy grail as far as service providers are concerned.

For example, my business successfully sells web marketing/management help credits online and are about to launch a subscriber pack which bundles coaching, support and resources.

5. Form / Survey Builder
A key online objective for all businesses is to arrange your online presence so as to ‘close the sale’ as much as you can online. For many providers this will mean selling online but if the variables of your service are simply too great and complex to achieve that, then the next best objective is to receive a detailed briefing via your website.

A good form builder will allow you to capture as much detail about the client project as possible and allow you to provide an estimate quickly, thereby beating the competition to the punch.

6. Auto FAQ Features
A good FAQ tool will allow visitors to ask a relevant question (if it hasn’t already been answered elsewhere) and have their response added to the website with a simple tick of a box.

This is particularly relevant to services where it’s difficult to touch and feel the results of your work or where the client needs to know more about how you go about things.

7. Extranet (Password protected area)
Because a project requires you to form a strong relationship with a client, tools are needed to provide ‘information on demand’ about progress and other project details and occasionally, post-delivery support and resources.

A good extranet allows you to provide groups as well as individuals access to information pertinent to their specific needs while keeping it nice and confidential.

8. Auto-Homepage Capabilities
As a busy service provider the last thing you have time for is working out how to add new information to the front page of your website without upsetting its appearance and balance.

Auto-Homepage capabilities allow new content headlines, images and links to be added to the important front page of your website with just a few clicks. They are a valuable and highly under-rated capability.

Do you agree or disagree with these rankings? Either way, tell us why below. We’d especially love to hear from providers of project services who regularly use some or all of these features.

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Craig Reardon is a leading eBusiness educator and founder and director of independent web services firm The E Team which provide the gamut of ‘pre-built’ website solutions, technologies and services to SMEs in Melbourne and beyond.