Back when I first left university and started working for a Project Management consulting company, I learnt a simple poem that embodied what project management was really all about.
To borrow that famous poem from Rudyard Kipling, author of the children’s classic, The Jungle Book.
“I keep six honest servingmen
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.”
This short poem carries a lot of wisdom and has become the credo of Project Management.
So here’s my view on website design, using this thinking:
WHO?
- Who is the target audience?
- Who are the principle decision makers?
WHY?
- Why should they prefer your product…easier to use? More reliable? Better ROI?
- Why are we creating this communication? Obviously to generate sales…but are there underlying corporate, brand or business agendas as well?
WHAT?
- What do they expect from your product?
- What’s so special about your product?
- What do they already know about your product? Are they already using an older version?
- What makes it better than what your competitors offer?
- What reasons would persuade them to buy? What would make them switch to your brand?
- What is your product’s single most important benefit or reason to buy?
- What cost savings does it offer?
- What can you say to make your prospect believe your product delivers what you promise?
- What (I anything) do they need to be told about the technology behind it?
- What testimonials can you obtain?
- What would the prospect have done without seeing this…bought from your competition?
- What will they think after reading this information?
- What do you want them to do after reading this information: seek more facts, ask for a demonstration, visit your website?
- What do you want them to feel about your brand?
- What will motivate them to seek out more information and get into a purchase dialogue?
HOW?
- How will your product make your prospect’s job easier?
- How will it make their business more effective, more profitable?
- How does your product work better: new technology? New approach? A landmark breakthrough?
- How does it lead the industry…assuming it represents an advance of some kind? A cost benefit? Superior ROI?
- How will it be better, easier, more affordable, more cost‐effective than whatever they are using now?
- How are you organising the response…are you ready to deal with extra orders or business?
WHEN?
- When do you expect your results/response? Should you add a deadline for urgency?
- When will you sell: immediately or though a stepped process with several enquiry/dialogue stages?
WHERE?
- Where will you be running your ads, placing your communications? Will this article appear in targeted media where prospects will see it?
“Murray Priestley has 25 years of commercial and asset management experience having served in board, CEO and senior executive positions with a number of global public and private companies.”