I originally wrote this in 2013. Some things never change.
Take Your Spec Work Request and Shove It
It’s happened to all of us, especially if we are in the business of selling design services. We are reading through a juicy new RFP from a prospect we're excited about, or navigating the selection process, and then the bomb is dropped.
They ask for spec work. It’s like expecting a flat surface in your next step, but instead it’s a step down.
After I resist the urge to vomit and scream at the same time, I do some deep breathing exercises and I try to compose myself.
The Critical Questions
I have some decisions to make.
Do I want to continue the dialogue with a team that is clearly working with a different set of rules than I work with, and doesn’t apparently respect my team's (or anyone's) time?
If I do want to pursue the client, can I educate them as to why this request is a bad idea, and also leave them feeling OK that they asked for it in the first place?
Does the request itself signal such a hint at a dumpster fire that even if the impossible happened, and we moved forward, we'd just be wandering into… the dumpster on fire?
On one rare occasion in the past I was compelled by hope, immaturity or desperation (or some combo) to respond and try for the impossible. Convince the client they asked for something offensive without offending them. Make them see that working together - and paying for that time - is what produces great work. And still get a shot at the work.
It’s never an easy email to write, and I struggled to move past the obvious.
"What part of GIVE US FREE WORK do you not understand?"
In the spirit of sharing, I give you my correspondence that I had back then, because I think I did manage to articulate the complexities of the insult, cordially. And no we didn't win the business. But there is a surprise ending - so read on.
The Real Deal
The email I received from the prospective client (someone I had previously never heard from or met before, and this is after we’d already been out to pitch in person, and spent almost a full day in long meetings with various stakeholders) is below:
Tracy
The President’s Cabinet is energized by the possibility of having a fresh new look for the [client] homepage. We are down to the wire in the selection process and have one request that I hope you’ll believe is reasonable and feasible. If not, please let me know.We presume that you have done a great deal of research into the current design and its content. By peeling away at the pages, it should tell a story about us; it just isn’t visible to the outside world.
We would like to have a “mocked” up homepage of what you would envision of who/what should be on that page and how we position ourselves and illustrate our mission and our uniqueness.
We are not asking for operable links; just a look. We would like to have this by Friday, Month, Date, in order for me to disseminate this to the Cabinet for our Tuesday, Month, Date meeting.
I would be happy to discuss this with you.
Sincerely — [Client]
A Few Juicy Tidbits
They spelled my name wrong.
They were giving us five business days to provide the work.
They assume we’ve already been conducting research on them from afar, for free — how sweet.
Notice how they so nicely say they don’t expect operable links — well gee then OK it’s not that big a deal.
Meanwhile, I think of all the time and money we've already invested going out to meet with this group. I do some more deep breathing.
My Response
Hello [Client]
Thank you for following back up with us and letting us know where you are in your decision making process. While we’d love to provide what would convince you we are the right fit for [Client], we don’t feel providing a comp will accomplish those goals.
We don’t provide comps for any potential client for a few very important reasons that have to do with our respect for you and our respect for our team’s process. A comp is a rushed attempt to give you something to be excited about, and has more to do with bells and whistles than real strategy or research-based processes.
A comp poses a very real threat of giving the client something “weak” that they may become attached to, and which we may feel is a wrong direction after we conduct our actual discovery and research.
At this point we know you at such a preliminary level that there is simply no way we can provide a comp that reflects the work we put into every project we create for a client. A successful design has as much to do with strategy as it does with design. And both of these things take time.
When asked for a comp it indicates that perhaps the client doesn’t respect those elements and the importance they have in the successful outcome of the project. I hope you will give consideration to why we don't offer comps.
We feel the best way to judge our effectiveness as a potential partner is to look at the fully evolved works we have created for similar clients. I am happy to discuss our design process with the [Client] committee or the Cabinet, and provide examples from other projects to illustrate how findings from Discovery, and things revealed during focus groups and outside research, combined with a strong focus on strategy, target audiences, information architecture and usability, have resulted in very powerful, unique and highly successful projects.
The process we provide, and the expertise, are designed to generate successful results for our clients. We are confident we can accomplish the goals [Client] has expressed in their RFP (as well as additional goals which have yet to be discovered), and we hope to be considered for the partnership.
Best Regards,
Tracey
The Outcome
As I mentioned above, we did not get this particular project. At the time, I was counting my blessings. The surprise ending is that this very same client (minus the individual who had sent me this email) got back in touch, about two years later, asking us if we'd consider working with them again. No spec work was requested. We did. And from what I recall, it went just fine.
So maybe taking the time to try to explain WHY the whole request is a bad idea, for many reasons, did some good. Maybe they just ended up with a bad partner and were rethinking all their decision making in selecting a firm. I don't know. But I happily give it to you, today, for contemplation, replication, conversation, alteration, copy/paste, or just a good laugh.
Cheers!
