Does your website provide value?

I am working with a not for profit organization that needs to replace the software that they are using. The software was developed for this international organization many years ago and now is supported by one person on a database that has not been upgraded for many years.

As part of the assessment, the organization wants to put together a budget, so that they understand their costs before they start to spend money. As a result, they don't want to do a detailed evaluation of the software at this time, they just want to project the costs.

The approach that we have taken is to estimate the costs with as little effort as possible and as little interaction with the supplier as possible. This has meant using the website information whenever we can and only ask very specific questions which can be answered simply. This won't be a perfect projection (too many projects undertake a detailed analysis, thereby expensive) before creating a budget.

This is the first time, I have done this and it has given me a new understanding of what a website should provide. In the past, I have been frustrated by websites that lure you in with a promise of information, then require you to sign up, so that they can market to you (As an aside, most of them ask for this, but never follow up). This slows the process down and if you are not ready to talk to a salesman, gets you to look elsewhere for answers.

In this investigation, I found the following types of websites:

1. Some that provided very little information other than being a sales brochure, asking you to contact them for anything that would really tell you about functionality. Most, however, would give you technical specs.
2. Some provided a lot of functionality information, but very little in terms of education about what you need to prepare for.
3. Some that provided functionality, technical and educational information, but required you to sign up to get much of it.
4. One that provided all of the above with no request for signup. It provided a lot of information about what not for profits need to look for, why they should manage it and options for getting it. This went way beyond their software. It was a pleasure reading it and it helped us put together a better proposal.

I worked with a business coach a few years ago, who told me that I should be providing educational information, so that people could understand how I could help them. I now understand what I need to do with my website to increase the value that I provide.