Best Web Design BY REPUTATION

How we chooseour work

Work reaches us through people we have already done well by. What arrives is then researched properly, at our own cost, before anyone hears back. Most of it we turn down. This page sets out exactly how that judgement is made, so nobody is left guessing and nobody wastes a month.

The judgement drawn as a logic diagram An engineering logic diagram. An enquiry enters a market study block, whose output feeds two tests: can we move it, and will they let us. Both feed an AND gate. A true result routes to work begins; a false result routes to an answer with reasons. Both outputs are connected, so every enquiry is answered. ENQUIRY MARKET STUDY CAN WE MOVE IT MATERIALLY WILL THEY LET US DO IT PROPERLY AND 1 0 WE ANSWER, WITH REASONS BOTH INPUTS MUST BE TRUE. NEITHER OUTPUT IS LEFT UNWIRED. WORK BEGINS
FIG. 01   DECISION LOGIC, TWO INPUTS
OUR METHODFIVE BANDS
SHEET 01THE THRESHOLDSECTION VIEW
The studio method drawn as a threshold Five concentric semicircular bands rising from a base line, each band marking one stage between work arriving at the studio and work beginning. R1 IT ARRIVES R5 IT BEGINS THE THRESHOLD
FIG. 03   FIVE BANDS, CROSSED IN ORDER

Nothing is answered until it has been studied.

Five bands sit between work arriving here and work beginning. They are crossed in order, and each one narrows.

We turn down most of what reaches us. Not because the companies are poor, but because we hold a small number of engagements at a time and each one has to be worth the room it takes.

The centre is small on purpose. That is the whole design, not a side effect of being busy.

SHEET 02METHODSTAGE BY STAGE

What happens after the email lands.

The method drawn as a riser column A tall sectional drawing of a column with five chambers separated by four plates. Seven flows enter at the top. Each plate has a smaller aperture than the one above it, so fewer flows continue through each chamber. One flow leaves at the bottom. WHAT ARRIVES R1 R2 R3 R4 R5 EVERY PLATE NARROWS WHAT BEGINS
FIG. 02   SECTION THROUGH THE METHOD

  1. The work reaches us

    An email arrives at hello@bestwebdesign.lk. A partner reads it, not an account executive and not a form autoresponder. If the note is thin we come back with two or three questions rather than guessing.

    SAME DAY

  2. We study the market

    We put real hours into your category before any money changes hands. Search demand and how it is currently being met. Your five nearest competitors and where each of them is weak. What buyers in your market actually search, ask and read. Whether the constraint on your growth is visibility, positioning, product or price, because if it is one of the last two we may not be the right firm.

    THREE TO SEVEN DAYS

  3. We form a view

    Two questions, asked honestly. Can we move this business materially, and will the people running it let us do the work properly. A brilliant brief attached to an organisation that cannot decide anything is still a no.

    INTERNAL

  4. We answer in writing

    You get an answer either way. If it is yes, it comes with our reading of your market and what we would do first. If it is no, it comes with the reason, and where we can, a direction or another firm that suits you better. We do not go quiet on people.

    FIVE TO TEN WORKING DAYS

  5. The work begins

    Scope, terms, timeline and named people. From that point you deal with the same team through to completion, and the partner who studied your market stays on the work.

    ON AGREEMENT

SHEET 03CRITERIAPUBLISHED IN FULL

What we take on, and what we turn down.

We would rather you read this and decide not to write, than write and wait ten days for a no.

Work we take on

  • 01A product or service that is already good, where too few people know it
  • 02A founder or board who can make a decision in one meeting
  • 03Categories where search and reputation genuinely decide the sale
  • 04A horizon measured in years, because brand and search both compound
  • 05Clients who want an opinion and will argue with it properly
  • 06Budgets set against the size of the opportunity, not against a competitor quote

Work we turn down

  • 01Briefs sent to five studios at once
  • 02Requests for free concepts, mockups or strategy up front
  • 03Work that would need claims we cannot stand behind
  • 04Direct competitors of a client we already hold
  • 05Anyone who opens with how cheap we can go
  • 06Organisations where the person briefing us cannot approve anything
SHEET 04NOTESON THE METHOD

Notes on the method.

Do you publish prices?

No, and we never have. The figure follows the scope, the ambition and how long we hold the work. We quote once, in writing, against a defined scope, and we do it after the study rather than before it.

Do you charge for the market study?

No. The research that informs our judgement is done at our own cost, because it is how we decide. If we take the work on, that research carries straight into the engagement and you get it in full.

What if you turn the work down?

You get the reason in writing. Where the issue is timing, budget or a gap we do not cover, we say so plainly and point you somewhere sensible. A no is not a judgement on your company, it is a judgement on the fit.

Can I come back later?

Yes, and several current clients did. Circumstances change. If the reason we said no has been addressed, tell us what changed and we will look again.

Will you sign a non-disclosure agreement first?

Yes. Send yours with the first email, or ask for ours. Nothing you share leaves the partners reading it.

Do you work with direct competitors?

Never in the same market. When we take on a client in a category, that category is closed to us for the duration of the engagement and for a defined period afterwards.

How many clients do you hold at once?

A deliberately small book. The partner who studies your market is the partner who works on the account, and there is a hard limit on how many of those a person can hold before the quality drops.

Start at the outer band.

hello@bestwebdesign.lk