Process Street is Easy Street
The Process of Processing your Processes
A few months back I was on a call about business processes. Dry subject matter is something I would normally steer clear of, but I’d recently become aware of the necessity of this foundational concept.
Brand strategy consultant Melinda Livsey introduced this familiar yet underutilized term, “process”. I’m not meticulous, I’m not a perfectionist, so I’m not into documenting anything. For a system to function, the process must be clearly defined and recorded and implemented. So I gave it a go.
Below I’ve documented how to document your process. Pretty meta, right?
Reverse-Engineer your Process
Start in any word processing program or a simple Moleskine or whiteboard. We’re going to begin with our end result, say a logo design. Think hard about all the steps involved in creating a final design.
You’re essentially reverse-engineering your process.
Thought Process of your Process
Your Brain:
Okay, before I submit all logo files to the client, I must receive sign-off and payment.
To get sign-off and payment, I must send an invoice and the last iteration.
Before I send the final iteration, I need client feedback.
To get client feedback, I must send my initial concept.
To send an initial concept, I require a discovery period.
To have a discovery period, the client must submit an inquiry or have meeting with me.
Before we have a meeting, there needs to be some initial contract/payment signed.
Before the agreement is signed, I must have clarity on the deliverables.
For clarity on deliverables to occur, an initial call should be set up.
To have an initial call, there must be some inbound inquiry or contact with the potential client.
Continue this process until you get to the beginning of your relationship, like an inbound call or a web inquiry.
In the end, it may look something like this:
1. Lead Qualification
Leads come in through a phone call, email or a form on the site. The form I use is JotForm, a simple tool that can gather client answers and even allow for file uploads.
2. Lead Qual Call
From here, they must be qualified. Depending on the information received, an initial phone call is set up to understand the client’s goals. It can be as short as 30 minutes or multiple calls or meetings.
3. Qualifying
After the call, decide to ask these questions:
Is client in your preferred niche?
Can they meet your minimum level of engagement
Is the timeline acceptable
Do you have the necessary contractors to complete the project?
Compass of Design calls documenting:
information you can distill and hand to the client AND refine for presentation on the web as your case study.
This is great news for future marketing content.
4. Estimate/Contract/Invoice
Prepare and solidify estimate, proposal and contract. Pre-lance offers contract and proposal templates.
5. Discovery / Briefing
If a brand audit is needed perform that in person if at all possible. Determine the value proposition, goals, and differentiators. Discover painpoints. HolaBrief.com can help compile this data and trigger pertinent client questions. Develop recommendations for the client and create a brief and timeline.
6. Research
Review meeting notes and research the market.
7. Design
Consider contracting out design or pixel pushing using Upwork on a per-job basis. Sketch, conceptualize, digitize.
8. Presentation/Feedback/Revise
9. Finalize/Receive Final Payment
10. Package / Send
11. Thank you Pack/Ask for Review
Process Street is Easy Street
After completion of your process, set up an account at Process.st. The nice thing about Process St is It already has easily customizable templates. Now that you’re equipped with your own process, customize a template and heavily edit to make it your own. Templates can be used for any project checklist, so keep on perfecting that template for future use.
Thanks to Compass of Design.
