How to write a brief that gets you comparable offers

You send the same brief to three contractors and receive three offers: one of two pages, one of twenty, and one five times more expensive than the cheapest. Most often this does not mean someone is dishonest, but that each interpreted the brief in their own way.

What a brief should contain

• Who you are and what you do. Two sentences are enough, but without them the contractor is guessing.
• The problem you want to solve. Describe what does not work today, not the solution you have imagined. "Inquiries get lost in email" is more useful than "we need a CRM".
• Who will use it. How many people, which roles and how comfortable they are with technology.
• What it must connect to. Existing systems, databases, accounting, payment.
• What is required and what is nice to have. Without that distinction every offer includes something different.
• The deadline and its reason. "By the trade fair in March" says more than "as soon as possible".
• A rough budget. You do not have to state an exact amount, but a range saves everyone time.

What you can leave out

You do not have to prescribe technology, draw screens or write a thirty-page specification. That is the contractor's job, and premature decisions often close off better and cheaper routes.

How to compare offers

• What is included? Design, testing, data migration, training, hosting.
• What happens after launch? Warranty, maintenance, the price of changes.
• Who owns the solution? Source code, access and data should remain yours.
• How is it paid? In phases with deliveries, or up front.
• Who actually does the work? And who do you talk to when something gets stuck.

The sign of a good offer

A good contractor asks questions before making an offer. An offer that arrives within an hour without a single question is usually based on assumptions, and assumptions are later billed as extra work.

If you would like to go through your brief together before sending it, get in touch.