Do you ensure an excellent 1st date? (aka winning customers via a smaller "Specification Review")

So you had a good initial meeting (like a 1st coffee with a new girl), and you have agreed to have a Specification Review (aka first date).

For the majority of new clients, a Specification Review (also known as a Spec Review) will be your 1st paid engagement with them, and gives the client a smaller first commitment. This is to work out the requirements and put together a broad time and cost estimate.

It is a simple 4 step process:

1. Once you have decided that this is a project you want to work on, you have to convince the client to book in a Spec Review

   • This is a 1-5 day exercise for 1-2 people. The general rule is 1 man day per expected 2-week Sprint.
   • This process is timeboxed, and so appears to the client as a fixed price.
2. Make sure you get Terms and Conditions signed before you start work on this.
3. Specification Review - You will create a backlog of tasks, and some form of document (word or ppt) to present to the client explaining your proposed approach.

4. Present the Spec Review results to the client (in a meeting with all stakeholders) on site if possible, or over the phone if not, but never just by email.