During your weekly retrospective, you suggest the idea of adding a step before the initial kickoff workshop: meetings with each stakeholder individually. The agency’s owner pushes back hard, explaining that it would add a great deal of time to the engagement. Which of the following would be the BEST response?

  • “Sure, I understand. These meetings are important and are an investment in the relationship. We can cut out the user research in the strategy stage and repurpose this time to host these meetings.”?
  • “You’re right. We are already having trouble selling GDD retainers; adding more time to the engagement will likely make it harder for us to grow our program.”?
  • “We could still have each person talk about their vision for the website; however, we can do it as a group and invite the CEO. This will ensure the CEO can include their ideas.”?
  • “These meetings would be an investment in the long-term success of this client. This will help us establish better relationships, tailor the process, and create more aligned ideas.”?