Tell us what you are trying to build, fix or replace

How to write an enquiry that gets a useful reply

Most enquiries we receive describe a solution rather than a problem. Somebody writes asking for a booking system with four specific features, when the underlying issue is that customers keep double booking and staff spend an hour a day on the telephone. The second description is far more useful, because it lets us suggest approaches the writer had not considered.

Tell us what happens today and where it hurts. Tell us who is involved and how many of them there are. Tell us what you have already tried, including software that did not work out, and why it did not. Mention any deadline that genuinely matters and why it matters, because a real constraint changes the sensible approach.

You do not need to know your budget precisely, but a range helps enormously. It stops us proposing something far larger than you intended and it stops you receiving a quote that was never going to fit. Nobody enjoys discovering that mismatch after three meetings.

Enquiries we particularly welcome

• Rescue work. A system exists, it matters, and whoever built it has stopped responding. We do this often and the initial assessment is genuinely useful even if you go elsewhere afterwards.
• Second opinions. You have a quote from another firm and want someone technical to tell you whether it is reasonable. We will read it honestly rather than simply undercutting it.
• Spreadsheet replacements. Something critical is held together by a shared file that three people edit at once. This is the most common successful project we deliver.
• Schools and education. The sector we know most deeply, and where we can usually tell you within one conversation whether existing software would serve you better than a build.
• Long term support. You have working software and simply need somebody reliable to look after it, patch it and be reachable when something goes wrong.