Should web design companies provide sample designs when tendering?

A question: Should web design companies provide sample designs when tendering for client work?

If you're a web design / development company you'll likely haved been approached in the course of tendering for new business and be asked to present design templates as part of that process. Even for low-value projects of just a few thousand pounds. What is the general consensus in the design community on providing pre-contract design templates? There are arguments for both sides of the equation, including (but not limited to):

Yes:

• Because it allows the design company to show off their talent and prove they understand the client brief
• Because it allows the client to make a like-for-like comparison on which company to choose
• Because it means companies good at design win the business

No:

• Because the client may not be able to really assess the company's ability to do the whole job. For example, how good is their back end site development, will they code the W3C standards, are their sites really SEo friendly, are their admin systems usable, etc.? They may then be basing their decision on just one element of the whole picture.
• Because the client will form an opinion based on one or two templates when a design process is iterative, and sometimes client feedback in the design stage of a project can alter the final chosen template considerably.
• Because if the design company did pre-contract templates for every client they'd never get any paid work done.
• Because it's like asking a painter and decorator to paint one wall of your house as a 'sample' to make sure they can do the job before hiring them.

What are your thoughts?

I agree that it would make sense for larger contracts - though at the same time it would probably be wise to ensure the potential client signs a non-disclosure agreement - you don't want to find they award the contract to someone else but end up using one of your trial designs ;-)

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