One address, and what to put in it.
Write a paragraph. What the business does, roughly what you need, and a number to reach you on. That is a sufficient brief, and it is enough for us to tell you a price or tell you that we are the wrong shop for it.
Usually answered the same day. Deutsch oder English.
Three lines.
A paragraph is a sufficient brief.
You do not need to know what you want built. The most useful mails describe the problem and let us argue about the solution.
One sentence is plenty. The town matters more than you would think, because half of what a small site has to do is be found by people nearby.
"We are a two-chair barber in Winterthur, open Tuesday to Saturday."
The problem, not the solution. "We need a website" is less useful than the reason you concluded that, and the reason is sometimes solved by something cheaper.
"People phone during a cut to ask about opening hours, and half of them do not get through."
Roughly. It does not have to be measurable and it does not have to be right — it is what we check the finished thing against.
"Most bookings come in without the phone ringing."
Three steps,
and none of them costs anything.
The gap between sending an enquiry and hearing back is where most people go and hire somebody else, so here is exactly what it looks like.
A reply, usually the same day
Either a price and a next step, or a straight answer that this is not something we should build for you. Both come from a person who read your mail.
A call, twenty minutes
Only if it is worth having. Plenty of enquiries can be answered in writing and do not need a slot in anybody's calendar.
A brief and a fixed price
In writing, before anything is built and before you have paid anything. If the brief is wrong, say so — that is what it is for.
No form, no ticket number, and no autoresponder. It goes to a person, and the reply comes from the person who would do the work.
Usually answered the same day. Deutsch oder English. Switzerland.