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How often do you interact with creative firms? Do you outsource to a creative firm or agency for your business’ graphic and website design? How has your experience been, working with creatives? Do you find them unpredictable, inconsistent? Since 2004, we have polished an approach, called the Campaign Development Process, to take the mystery out of the creative.
Right vs Left
I am the right-brained, logical partner of a left-brained, creative. We are life partners as well as business partners. Working together has been an exciting blend of adventure and conflict. We do not think, process or talk the same language!
Back in 2004, as the right-brained, logical partner in this creative agency, I was looking for sales and business coaching. I found a match in Blair Enns, owner of Win Without Pitching.
The typical approach to “selling” creative services incorporated a dog and pony show highlighting an agency’s work. The biggest problem with the dog and pony show is that it’s all about the vendor and not about the client. Blair introduced us to a better way to develop rapport with prospective clients.
The Foundation
On a sales and marketing retreat, I learned about his “mood board” process. I’ve been told it resembles an advertising agency or interior design dream board.
What I loved about his process was that it broke down, logically, how to engage the client in the creative process of concept development. The pivotal step in the process is the mood board. This board is a collage of images that captures the “mood” of the project and foreshadows the final concept. At this stage the client’s input becomes critical in translating the vision into something tangible.
The logical progression made sense to me, a verbal communicator. But when I brought it back to the office, the designers struggled with the mood board at first. They were more comfortable with taking a client idea and executing multiple concepts and versions until we hit the mark.
Surprise, Surprise
The biggest challenge for our clients was often the “surprise” of the first reveal. Despite the best intentions, we were, at times, decidedly off the mark. Multiple concepts could result in multiple versions, driving up time and cost. Each time we missed the target, we ran the risk of compromising client trust.
A Better Way: The Campaign Development Process
We have broken our Campaign Development Process down into a highly-collaborative, five-phase progression. The client actually participates in the process and gives feedback at each stage. Our inspiration board actually foreshadows the concept, so there are no more surprises 🙂
This is not a fit for all clients because you have to be willing to be involved. All our clients who have done the full five steps can testify to its value and success. In fact, we now offer a money back guarantee, we’ve had such consistent customer satisfaction.
“We didn’t go into this with the intent of a brand refresh, but walked away with one—an added bonus!” Liz Wainger, CEO | Wainger Group LLC
To see how SliceWorks can help you turn your ideas into a complete package, contact us for a FREE 20 min Evaluation. If you can imagine it, we can achieve it!