Sage words from Thomas Jefferson

“The man who stops advertising to save money is like the man who stops the clock to save time.”
- Thomas Jefferson

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In these difficult economic times, it is important to keep your economic engine running by continuing to plan for and carry out effective integrated marketing and advertising strategies.

Many companies are cutting back; most do not realize advertising has a cumulative effect, with each medium and campaign building on the previous and creating a stronger foundation for the next.

Do not be tempted to trim the fat and end up accidentally cutting into the muscle of your organization’s branding and awareness efforts. Keep your campaigns and programs consistent, steady, and strong, and you will weather this rough storm of economic uncertainty.

Posted by John Dye under Advertising, Branding, Business, Clients, Marketing, Promotional, Sales

Building Business Through “Cross Ruff”

“Cross Ruff” is a simple technique based on leverage.  Here are the steps to “Cross Ruff” that many agencies have found effective.

1. Take a current client’s product and think of a joint/co-promotion with other companies compatible products (generally a company that is not currently your client).
2. Put the co-promotion in rough form.
3. Call the other companies in the co-promotion.
4. Introduce yourself as the agency of record for your client and present the rough idea of what you have in mind for the joint promotion.

Most companies you call will already have an agency of record, however, studies show that one third of companies who are currently working with agencies are unhappy and open to discussions with other agencies.  Companies who have used this technique of “Cross Ruff” have found that most of the phone calls they make turn into face-to-face meetings and companies are very impressed with the co-promotion opportunity offered by the agency.

So, get with your creative department and concept a “Cross Ruff” promotion.  Hey, it definitely beats cold calls

Posted by Laura Hoskisson under Advertising, Business, Clients, Design, Marketing, Sales

Writing Your Proposals Training from Selling Graphic Design

Two most common types of formal requests received

· RFP – Request for Proposal

· RFQ – Request for Quotation

o Formal Bid Conferences

Four Basic Parts to a Bid

· Capabilities Statement

o Your design firm’s qualifications, and why it is best suited for this particular project.

· Project Overview

o A. Background – your interpretation of the background of the project and your goals/purpose of the project

o B. Work Requirement – Complete description of the project, including any special design elements that you want to highlight.

· Technical Proposal

o Description of the scope of work from your point of view and your insights on how you can improve the process.

§ Customers want a custom job, not a cookie cutter approach.

· Cost Proposal

o This area should contain ONLY the cost of work and expenses spelled out in the client’s “Statement of Work and Requirements.”

§ Most companies use cost as a parameter, not as a specific criteria in proposal evaluation.

o BE SPECIFIC – make sure you list proofing cycles, how it will be presented number of copies to be printed.

Other items to add to the proposal

· Time-line Management

· Project Staff Profiles

· Client List

· Graphic Design Trade Customs (terms your company uses to conduct business)

Don’t be afraid to ask how much a client paid for this service the year before.

The Exit

· If you don’t get the project, call the client and request a critique of your proposal. Write a letter telling the client that your company is available if things don’t work out with your competitor.

Posted by Megan Morris under Business, Sales

How to create a great agency/client relationship

Maintaining quality business relationships is important, but great relationships are what help businesses conquer challenges. Relationships permeate every part of our lives, personal and business. We all participate in successful relationships and we all have relationships we avoid at all costs. This is a short list of a few factors that must exist in order to achieve maximum impact from our agency/client relationships.

1. There must be a partnership attitude. Each party must acknowledge their dependence on the other.

2. Expectations must be clear.

3. A precise decision making process must be in place.

4. The agency and client must have a shared goal clearly defined at the outset of each project.

5. The agency needs the opportunity to be fully absorbed into the client’s culture. The agency must understand the client’s people, product, and industry.

6. The client must understand agency’s processes and should be allowed to know the account managers as well as the supporting team. The client should strive to understand basic marketing concepts.

7. The client should be open minded. You hired the agency to be an objective opinion. Listen. The agency, at the same time, needs to accept the client’s expertise within his/her industry.

8. The agency must place a high value on keeping the client happy.

9. The client must have realistic expectations about timelines and budget.

10. The agency must consistently meet timelines and stay within budget.

11. The agency must price business correctly. If the price is too high, the client feels ripped off. If the price is too low, the agency may end up being inflexible.

12. Mutual success must exist. This means fair profit for both sides. Any other way will create an unbalanced relationship.

13. There must be time dedicated to evaluate the relationship after each project. Learn from each project, while talking about the bad and the good.

There are thousands of books written on this subject and there will be thousands more. Don’t assume this to be an exhaustive list, but these factors, if applied to your agency/client relationship, will create trust, understanding, and confidence which will make the path to a establishing a great business relationship much smoother.

-Nate Canova

Posted by Nate Canova under Business, Clients, Marketing, Sales

Habit

 

In marketing, branding, business, and everything we do, I think this poem by an unknown author rings true.

 

Habit

 

I am your constant companion.

I am your greatest helper or heaviest burden.
I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
I am completely at your command.

Half of the things you do you might as well turn over to me, and I will do them - quickly and correctly.

I am easily managed; you must be firm with me.

Show me exactly how you want something done, and after a few lessons I will do it automatically.

I am the servant of all great men,
And, alas, of all failures as well.
Those who are great, I have made great.
Those who are failures, I have made failures.

I am not a machine, though
I work with the precision of a machine
Plus the intelligence of a person.

You may run me for profit or run me for ruin;
it makes no difference to me.

Take me, train me, be firm with me, and
I will place the world at your feet.

Be easy with me and I will destroy you.

Who am I? 

I am HABIT!

Posted by Matt Stuart under Business, Marketing, Sales

Do you blog?

Blogworld Expo recently released some blogging statistics that is of importance to all businesses, especially with client interest in Web 2.0. and social marketing.

* Over 12 million American adults currently maintain a blog.
* More than 147 million Americans use the Internet.
* Over 57 million Americns read blogs.
* 1.7 million American adults list making money as one of the reasons they blog.
* 89% of companies surveyed say they think blogs will be more important in the next five years.
* 9% of internet users say they have created blogs.
* 6% of the entire US adult population has created a blog.
* Technorati is currently tracking over 70 million blogs.
* Over 120 thousand blogs are created every day.
* There are over 1.4 million new blog posts every day.
* 22 of the 100 most popular websites in the world are blogs.
* 120,000 new blogs are created every day.
* 37% of blog readers began reading blogs in 2005 or 2006.
* 51% of blog readers shop online.
* Blog readers average 23 hours online each week.

Source: Blogworld Expo

Posted by John Dye under Advertising, Blogs, Business, Clients, Marketing, Sales, Web 2.0

7 Prime Factors to Improve Response and Get Results

Target the right people — Make conscious decisions on who to actively pursue. The shotgun approach rarely works well.

You need a big idea — Stop people in their tracks and make them react!

Make an offer they can’t refuse — The offer (aka the “hook) gets people to respond.

Testing pays big dividends — Testing shows what does and does not work, and can also reveal the best place to invest your marketing dollars.

Add value — Tailor your message to be about them, not you.

Credibility is key — Establish your claims, use facts, and employ testimonials.

Use Experts — When sending e-mail or mail, you want to ensure you are putting your best foot forward. This may be the first and only time you can make an impression … make sure it’s a good one. The old adage holds true:

You never have a second chance to make a good first impression.

Posted by John Dye under Advertising, Marketing, Sales

Marketing Effectively During A Recession

Over $4.00 a gallon for gas?
I lost how much in my 401(k) this past quarter?

Sound familiar?

The “R” word has been used sparingly in certain circles (read Washington D.C. circles) over the past 4-6 months, but I’ll say it now: R-E-C-E-S-S-I-O-N.

It doesn’t look good (and I don’t think we have bottomed out yet).

So what now for companies? Hunker down and slice and dice budgets to make it through? Sacrifice marketing initiatives for other budget line items?

One advertiser said it best:

“When times are good, you should advertise. When times are bad, you must advertise.”

When things are good, everyone advertises. You have to compete with everyone for marketshare and front of mind awareness. When times are bad, let them pull back. Don’t be a lemming; break away from the pack. Spend the same amount of money you had budgeted (or even more if you can) and monopolize the majority of the awareness. Become the category leader!

Want some more on this topic? Call us at Fluid (801-295-9820) to see how we can assist you get the most out of your marketing and advertising dollars!

Posted by John Dye under Advertising, Business, Marketing, Sales

Selling Graphic Design

We are currently training out of this book in our Friday sales meetings. There are some good thoughts (not totally mind-blowing, but definitely time-tested). Here are some of the best ideas in Chapter 3 (HOW TO NEVER HAVE TO COLD CALL AGAIN).

The 1st step in selling graphic design is to realize it is not all fun and games. Deign must have an ROI, otherwise business-savvy firms focused on the bottom line will not see its value.

Understand your prospective client’s needs! Do your homework!

Speak to the assistant and ask as many questions as he/she will let you:
1-What type of creative work is done in their dept.?
2-What is the correct spelling and title of their boss’ name?
3-Are they happy with their designers? Do they do everything in-house or use out of house help?
4-If you received a referral to this company, does this person know the person who referred you? If so, is that person seen in a good light at the company you are pursuing as a client?
5-How are design decisions made in the company (i.e., who is the decision maker)?

90% of the job is preparation, and 10% is actually performing what it is you prepared for in the first place

How to prepare your portfolio
Organize you portfolio by your client’s needs (e.g., don’t show them identity sets if they need collateral)

Put your best work in front and at the end. Bookend you presentation with your WOW! Factor!

Don’t overstay your welcome; do what you need to do to warm the situation, get to your pitch, and then go. Pick up on verbal and physical cues to know when to leave.

Find out how they like to work (how many concepts they would like to see, what scheduling they would like to follow, deadlines, etc.) Get client and studio on the same page!

Invite them to your studio to see your facility and meet the designers. This helps to further cement the relationship! Do whatever you can to get them in, wow them, and help them make multiple points of contact with your firm. People do business with people they like and trust—do everything you can to create these two things!

Posted by John Dye under Business, Sales