by Miriam Hara | Mar 11, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Creative, Latest
Suffice to say that in any business, client happiness amounts to a happy business– your business. In the advertising world where business marketing meets conceptual communications …objectives, strategies and creative all need to be integrated to provide the one strong solution … it’s important to keep the following in mind to earn client happiness!
This should be your mantra: KNOW THEIR BUSINESS. It’s the equivalent of being prepared when you go to an interview. You must do your homework. Research their market, the industry, the competitive landscape and the product offerings. Remember trust must be earned, so if you’re not prepared and you don’t offer up a knowledge base of their playground…clients will get nervous about entrusting their product, service or brand to you.
Be a partner and not a supplier. Be accessible and make yourself a constant resource. In today’s speed of business, marketing teams, brand managers and marketing directors feel the need to rely on external resources to get the job done…and done well. Be that external resource. How? Ask to be part of the strategic process. Keep current on industry news or competitive information. Send them articles of interest or highlight key opportunities that may be pertinent to their company’s or brand’s success. Watch their back… and they’ll only be too happy to invite you in their inner circle to get the value of your insight!
Don’t tell them what they can’t do, tell them what can be done. As an advertising or brand agency it’s your job to sensitize them to the issues at hand, the potential problems of a certain initiative or concept…but if you leave it at that, that’s one more thing that they need to solve. If you want to keep your clients happy, provide solutions. You not only need to highlight the potential risks, you need to provide solutions to deter that risk. That’ll make them happy!
We all know it, we all think it. Everyone is a marketer, everyone is an art director, everyone thinks their creative. Often I have been directionally briefed. I get asked to deliver on a pre-decided tactic… “We want a direct mail” or “we need an advertising campaign”. Clients often know what they want, and they should. Afterall, they are the keeper of the brand. However, it’s our job to push the envelope and to ask the questions that may provide a hidden nugget, a new perspective, a different tactic. Our role as a brand advertising agency is to know about the next best thing about…well advertising and creative. So the rule of thumb…give clients what they need to see. Only then will they be receptive to a different approach and evaluate what you can bring to the table… making you again a partner in their business.
Prepare to WOW. It’s good enough is never enough. Go in with concepts and solutions that will WOW them. When presenting creative campaigns it’s important to go that extra mile. Understand the potential and limitations of each of your creative solutions and speak to them. Wow them, not only in what they see before them, exciting concepts, but in your thought process and preparedness to answer questions and provide insight.
One word. CARE. Ultimately that’s really the one word that wraps up all previous points. Care enough to matter. It’s about client service. There you have it. The secret on how to be a successful business. What is client management if it isn’t about keeping the client happy. And what makes clients happy, what keeps them that way is pretty straight forward.
No matter what client services you offer, ultimately there is one factor that will keep them coming back, delivering on your promise, promptly, effectively and consistently. Client Happiness is guaranteed to make your Business Happy. It’s a perfect marriage.
by Lisa Wedmann | Mar 6, 2013 | Branding, Business Success, Interactive, Latest
In this business, we all want to keep our clients happy. Yet in this busy, fast paced go go go world, one key component is lacking – listening!
Instead of hearing what our clients are saying, we are so eager to “sell” our latest idea, fix a problem or answer a question, that we interrupt, ramble on and miss important knowledge and insights.
Listening is THE only way to provide a client with great ideas and plans. Yet instead of hearing what our clients are saying, our brain is busy rushing ahead preparing answers and plans.
Here are a few tips to help listen to clients.
Keep an open mind
Don’t go into a meeting with pre-conceived ideas about what is going to happen. Yes, prepare an agenda. Yes, do the necessary research. And then, let the meeting happen.
Listen with intent
Actively listen to what your client is saying. Don’t jump in, or worse, interrupt. Provide answers when necessary. Remember, the goal is to keep the conversation going and lead to a plan of action.
Talk Less Than You Listen
Be present and be quiet. Yes, ask questions. Yes, provide answers. But let your clients speak, without interruptions.
Ask open ended questions
When asking questions, the aim is to get your client to share. Avoid simple yes and no questions. Instead, ask questions that will get you client to open up and share important insights.
It’s not personal
The client is always first… even when they are wrong! Understand that this is part of business…any business not only the advertising business. It’s hard to sit in a meeting and have your latest ad torn apart after hours of work.
As tough as it can be, remember it’s not personal – this is business. Don’t get upset, interrupt, or get defensive. Hear what the client is saying and let them get it out.
Get off email
When a client sends an email expressing a concern, get it off email – quickly. Pick up the phone, or set up a meeting to talk it out. Then listen. This will lead to a solution quicker than having multiple emails going back and forth. It’s so easy today to “duck” facing issues personally… but just because you can, doesn’t mean it’s the right approach to use.
Communication with clients is a two-way street. We do need to be persuasive “sales” people. But in order to achieve success, to obtain the “go ahead” or buy in that we want, we need to listen first.
by Miriam Hara | Mar 4, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Events, Latest
There’s a lot out there about how business has changed over the last decade, let alone 25 years. During the course of our journey leading to this point, suffice to say, 3H Communications has not only seen many changes… it has embraced them. My earlier blog written last week speaks to those business changes. Here, I would like to talk about the ‘business staples’ that have provided us with the ability to meet the challenges of change head on, maintaining our credibility and growing the business.
1) There is no “business as usual”
Each brand, business and company is unusual… and each comes with its own personality, culture, character, challenges… Just like a person! This is a thinking perspective that 3H Communications has always implemented. Perhaps this perspective is a result of 3H’s strong marketing focus and the fact that we had never set out to be an industry specific agency. Specializing in marketing creative, we work in all industries, all media, and all channels. That has enabled us with lateral and forward thinking assisting us in identifying business patterns.
2) Passion is essential
No matter how many changes there are in business and how often business changes, the necessity of maintaining passion for the industry, for the people, for the product and for the business is essential. Just like business is unusual, a business led without passion, is led without drive. Drive is the force that allows us to focus, to work towards success… to deliver results.
3) Relationships are the cornerstone
With all the change in technology and how individuals and business communicate today, it’s easy to say that one on one relationship are no longer valid. I would beg to differ. We send out e-zine, e-newsletters; we comment on LinkedIn and set up lead generation tools on web sites; we offer e-books and feature case studies, all online, all though technology… all with the aim to establishing relationships… so we can call, meet and develop the relationship. The tools that we used in the way relationships are established, formed and even fostered may have changed…but the essence of cultivating relationships is still monumental.
4) The client is always first
No matter what else change… clients or customers are still first and servicing them in the way they need and want to be serviced still stands. Understanding the old adage, if you don’t take care of your client, someone else will has never been more relevant. With technology breaking down geographical borders, competition has never been fiercer…so servicing clients is the point of differentiation.
We hear it every day…The one thing about business that is constant, is change. So the one thing that businesses need to be is flexible. To adapt, to maneuver, to navigate. Being nimble and less cumbersome. That doesn’t mean to blindly follow all changes and trends. The need to assess and to research is still very essential…but decisions should be streamlined so that change is allowed to take place.
6) Business stance
The best offense is a great defense may be true in sports, but in business a defensive strategy is a losing one. Just look around at the businesses that are no longer. Business must always have a progressive strategy…because only then will it defend the market space it now enjoys, grow and prosper!
by Miriam Hara | Feb 25, 2013 | Advertising, Branding, Business Success, Latest
There’s been a lot of changes in the last 25 years, not only in the agency business but in business in general. I will be predictable and say it has all come about because of the computer. That would be right to a certain extent. However, I believe it’s the way in which business and people have embraced the computer and its technology that is responsible for the majority of the business shifts.
Here’s my list of what has changed at 3H over the last 25 years:
The space a designer needs: It really seems like yesterday I was trying to fit one more large drafting table in the studio… let alone purchasing one more Art Director Marker set and art pads and sketch pads to bring in a new designer. Gone are those days!
Our inspiration tools: Gone are the days of flipping through Creative Source or Illustration Guild books to get inspired for the next big idea. At 3H, we use to have a library of creative and resource books… now we have half a shelf…and that’s going too! Image banks are the tools of inspirations nowadays and there’s nothing wrong with that… until those images become the concept!
How concepts are presented: With the advent of the computer and printers, now mock ups seem complete and already done. Clients have a difficult time in processing that what is in front of them is “conceptual”… not complete. That even if we could purchase the image on our mock ups, artwork has to be created, images have to be prepped, copy has to be finalized… etc… At times, I lament over marker renderings where it was obvious the person in an ad was a place holder for an image of a person that was yet to be casted, chosen and photographed!
Time to develop: If the speed of business is fast and faster… the agency business is at warp speed! There’s a belief by business in general that since everything is computer driven, it should take less time. That is very rarely the case, if ever. Computers in the creative world have provided creative types and agencies with the ability to expand on the possibilities and to show them in more concise ways. It still takes the time it takes to come up with an idea and to develop it!
The definition of a designer: What really is a designer? In my way of thinking, designers need to be conceptual thinkers in the visual medium. This is just my opinion… but find, many designers today know technology and yet have no conceptual vibe. They rely on image to create a concept rather than using the image as a resource too. More and more the designers out of school today think inside the screen and not inside their minds! Again… my opinion.
Relationship building: Time is at a premium. With the speed of business coupled with, restructuring, right-sizing, down-sizing or whatever hip term is currently out there… clients don’t have the time nor the inclination to go for lunch. But for those of us who do have a relationship with our business partners (yes, I mean clients!), the relationship is stronger… texting, emailing and yes even face timing. It has allowed us to reach out in snippets…by the sentence, being integrated in the day to day fabric.
Cold calling: Cold zinging you mean! Getting someone on the phone to talk to you when they don’t even know you is more difficult. How we get leads… and follow up on them is totally different. On line lead generation, web site lead generation and e-zines are now the “in” thing to do in cold calling. That means efforts can be more streamlined both in time and money. A warm lead is much better than a cold one…so rather than spend your efforts and money on cold and warm alike, you can double your efforts on the ones that have expressed an interest…or following.
Brand reaching capabilities: The ways in reach we reach our target markets… and how niche we can go is astounding and becoming more so each and everyday. Through social media (Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, tumblr, Youtube, Linkedin), online properties, blogs, blogging, traditional media the options available to local, small, big and global advertisers are numerous and very exciting! Some of these channels don’t require design, but all require time and know how…that hasn’t changed a bit!
3H launched in 1988 with its corporate logo in Purple and Mustard. We had become synonymous with Purple because of our Mustard accents… and then we changed our accent to Titanium to speak to the digital and technology…to change our clients’ perception of what it is we do… but still remaining in the Purple so to speak. I am not sure what the next 5 to 10 years will hold, but I have often been heard saying “Complacency in business means death”… and I believe it.
Over the last 25 years, the ability to change has changed. Businesses are constantly looking for the new opportunity and are more than ever, open to the next best thing… even though embracing it still takes a little time.
by Miriam Hara | Feb 13, 2013 | Business Success, Latest
Lucky are those that are in love with what they do. Everyday is a new wonderful day filled with commitment, dedication and emotion. As I reflect back on the 25 years I have spent at 3H Communications and with all my clients, I truly believe that I have been blessed. Like any love affair or relationship there have been times that were in turmoil, filled with indecision and fraught with doubt…but more often, there were times that the challenges brought laughter, fulfillment, achievement and oh…the great memories. It has allowed me to build relationships that I value.
It’s easy to say that because I chose a “creative” profession that it is easier for me to be passionate about my job. But I really don’t believe that this is true. Over the years in business I have met people in all professions who really love what they do; from scientists, sales people, physicians, marketers… and yes, even accountants. All of us who love what we do, feel in our hearts and minds, that we have a calling.I can hear the collective thought saying “money”… but I can say for many that I have met, it’s not all about the money. It’s about that calling that makes us passionate and emotive about our accomplishments. It’s about doing it differently, doing it better and doing it well. It’s also that calling which makes us care, all that much more and strive for that extra elusive… thing.
I really do believe that you do what you are… and you are what you do. The perfect yin and yang scenario. To be one of those “they” people who love what they do. To have a passionate affair with your work, with what you do for over 8 hours a day is the best anyone could hope for. You never have to work a day in your life and better yet, you never look at it as work. Yes, the term workaholic comes to mind, but I don’t believe that this is an accurate term. Owning and working at your own business is a personality type. For those of us who are entrepreneurs you all know what I am talking about. Running 3H Communications over the last 25 years… I have worked… and not worked. I remember reading an article that Arlene Dickinson You Inc called Born this way that really resonated with me. Mind you, this speaks to being an entrepreneur…and the drive to become one. I believe that you don’t necessarily need to be an entrepreneur, or run your own business to really love what you do. Just like you find love in many places…you find passionate people who are driven by what they do… from volunteers , coordinators, managers, store clerks to big business executives.
I will end this post by apologizing for taking advantage of the Valentine’s Day timing and using “love” as the hook, line and sinker of this blog! I hope I haven’t turned anyone off by being gimmicky… but it was too good to pass up!
