The Business of Creativity is an ongoing series from Emily Cohen and Hunter Vargas of Casa Davka, a consultancy that helps creative firms evolve their business strategies and practices.
The current state of the world is undeniably affecting our industry. Projects are being scaled back, delayed, or canceled entirely, and clients are hitting pause until the situation becomes more stable. But this isn’t the first time our industry has faced uncertainty, and we’ve always found a way forward. There is hope and untapped potential, especially in new business development areas that we often overlook—but should be doubling down on, whether times are tough or not.
So let’s dive into some of these new business-generating opportunities, get reenergized, and remind ourselves that all is not doom and gloom. We have control over our future, and the value we bring to our clients’ businesses is indisputable.
Shift Our Perspective
Phrases like “business development,” “new business,” or “sales” often have a negative connotation. As a result, when it is time to “do” new business or sales, many of us put up emotional and logistical roadblocks, which leads to many of us neglecting this very important responsibility. Instead, we should shift our perspective and view business development as what it really is at its foundation: relationship building.
Relationship building is business development, new business, and sales wrapped in a bow of authenticity and intentionality. It is focused less on quick wins or winning at any cost and instead on building and nurturing relationships based on mutual respect, trust, communication, value, and even love.
As we navigate the ebb and flow of our industry, relationship-building should be a sustained effort. Never stop building the love. Never. (To help you out here, check out our article on the steps of relationship building!)
As we navigate the ebb and flow of our industry, relationship-building should be a sustained effort. Never stop building the love. Never.
Slow Down the Process
The world around us continues to speed up, and so has our approach to pursuing and building relationships with clients, both prospective and existing. However, in our efforts to “win” work quickly and “streamline” the process, we and our clients have skipped or avoided elements vital to building new relationships successfully.
One clear example is our reliance on proposals to demonstrate our capabilities and “win” a project. Sending a proposal to a prospective or existing client and expecting a document to do all the heavy lifting of showcasing our firm’s value and why we’re the perfect fit for the project/client is like hiring a candidate based only on their resume and cover letter or marrying someone after one look at their social media profiles. No matter how much content we include in our proposal, a document alone can never truly communicate who our firm is and why we should be selected for a project. And, when we take it a step further and include legal or contractual information in our proposal—often with the intention of “speeding up the process”—we may actually be doing more harm than good. Including terms too early can cause prospects to focus on legal details rather than the more important elements of the proposal, and the invaluable, nuanced, and personal relationship we’ve begun to build with them. Terms and conditions are often negotiable and are best discussed after scope and budget alignment during the proposal stage.
Ultimately, the more content we pack in our proposals, the more diluted and less compelling they become. Instead, we should slow down the new business process and focus on building a relationship with the prospective client by taking the time to get to know each other and insisting on presenting our capabilities before sending a proposal.
The capability presentation is an opportunity not only for a prospect to truly hear about and understand the full scope our capabilities and expertise, but it also allows us to get the know the prospect more so that once the proposal is out in the world, we each know that we are the perfect fit for the other and, more importantly, why. This presentation and conversation are steps in the relationship-building process that should never be skipped, as they build the love with a prospect, while the proposal only provides the details.
Ultimately, the capability presentation builds the love, the proposal provides the details, and the contract seals the deal. So, before getting down to the brass tacks, we should slow down, gather all the key stakeholders in a room, and have a conversation. This is our chance to show why we’re the ideal strategic partner to help move their business forward, not just another creative firm submitting a proposal. (Best practices for how to develop and lead this presentation here!)
Be Advisory
Being recognized as the go-to expert with our clients and prospects is one of the most effective ways to build authentic relationships and attract new business opportunities. However, to be known as an expert, we need to stop thinking of ourselves and, more importantly, acting as service providers. Instead, we should position ourselves as the strategic partners we are—experts who provide invaluable insight to move the needle on our clients’ businesses. And we should do so with prospective clients and existing clients alike.
With prospects, this can come to life by asking good, strategic questions throughout the relationship-building process. We should provide expert guidance, feedback, and, when needed, insightful counterpoints and alternative strategies that, while not giving away tangible deliverables for free, better align with the client’s business goals and relationship objectives.
And with clients, we should approach every phase of a project and the relationship the same way. That is, we shouldn’t just roll over to clients but showcase our expertise and value by actively listening to their questions, comments, and concerns while positioning ourselves as the expert in the room, bringing insight and direction to the process and the work itself.
We can further support this by conducting pre-mortems at the start of an engagement and post-mortems at the end, giving the client the opportunity to share their feedback, fears, and concerns, and giving us the opportunity to address them strategically and thoughtfully. In this way, we move beyond being perceived as service providers only there to do as we’re told and position ourselves instead as trusted advisors whom clients can turn to with their greatest challenges, knowing that they will receive expert guidance and actionable resolutions in return. Post-mortems also provide another relationship-building touchpoint during which we can collect and assess success metrics (see Capture Success Metrics! below) and review ways to elevate and improve how we work together.
And, even after a client project and/or relationship is over, we can continue to play an advisory role by offering “strategy summits,” during which we are part of our client’s quarterly and or yearly planning, advising them on where, why, and how they can best allocate their marketing/creative dollars based on their priorities and goals.. By helping them assess and determine their upcoming creative and marketing needs, we not only continue to showcase our value but also nurture the relationship and build the love for potential future new business.
Our work brings real value to our clients, and we should position ourselves as experts, being advisory at every stage of the relationship and engagement. And when we do so, our clients will remember us, value our insight, return with more work, and recommend us to others.
We should position ourselves as the strategic partners we are—experts who provide invaluable insight to move the needle on our clients’ businesses.
Capture Success Metrics
We need to do more to promote and champion the value of design—case studies and client testimonials are not enough. Instead, we should capture success metrics—or key performance indicators (KPIs)—to showcase how our work quantitatively met our client’s business objectives and then promote these metrics at every opportunity we can.
Success metrics showcase our value, demonstrating how our work has impacted our client’s brand, sales, marketing, product, or awareness, whether that be through percentage increases, revenue growth, or other measurable outcomes. And, the start of a relationship with the client, during the pre-mortem, is a great time to align on these metrics or a project, as well as how and when they will be captured and measured. If the client doesn’t know how to measure success, or hasn’t thought about it, you should be advisory(!) and consult with them to explore and define ways to measure success. And, as an expert in your client’s industry, you should be able to speak to how others in their industry have measured success. Then, during the post-mortem, be sure to follow up to get the data.
By aligning on and capturing success metrics, we demonstrate to our clients that we know our work adds value to their businesses, that it drives meaningful impact. It shows we understand their business objectives and goals and are committed to achieving them with our work together.
Stay in Touch
We and our clients alike tend to finish a project and immediately move on to the next, newest fire that needs to be put out. And, in that process, we often forget about each other. Instead, we should be maintaining and continuing to nurture relations with past clients, along with everyone in our networks and communities.
We should keep tabs on our clients, celebrating their successes, milestones, and achievements (e.g., product launches, new jobs, marriages) publicly and personally, sharing relevant industry news and/or articles, checking in with them periodically just to say you were thinking about them, etc.
And, most importantly, these relationship-building activities should be approached thoughtfully and without the pressure of trying to “get business,” ensuring we are building and maintaining trusted, value-driven relationships. By authentically communicating our love and support for our network, we are kept top of mind for future opportunities.
We should be maintaining and continuing to nurture relations with past clients, along with everyone in our networks and communities.
Take Action
New business, business development, sales, relationship building—whatever you call it—is essential to running a successful creative firm (or any business, for that matter). But too often, we only prioritize and “do” these activities during tough times, either for our firm or the industry. As a result, our efforts can come across as forced, desperate, inauthentic, and even counterproductive.
Instead, we believe that new business efforts should be consistent and grounded in authenticity at all times. Here’s how:
Shift our perspective on new business to ensure it is done authentically; new business is simply relationship building!
Slow down the process to ensure we are demonstrating why we’re the ideal strategic partner to help move our clients’ businesses forward
Be advisory at every stage of the relationship and engagement to ensure we are positioned as the expert clients want and need
Capture and promote success metrics to ensure the value of our work and the impact it has on our clients’ businesses is clearly demonstrated
Stay in touch with past clients and everyone in our networks and communities in authentic ways to ensure, when opportunities arise, we are top of mind!
We promise, these approaches will make a difference. Perhaps the difference.
Emily Cohen and Hunter Vargas are business partners and consultants at Casa Davka who offer customized business solutions to creative firms so they are able to refine, evolve, and elevate their strategies and practices. Emily has been in the business for over 30+ years, partnered with 500+ leading creative firms, and is a frequently requested main-stage speaker. Hunter is an experienced marketer, project manager, client partner, and business development manager. They also happen to be a mother/daughter pair, so they work together seamlessly, complementing (and challenging) each other in many ways.
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