One size question fits all design firms… Is the mindset and central behaviour of your firm aligned with the needs of these extraordinary times?
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Category: Opinions
For the wellbeing of all, your design firm must have a clear sense of the direction of travel. Do you have this?
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A pleasure to be invited by Simon Dixon to contribute my thoughts to the final part of the DixonBaxi series of insight based pieces conversing with creative leaders across the industry around how they are coping, and how their vision of the future is affected by the C-19 crisis. DixonBaxi reached out to friends and heroes in the industry they know and admire to ask their thoughts on three questions, to which I gave these responses: What do you think your most potent learning has been during this situation? Those on the front foot who invest in developing and understanding...
Right now, creative firms are busy gaining clarity and being proactive on how they address the challenges of the coming months. Having a clear strategy for survival is essential for many. I’m seeing and directly involved in the significant impact of Coronavirus on one of my clients. In recent months we’ve been gearing the business for expansion and suddenly we are in survival mode, busy reviewing, rapidly planning and acting on decisions to ensure the business stays afloat. We’re forming a plan of action that ensures operational continuity at a sustainable cost to the business, whilst thinking how we can be constructive and proactive...
I’ve just managed to look at the 6th annual report on What Clients Think 2019-20 launched in late November by Up to the Light in association with the DBA. It presents the findings of 525 interviews conducted with clients of design agencies, and aims to monitor the health of client/agency relationships. It’s probably the closest you’ll get to getting inside the head of your clients – and prospective clients – and finding out what they really think about you. The findings make compelling reading. If you’ve been following these reports for several years now, as I have, you’ll also get a sense of deja vu. Many...
Let’s be clear, identifying and articulating a compelling Value Proposition (VP) can be challenging work. The ‘gold’ in your firm that defines what makes you special can be buried quite deep or in unexpected places. It may be found in your process, your behaviours or somewhere else, and demands a keen eye to know where to look and how far to dig to potentially unearth the treasure that those working in the business either simply don’t manage to find, or see clearly for themselves. VP know-how Many of you will know that a true VP will succinctly define ‘what you...
I took this screenshot on my laptop of what appeared as I typed the words ‘recruitment agencies are’… I’m particularly interested to hear from owner-founders and leaders of Design Agencies on how you feel about the typical experience of working with a recruitment agent to help you find new talent for your agency. So this might include your overall experience of the typical process, service quality, value v fees, results, terms, etc. 1 = Very dissatisfied 2 = Dissatisfied 3 = Generally needs to evolve 4 = Satisfied 5 = Very satisfied Please either comment or email [email protected] if...
Value creation is the primary aim of any business entity and arguably the single most important communication of ourselves. Yet many creative firms struggle with understanding for themselves and clearly defining the value of what they do for clients. Akin to my piece on Positioning oneself as an Expert, in which I question whether being an ‘expert’ is something that one should declare of oneself, should we be defining our own value? Obvious maybe, but our true value is often revealed and most truthfully told by our clients and customers through authentic testimonials and reviews. After all, they have the experiences...
I recently met with a design agency to explore their challenges and discuss how we may be able to work together. During our conversation they made reference to having ‘consultant fatigue’ which has made me question how the land lies for consultants. I’d like to hear how owner-founders and leaders feel about engaging a consultant or coach to help them develop and grow their business or address other challenges. What are the preconceptions, and are firms more interested these days in hiring such experience into their firms on an employed basis rather than consultative?
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Today, there’s a wealth of free resources and advisers in the market offering growth-related support and strategic guidance to owner-founders and leaders of the many small firms in the design industry. Some of the many invest time and money exploring these resources and/or engaging an adviser to help them develop a strategic growth plan which is all well and good for those firms that are going to ensure they do manage to successfully implement the plan. My day-to-day conversations with these size firms frequently reveals just how many struggle to implement a growth strategy in the ongoing consistent manner that’s...
