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but what's the problem?
As designers, you are theoretically called upon by clients and potential
clients to help them solve their communication problem. Unfortunately, life
isn't that simple. However, that is not a bad thing. What I learnt when
I had a studio was that quite often, what it took to land a client did not
actually involve showing design work. There were two very memorable cases.
In the first case, we were asked to pitch for the revamp of a brand new
corporate identity manual. The client had just paid an enormous sum to a
US-based studio for the id itself, but they were concerned that the manual
that had been produced would not be implemented correctly. What they couldn't
point out was why the manual was 'wrong.'
Upon reviewing the manual, the work appeared to be professional, relevant
and well executed.
We identified one major problem. The manual had been done by the studio
in isolation from the client. This approach presupposed that somewhere in
the group's head office, someone had the power to 'enforce' the system standards.
It was predicated on a tight, hierarchical organisational structure. This
assumption was not correct.
The client had just repositioned itself. The groundwork for this positioning
was a major restructuring of the business into five large, autonomous business
units. Each managing director of each business unit had enormous discretionary
powers, including the power to trash the standards if they were convinced
that the standards would hamper their business performance.
On the one hand, the company has split itself into these units, each
with the mission of getting out there and doing their thing. On the other
hand, the corporate centre was trying to say, "you have no discretion
on these items." Naturally, there is some tension between these two
directives. I mean, if you were the head of one of these new subsidiaries,
which way would you lean?
So the problem was not just with the work, but with the way it had been
done. We won that client by pointing this out and promising to stretch out
the process in order to gain ownership by the many, many managers who would
be responsible for using the standards.
The second case was a few years later with the same client. The project
was their annual report. We were up against two other studios, both of whom
had already done the annual report once each. The decision-maker was the
Company Secretary. We submitted a quote that was 20% more than the other
two studios. The difference was that we quoted fixed fee, all inclusive
and guaranteed. We had also learnt through some research (talking to other
managers within the client company) that both of the other studios had gone
substantially over their original quotes in previous years, mainly due to
author's corrections and client-driven delays.
I spent quite some time working out how much work would be involved and
then took an educated guess at how much more work could be involved if things
got out of hand. Against that I weighed our ability to project manage it
so that things wouldn't get too out of hand. In the end I had a dollar figure
that was more than if everything went smoothly, but less than if everything
went pear-shaped.
He bought it. Only after he had signed the proposal did we discuss the
design approach. Sure, you can't repeat this approach if you don't deliver
and don't have good references, but the point is that it wasn't design per
se that got us the work. Either of our competitors were just as capable
or possibly even more capable in design terms, but neither of them were
prepared to take the calculated risk of a fixed fee quote.
So, to explain the title of this article, I think it's worth asking yourself
what the client's problem is, really. While in many cases there will
be a straightforward 'design' answer, there are many other cases where it
won't be.
The real problem in presentations to prospective clients is getting them
to trust you. They are rarely in a position to assess the quality of your
portfolio simply by looking at it. Worse still, if you encourage this method
of selection, you are setting yourself up for the inevitable 'I don't like
it' client reaction.
So how do you get them to trust you? Prove to them that you understand
their problem before you explain your design problem. Focus on their needs
as a business manager rather than on their potential to underwrite great
design. Use their language and concepts to prove that you can get inside
their heads.
This is easier than you might think. The standard international textbook
for first year marketing degrees and MBAs is 'Marketing Management' by Phillip
Kottler. Every bookstore with a marketing or management section has copies.
Blow your clients away by being able to draw marketing diagrams from that
book. Impress them with your grasp of their concepts and language.
Meet them on their turf as an equal, rather than as an inarticulate 'creative'
type. Then they will feel confident in giving you the space needed to create
a powerful and effective design solution.
Return to Observations
AGDA Members: Discuss this article in AGDA's Business Forum.
The views expressed this article are not necessarily those of AGDA. Please note that the information in this article is the opinion of the author only. I can therefore accept no responsibility for actions taken on the basis of this information. Copyright Andrew Lam-Po-Tang (andrew@lam-po-tang com), 1998-2008. Permission is granted to freely copy this document in electronic form, or to print, for personal use. Reprinting for non-personal use will require the express permission of the author (which I will generally be very happy to give).
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