With competitive shopping you simply request a few bids and go with
lowest price. Although right person for job might also happen to be lowest bidder, it's unwise to shop for price alone when your image is at stake. Consider comparative shopping alternative: search for firm that can best meet your needs within limits of your budget. Choosing right firm for job is just as important as decisions you'll make during course of developing your marketing materials. Take time compare. Find your perfect match. You'll be glad you did.Your Strategic Partner. Your marketing firm should not be perceived as an added strain on your budget. Instead, they should play an integral role in allocating resources. They should strive to develop an informed point of view not only of your company and it's products, but of your competition as well. This knowledge will serve as a foundation for developing more effective marketing strategies. Their relationship with you should be structured around business success, not less-tangible realm of design. Design is a problem-solving discipline not an art. When you stop and think about it, you will probably realize that you're not much interested in design at all. You need growth or profits, or both.
Taking Charge. It is very possible that you have only most superficial knowledge of what a marketing firm really does. You might expect them to tell you how they work, process, schedule and when and what will be required of you. You might also expect them to keep you informed of all progress, and provide options and alternatives when appropriate. Any respectable firm will openly welcome this responsibility. It is how they keep things moving efficiently and how they ensure outstanding and consistent results. Every executive wants to relax, believing their business is in capable hands. A good marketing firm should give you this confidence. Through their performance and reliability, you'll come to trust their judgement, their work, and yes, even their fees.
Your Role. As client, you are decision maker. You must make solid business decisions and then step back. Tough to swallow? Just consider that micro-managing projects can create a negative and counterproductive work environment and will almost always compromise integrity of finished marketing piece.
Partnering With Your Staff. Being efficient and competitive in today's economy requires utilization of most sophisticated resources while maintaining a high degree of flexibility. To accomplish this in most cost-effective way, you must employ a core staff of managers, and supplement them with trusted outside specialists. This way, it is possible to implement best possible talent at minimal costs. Specifically, when it comes to creative services, it's nearly impossible for any company to employ enough talented individuals to handle it's many different communications needs internally. Using well-meaning but unqualified internal staff can be very expensive in long run in lost efficiency and in market impact. Because effectiveness is critically important, your marketing firm, when implemented as your strategic partner, is always least expensive and most productive alternative.
Laying The Foundation. The first thing that should be done by any marketing firm after being assigned a project is to schedule an information-gathering session with you and your key staff. This should cover not only scheduling, budget and job specifications, but also in your competition, target audience, and objectives. You should have all features and benefits of your product or service prepared for review. This will help sharpen everyone's focus and objectives, and in turn, ensure that what is produced is not only creatively excellent, but strategically targeted. This meeting normally takes place either at your office or theirs. However, in today's wired world it is completely reasonable to expect a conference call and a few emails to do trick quite nicely. The Right Ideas. It has been proven best for everyone if you assign only one or two key decision makers at your company to work directly with your marketing firm. This way everyone stays focused on real solutions and are not distracted by too many personal opinions. Good firms normally present no more than three initial concepts showing completely different approaches to project at hand. Many clients ask for five, six, seven or even more concepts, but offering too many solutions up front only complicates things and almost always results in a poorly developed marketing piece.
