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P L A N N I N G C R E AT I N G I M P L E M E N T I N G
Measuring Your Success
IT’S A NU MBERS GAME
The phone rings, your email blings—all with messages from prospective clients asking to meet with you to learn more
about your core competencies. Perhaps they are interested in rebranding their corporate communications system, or
maybe they are simply looking for an updated website. Whatever the reason, when a potential client walks across your
company’s threshold, what’s the likelihood their “browsing” will result in a sale? For many businesses, improving their close
ratio is key to a successful future.
In the simplest terms, a close ratio is
the number of sales that are booked
in relation to the number of opportuni-
ties that are presented. For example,
if ten potential clients walk into your
office and listen to your sales pitch
and only five of them purchase your
services, then the close ratio would be
50 percent.
One thing we know from talking to
consumers of creative services is that
price alone is rarely the primary mo-
tivator in the purchasing decision—in
many studies it ranks as low as ninth
or tenth. That’s true whether you’re in
a high-, medium-, or low-price niche.
So whether you’re selling high-end
packaging design or discount
websites, the purchasing decision
is part of a complex formula rooted
in how clients know and understand
your company, and the products and
services you offer in terms of both
quality and confidence—all of which
should be carefully incorporated into
your portfolio and self-promotional
materials.
You should also consider tapping
into your existing client base—many
of whom may be more valuable than
you realize. The beautiful thing about
having an accurate database of
existing clients is that these people
know other people. Assuming you
offered a gratifying client experience,
there is no reason that your old
clients wouldn’t refer your offering
to potential new clients. Perhaps you
send out a dedicated mailer to your
account base that offers up a small
gift for any new clients that they refer
to your business. This will give you
more visibility and more opportunity
for success.
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P L A N N I N G C R E AT I N G I M P L E M E N T I N G
cALcuLATING T h E
vALu E OF PORTFOLIO
c REATION AND
DISTRIbuTION IS
FAIRLy SIMPLE.
T h E kE y IS D ATA .
1
dETERm INE youR
TARGET AudIENCE.
3
dETERm INE Th E PRofIT
Co NTRIbuTIoN fR om
PRojECTs AwARd E d fR o m
NEw CLIENTs As A REsuLT
of youR Po RTfoLIo.
2
IdENTIfy Th E C osTs o f
PRoduCING ANd dI sTRIbuTING
youR Po RTfoLIo To A sPECIfIC
GRouP of TARGETEd PRosPECTs.
I NCLudE CosTs of Po RTfoLIo
PREs E NTAT I oN by sTAff.
4
subTRACT oNE fRom T h E
oTh ER To PRoduCE AN
APPRoxI mATE vALu E
AT T R I buTEd To A PARTICu LAR
Po RTfoLIo oR
sELf PRomoTIoN.
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P L A N N I N G C R E AT I N G I M P L E M E N T I N G
Keep Them Coming Back for More
YOu GOT ’EM RIGHT WHERE YOu WANT ’EM
In the creative industry, it’s all about
getting people to remember your
business, your products and services,
and your brand. For many creative
firms and individuals, portfolio design
is the arena that puts the “big picture”
perspective into focus and determines
where a company takes and makes
its future. It’s the philosophy and core
behind all business development
for many creatives. With that said,
more and more business owners are
realizing the important role portfolios
and self-promotions play in making
immediate and lasting impressions on
their bottom line.
While creating a solid portfolio and
self-promotion program does not
happen overnight, you can implement
some simple techniques that will
make immediate improvements to
your clients’ experience.
More and more creative professionals
recognize that they need to make the
portfolio experience as memorable
as possible—to help them stand out
from the crowd and compete with the
big players. While many companies
design great experiences, companies
often lack the discipline to consis-
tently execute them. To be successful,
a company needs to define the
experience, create the appropriate
tools, train the staff to execute it, and
measure its impact on the customer.
• Create a memorable experience.
Creative professionals can make
the experience memorable each
time they visit your office or you
present your portfolios by finding
unique ways to roll out the red
carpet, such as addressing each
potential client by name, offering
personalized parking if possible,
and having a lovely room with
coffee, water, and healthy snacks
available for those waiting.
• Commit to wow! Creative
firms can really stand out from
the pack by coming up with
strategies that will truly wow their
potential clients and get them
talking. Some ideas? Reserved
parking, personalized gifts,
overnight service, last-minute
emergency service, personalized
welcome signs for expected
clients, and stress-release kits.
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P L A N N I N G C R E AT I N G I M P L E M E N T I N G
• Partner with other suppliers.
Often clients are overwhelmed
with the intricacies of purchasing
creative services. Go beyond the
business card table, partner with
other suppliers, and be a resource
for your customers for everything
they could possibly need.
• Survey former customers. One
of the best ways to improve your
customer service is by surveying
former clients. This means
setting up a system to connect
with customers and ask them
two simple questions: What was
your experience like? How can
we improve our service? It can
be done by phone, by mail, or
online. The system produces a
numerical rating you can use to
measure how well your company
is doing. It will also generate
useful feedback about what
you’re doing well and what you
need to change.
• Write a handwritten thank-you
note. Creative professionals can
mentally think through every little
aspect of their client’s experi-
ence and come up with ways to
wow them at every turn.
• Publish your customer service
standards. Make sure your
employees and your customers
know what your customer service
standards are. Put them on wall
posters, put them on the back of
business cards—anywhere clients
and employees will see them.
√†®
Willoughby Design utilizes two
“lookbooks” to showcase the company’s
portfolio of work. The smaller lookbook
is designed for first-time exchanges with
potential new clients. The larger lookbook
showcases the company’s values, creative
process, and the most relevant work. Each
book is specifically edited to match a client’s
industry or particular needs. The modular
format allows for continuous updating and
customization.
wILLouG hby dEs IGN
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P L A N N I N G C R E AT I N G I M P L E M E N T I N G
The Quickest Ways to Kill a Sale
CAN’T SAY WE DIDN’T WARN YOU
Creative professionals are largely in charge of their own destiny. You’ve found the perfect niche within the industry, honed
your creative skills, trained your employees, made your portfolio look perfect, invested in advertising, and are now ready
for some serious sales. But sales mistakes can dramatically affect your bottom line. Here are some key mistakes to avoid
during the portfolio presentation and sales process:
• Not listening to a customer’s
needs. Selling is more about
listening than it is about talking.
One of the inherent mistakes
many creative professionals
make is not listening to a
client’s request. Listening to
and pinpointing exactly what
the customer wants will help
streamline the sales process and
enhance your referral business.
• Overselling. We think the more
a potential customer knows
about a particular product or
service, the more likely she
will buy the product. In reality,
though, information overload has
the opposite effect: Instead of
leading to a sale, it may lead to
an exit—especially if a customer
is overwhelmed with information.
• Improper employee training.
Your best clients have formed an
image in their minds of what you
are, what you do, and how well
you do it. But all of that can be
quickly undone by a misguided
employee. Your employees are
the walking, talking billboards
for your business. Every time
someone in your company
comes in contact with others—
whether they are customers
or vendors—he or she leaves
a lasting impression of your
company’s brand on their minds.
Be sure to train employees to
conduct themselves in a manner
consistent with your brand mes-
sage and they will be goodwill
ambassadors to your current and
prospective clients.
• Lack of follow-up communication.
One of the biggest mistakes
creative agencies and individuals
make is forgetting to com-
municate with their customers
after the project has concluded.
However, this is a key communi-
cation point and sales opportunity.
Remember, your customers often
spend a considerable amount of
time and money with you—you
owe them a “thank you” and you
owe your company a chance to
communicate with the client one
more time.
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