The Business of Creativity is a series from Emily Cohen and Hunter Vargas of Casa Davka, a consultancy that helps creative firms evolve their business strategies and practices.
The key to building a stronger, more resilient new business pipeline and increasing your win rate is simple: relationship building.
Relationship building is business development, sales, and marketing wrapped in a bow of authenticity and intentionality. It is about building one-on-one relationships founded on genuine connection and mutual trust.
And guess what? It’s easy and not as scary as you think! Take it from your peers, relationship building is about being:
- “friendly and available for a conversation” – Steve DeCusatis, Owner & Art Director at Steve DeCusatis Design
- “genuinely helpful” – Deroy Peraza, Partner & Creative Director at Hyperakt
- “human” – Brandie Knox, Principal & Creative Director at Knox Design Strategy
And it’s about being all of these things at every stage of the new business development process, or what we call the “relationship-building process.”
Outreach
First things first, to build a new relationship, you have to make a connection, which you should approach with a genuine interest and without any expectations of an immediate win.
- Introduce yourself to people you “know,” such as:
- You heard them speak
- You read something they wrote or posted
- You heard about them from another person/client
- You actually met them
- Connect with them personally
- Allude to how you “know” them and be authentic in how you position this
- Reach out to them at timely moments (e.g., personal/professional milestones)
- Provide relevant information about your firm, but do NOT sell
- Don’t think about yourself, think about them: What would be helpful/interesting for them to know?
- Mention what your firm does/who you are in the context of the connection you’re making (e.g., mention your specialization, name-drop clients or projects they may recognize)
- And, under no circumstances should you directly or indirectly ask for work
- End with a call to action, do not leave any connection open-ended
Initial Contact
Great! You’ve scheduled a relationship-building call, coffee, etc. Now what?
- Connect with them personally
- Build off the personal connection you made with them during the Outeach stage
- Show your passion for their industry and expertise (but not in a sales-y way)
- Ask good, thoughtful questions
- Provide relevant information about your firm, but do NOT sell
- When asked about your firm, first try to divert the conversation by saying something like, “I really didn’t reach out to ‘sell’ you but to get to know you!”
- But, inevitably, you may have to say something about your firm—keep this moment short, informal, and organic:
- Say something like “Briefly…” then state your short elevator pitch
- Tell anecdotes of comparable clients or projects
- Relate to them by saying you completely understand XYZ because you work with others in their industry
- All said, if there ends up being an urgent opportunity, then you may have to pivot the direction of the call
- End with a call to action, do not leave any call/coffee open-ended
- Discuss what happens next (e.g., you will reconnect after a certain milestone or just stay in touch)
- If the conversation doesn’t naturally lead to any work/projects they want to consider you for, ask if you can stay in touch, and then do so!
- Remember, if they are not necessarily qualified or in need of your services now, they will or may be in the future
Present
Amazing! You’ve built a relationship, and now they are interested in potentially working with you (be patient as this could be immediate, in one month, or—more typically—two years!). Now what?
The next step in the relationship-building process is presenting your capability deck before you write a proposal, a pivotal step most firms skip. By following this relationship-forward approach, you are:
- Treating a prospect as a valued relationship to be built instead of just a new business opportunity to acquire
- Positioning yourself as a value-added partner and not just a vendor
- Simplifying the proposal process—if you present your capability pitch, then you don’t need to “sell” so hard in your proposal
- Building trust with key decision-makers, who are ideally included in this presentation
Invite the larger team, and emphasize the importance of establishing relationships before committing to a studio.
Brandie Knox, Principal & Creative Director at Knox Design Strategy
Your capability presentation is a representation of your firm, your process/approach, and the relationship you build with prospects. And while every firm’s presentation/deck should be a bit different, some best practices:
- Conduct a “premortem” at the start of your presentation. This is the time to go around and ask questions of each attendee, such as:
- What is your role in this project?
- What do you care most about related to the project? Then reference that concern during your presentation
- What about us and/or the project are you most concerned about?
Always make sure I ask the client questions that get them talking first before the presentation begins. They need to be heard before asked to listen, or they aren’t engaged in the presentation.
Craig Johnson, President & Co-founder at Matchstic
Ask prospects what they specifically care to know about rather than what we want them to know about.
Deroy Peraza, Partner & Creative Director at Hyperakt
- Customize your talking points to the specific prospect/project you are pitching for
- Talk specifically to the prospect’s challenges, values, and goals
- Highlight your differentiators that most relate to the prospect’s need/objective and your industry insights/expertise
- Express your firm’s excitement and fit for the project
[In our capability decks and proposals] we restate their mission and revise each value description to express how our culture and/or approach is in direct alignment with each of those values.
Kristina C. Unker, Founder & Creative Strategist at MA’AM Creative
- Include 2-3 relevant case studies that speak to:
- Why/how your firm’s expertise and differentiators are particularly key in meeting this client’s goal/challenge/objective
- Unique stories (anecdotes, testimonials) about the project or relationship or a challenge that you encountered that will resonate with the prospect
First hand experience provides reassurance and credibility.
Sarah Hermalyn, Chief of Staff at The Working Assembly
- Keep the number of words (and visuals) on slides to a minimum. The slides aren’t your “script” but are meant to guide the conversation.
Not reading off the screen and treating the time as a conversation rather than a presentation… I don’t rehearse so I walk through it more humanly than robotically.
Rony Mikhael, Principal & Creative Director at Studio Mined
Make it Official
It’s a match! You’ve presented your capability deck, and it went great, which ideally means you are the client’s top pick. Now, it’s time to submit your proposal to solidify your relationship with more details.
We could go on and on about best practices for proposals, but why not hear from your peers instead:
- “The most important part of the proposal is the project overview and goals section. If they can’t clearly see that we’ve understood the problem and desired outcome, the rest doesn’t matter.” – Craig Johnson, President & Co-founder at Matchstic
- “Bullet points on why we’re the perfect fit for this project.” – Steve DeCusatis, Owner & Art Director at Steve DeCusatis Design
- “We used to have very long, in-depth proposals. We’ve moved to a much more concise model. It’s easier for us and the client.” – Margaret Kerr-Jarrett, Co-founder & Creative Director at Nihilo
- “We include mini case studies within the proposal for each phase of the project to bring the process to life.” – Amanda Neville, Founder & Lead Strategist at Three Furies
The After
Congrats! You’ve won the project (or maybe you didn’t). Either way, the relationship-building process is not over—in fact, it never really ends (unless you let it)!
- When you’re in the weeds of the project, someone—ideally at a principal level—should:
- Check with the client to see how things are going with the project
- Be advisory and demonstrate excitement for the project’s progress
- When a project ends, you should:
- Conduct a post-mortem to discuss how the project went, areas for improvement, success metrics, etc.
- Celebrate the client’s successes/achievements publicly and personally
- Stay in touch! You’d be surprised by how many firms do not do this
- When you’re busy, whatever you do, do NOT stop building relationships! Most firms discontinue the practice the moment work starts picking up, but then, one day in the near future, often find themselves with slow, non-existent, and/or unqualified new business pipeline
The End Result
Congratulations! You’ve followed our relationship-building process, which means you’ve built the relationship (Outreach), strengthened the relationship (Initial Contact), proved you valued the relationship (Present), and solidified the relationship with more details (Made it Official). While this intentional process may be a bit more “work,” the benefits are undeniable.
Our relationship-building process:
- Puts you in control of your business (no more relying on referrals)
- Attracts more qualified, value-based relationships
- Increases your win rate (while subsequently reducing the amount of time and number of proposals you write)
- Supports the long-term health and growth of your firm
The end result? Clients and a network of connections who adore you, a resilient business pipeline, and a more sustainable business. What’s not to like?
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.