If you’re seeking a potential long-term creative partnership you can count on through thick and thin, we look forward to meeting you, and appreciate you taking your time reading this.
This article describes our recommended process to get to know each other, assess fit and potential for a long-term partnership, minimize time investment for both parties if it’s a clear “no”, and prevent future heartbreaks from ignoring early signs of dealbreakers.
We believe lasting, fruitful relationships are akin to a slow dance between two people, and not a dog-and-pony show from one party to wow the other. You probably wouldn’t want potential partners to show up with eager proposals too early on (like these proposals gone wrong as seen on YouTube).
The Dealbreakers
Ignoring potential dealbreakers upfront may lead to a costly journey with inevitable failure. No one wants that, so the first step towards identifying a fit is to look for immediate dealbreakers. We have some and you probably do, too. Your dealbreakers could be budgetary limits, culture incompatibility, lack of relevant experience, schedule conflicts not allowing us to meet a deadline, or something else that is important to you.
These “rules of engagement” are important for us.
But our hearts only have room for long-term relationships.
Having the right people in the decision-making room saves everyone time.
We’ll scope out the engagement together with your key decision-makers through real, meaningful conversations. We often decline to take part in conventional RFP processes.
The initial engagement can cover one or more projects. Exceptions are possible but often limited to selected non-profits or enterprises with artistic, social, or educational nature.
The Journey
There are essentially three phases to our journey courting one another. At each phase, our goal is to determine if moving forward together makes sense or if it’s best to part ways. We believe, and we hope you agree, that an early “no” is not a bad outcome for both parties, because it helps avoid costly realizations later down the road. If you have any hesitation, please share them early on, and you can count on us to do the same.
01. Introductory call
10 – 30 mins
Think of this step as a casual call before getting excited to go on our first date.
In this first chat, we want to learn about you, what’s valuable and important to you, what the problem(s) you’re looking to solve and the opportunities you’re seeing after the problem’s gone. We will discuss critical topics such as engagement scope (what are your goals and challenges, and do we have the right capabilities to address them?), timeline (when do you need it, and can we deliver?), and minimum engagement budget.
If we both align on the essentials, we will be delighted to meet and continue to the next stage of collaboration.
02. Discovery Meeting
90 – 120 mins
This is our first official date, when we’ll dig deeper and learn a lot more about each other. We expect to share stories, laughter, and ask each other burning questions on our minds. Beyond discussing capabilities and experiences, we’ll dive deeper into each other’s vision, mission, and culture. The goal is to determine if we’re a great match for long-term co-creation of breakthrough outcomes, or simply destined to be friends.
A poor choice of restaurant has minor consequences, but choosing the wrong agency partner? That’s significant. So, let’s take time here.
If the initial discovery is going well, we’ll extend our dinner date and order dessert. We start envisioning a potential partnership in terms of high-level engagement scope and investment. We will want to map out the journey together. This further allows us to determine if our capabilities, solutions, and resources fit with your needs.
We’ll conclude this meeting with one of the following outcomes:
- No: We thank you for your time.
- Maybe: We consider this a No (at least for now), and that’s okay!
- Yes: We hash out the next step together.
03. Engagement Planning
45 – 60 mins
We’ll meet again to review an initial engagement plan built upon our previous conversations, and make adjustments (if necessary) together. By now, there should be no surprises in the proposed engagement plan, as they reflect insights from thorough discussions.
The following step is to prepare the Statement of Work (SOW), based on the mutually agreed engagement plan.
There are two common outcomes
- Sleep on it:
You request additional time to review the SOW.
We schedule a follow-up.
- Ready to rock:
You sign the SOW.
We schedule a kick-off.
Working Together!
Official Kick-off
Now will be the right time for us to assemble a team dedicated to your business. We’ll have an internal kick-off meeting to bring the team up to speed. And finally, we’ll have an introductory kick-off meeting to introduce you to your dedicated team.
Then it’s go time!
“Do you respond to RFP?”
Rarely.
Many years ago, we decided not to respond to conventional RFP processes, where proposals must be developed one-sidedly without conversations, which often leads to unchallenged assumptions and overlooked nuances. Non-collaborative proposals are often costly and yield poor returns for both parties. On the other hand, collaborating in the proposal phase allows us to develop custom solutions tailored to our clients’ unique challenges, and allow both parties to assess how well we collaborate. Our interactive approach consistently achieves better results in less time and at lower costs.
– Mahan Khalsa, Let’s Get Real or Let’s Not Play
