Design Love, Guaranteed

Whether you became part of the R&R family years ago or are about to embark on our first project together, we wanted to take a moment to talk about our ‘Design Love Guarantee’ and the process we take to go from creative crush to long-term love.

The New Business Process:

It may sound a bit presumptuous, but we start thinking about the possibility of you falling head over heels during the new business phase. Why? Well, we aren’t trying to be creepers, but we need to determine if we’re a good match for you (and vice versa) and that starts during the first blush of new business chats.

Like a first date, these discussions offer both parties the opportunity to get to know each other. For us, we have a list of go-no-go questions in the back of our minds that range from the straightforward, “What is the due date for this project?” to the more subjective, “What kind of partner are you looking for?” Based on the answers, we’re able to ascertain if we’re the right design team for you.

If we are the right fit, we should both feel the warmth of design love bubbling up by the end of the call. And if sadly we aren’t a match made in heaven, we’ll be appreciative of the experience and perhaps offer some referrals to other marketing fish in the sea that may be a better fit.

Should we both agree that the vibes are right, we’ll put together a non-binding (read, not scary or official) investment opportunity document that details what we understood the project, the objective(s), the deliverable(s), the timeline and the investment to be and share it with you. Once everything in the document looks copesetic to you and your team, we’ll move the information to a Proposify scope of work to make the fun (and the commitment) official.

The Onboarding Process:

Since this is a blog about working with us, we’re going to assume that those first new business chats were filled with fireworks and you’ve officially clicked on the digital dotted line. Woot!

Now it’s time to properly welcome you to the family and also give you some “homework.” Before you start back-peddling, we’re not talking middle-school math worksheets or anything like that. The homework, or better yet “creative-insight-work,” is one more way that we get to know you, your organization and your goals. AKA, more resources that help us guarantee that sweet design love.

So, let’s break it down. Once you’ve signed the scope, I (yes, hi, it’s me, Scarlett) will send you a welcome to the family email with all the content confetti I can share. In that email, you will find the following:

1. The countersigned Proposify Scope of Work for your records
2. An editable New Client PDF that asks for basic billing information and a few other fun facts (like what you like to sip and if you have any babies – two- or four-legged)
3. A Creative Questionnaire Word document that we’d like you and the project’s key decision-makers to fill out as honestly and openly as possible. This is not a Coco Chanel, take-one-thing-off situation. It’s more of a tell-us-your-organization’s-whole-life-story moment.
4. Proper introductions to your expert Account Executive, who will be your design tour guide, beacon, bestie…you get the idea…from project start to finish and beyond.

And if that welcome email wasn’t enough, you’ll also receive greetings from our Mailchimp account which includes:

1. Links to helpful blog posts that talk about our design process
2. A Google Survey focused on your preferred communication style

All-in-all that’s a total of six (6) items covered in two (2) emails. And really, only three (3) of them count as homework, err “creative-insight-work.” Not bad!

The new client form, creative questionnaire and communication survey are the backbone to your project and our process. The details you share in each are mission critical because they set the tone for everything that follows – from how, when and where we call, zoom, text or email you to the final aesthetic we deliver. Essentially, you are one-half of the reason we arrive at design love. It is your effective and clear communication about what you like, dislike, want and need that we take to heart to develop materials that reflect your likes, wants and needs.

“Design Love, Guaranteed”

It sounds a lot like magic when you first read it. But, as I’ve shared in this blog, it’s the result of two organizations intentionally coming together, communicating kindly and effectively, while building a trusted and respected partnership. Okay, okay and maybe a little rainbow and unicorn sparkle for good measure.