“Do Today What Others Won’t So I Can Accomplish What Others Can’t.”

Marketing sometimes requires going above and beyond to ensure your customers’ success.
Do today what others won’t so I can accomplish what others can’t.
I want to open this weeks blog with that statement. It’s a paraphrased quote by the NFL great Wide Receiver, Jerry Rice. Sounds like self help Mumbo jumbo…
Maybe it is…
Maybe we all need more of it, and just maybe we need to look at how we think.
Earlier this week I was at my daughters’ elementary school band concert trying to rein comfortable during a two hour elementary school band concert in a blue velour auditorium chair, with something reminding me of cine-a-muck sticking to the bottom of my shoes. Two notes in and three clarinet squeaks later my phone gives off its startling ANSWER ME NOW buzz buzz buzz in my pocket, and scores me a dirty look from Sally Sue’s mom next to me who is holding a single stem rose for her daughter’s broadway performance in the 4th grade band concert. I ignore the buzz, Sally Sue’s mom, and actually almost forget about the call until intermission. It’s almost 7pm on a Tuesday, so I’m not thinking customer call…
During intermission I remember to check my voicemail. The call was from a good client of ours explaining that they just were picked up by a large distributor and need to have two brand new products photographed, edited, and prepared for a 2019 catalog…with a deadline only two weeks away! While I’m excited about the call and them putting additional trust in us to market their products – Two weeks?!
My head: BUT WE’RE DAYS AWAY FROM CHRISTMAS AND WE HAVE A FULL PRODUCTION SCHEDULE THAT TAKES US CLEAR INTO 2019!
I immediately call Bobby who is at Kung-Fu with his son. I explain the voicemail and he responds back to me:
“WE’RE DAYS AWAY FROM CHRISTMAS AND WE HAVE A FULL SCHEDULE THAT TAKES US INTO 2019!”
We then put our heads together, figure out a game plan, and change some appointments on our schedules to accommodate our customer. We arrange for the shots to be done that coming Thursday, the only possible time and date we could make it work.
We communicate back to the client and explain that we’ll be there 9am on Thursday. I brought the coffee, lights, backdrop and Bobby brought the camera and talent. We got it done, and more importantly we got it done right.
We could’ve said, “I’m sorry. We have a full schedule.” Or, “Christmas is right around the corner” as we are both planning for some time off. Even another response could have been, “We don’t have the man power right now.” Or… we could’ve charged double.
We didn’t do any of those things. In fact, we charged the very lowest base for our time, which may have actually been the most inexpensive job we’ve ever done. We coordinated, reviewed priorities, changed plans, and got it done – with Christmas coming and all. Our customer now has the images they need for a catalog that could be a HUGE account win for them!
I realize that we didn’t do anything that special here, but we didn’t put ourselves first. Perhaps, especially this time of year, we can all do something that could help others. We are committed to helping our customers grow their business. So many marketing firms and other companies would have said “No.  our schedule is full.” Or “no, that’s additional and not part of our contract.” But that’s not part of our culture.
Our culture is to help others succeed. We want to see growth, prosperity, long term success, and relationships vs no’s and additional fees.
So the next time you’re faced with a what to do situation –  think of this:
Do today what others won’t so I can accomplish what others can’t.”
Ask yourself “what will I do today that others won’t” and then go one step more. It will bring you great satisfaction and a far greater reward than you could imagine. Merry Christmas!
Written by- Rob Hoffman.
Analyze. Create. Achieve.

 

77 Design Co-Out on the Town

As a small business marketing agency, sometimes we tend to spend way too much time behind the computer building logos, doing invoicing, helping to create brands, websites, editing photos, or doing other graphic design work. Anyone who’s an entrepreneur knows how much there is to do behind the scenes, and it’s not always glamorous stuff. Every now and again though, we do get out and about. This was one of those weeks.

We started this past week off by attending the SCORE Westmoreland County, PA Christmas luncheon at the Fred Rogers Center in Latrobe, PA. As new SCORE members ourselves, it was great to meet all of the local mentors, clients, and others affiliated with SCORE. For those that don’t know, SCORE is a national organization that helps to guide and assist current and prospective business owners towards success. If you’ve got an idea to start a business, this is one of the first organizations to get ahold of. The mentors selflessly volunteer their time, resources, and experiences to help improve, or get your business off the ground…at no charge! We love being a part of this organization and appreciated the invitation to the luncheon.

 

Next, we had the honor of instructing a local Catholic church’s staff with our own proprietary Social Media Training program. We sat with the Monsignor and his team for a few hours and taught them best practices, why, how, and when to make posts so that they can hopefully increase their parishes social media engagement. This was a great training and a few in the room were already pretty familiar with social media, so it made our training much more effective. Everyone in attendance asked great questions and had fantastic input throughout the training. We had a lot of fun explaining the benefits and practices of social media to them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2019 is going to be a HUGE year for 77 Design Co as there are already many big projects on the books. We look forward to the challenges of helping local businesses and organizations prosper and grow!

 

Analyze. Create. Achieve.