“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
― Robert B. Cialdini, Pre-Suasion: A Revolutionary Way to Influence and Persuade
There’s an old saying a colleague shared with me years ago that I’ve always held on to. “Good, cheap, and fast. You can only choose two. If it’s going to be cheap and fast, it’s not going to be good. If it’s going to be fast and good, it’s not going to be cheap. If it’s going to be good and cheap, it’s not going to be fast.” You may recall last year when I wrote a post explaining why now was the time to go big on brand. In follow up to that, I feel the need to set some expectations on what it takes to do exactly that.
For those who don’t know me personally, I’m fairly direct. For some, that resonates. For others, that irritates. To each their own. But I imagine anyone reading this could agree that getting straight to the point avoids wasting anyone’s time, or money. And that’s what we aim to do here.
First and foremost, Studio Science is a design and innovation agency. We help smart businesses deliver experiences that work better by understanding what customers need. By focusing on customer experiences, we discover more profitable opportunities, are able to design more desirable products, and convert more loyal customers, ultimately creating new business value.
When you work with us, you’re not buying labor or material objects; you’re buying expertise to uncover solutions to problems. You’re enlisting the services of a team of experts in their field who are working cohesively to deliver the highest quality of work that’s going to help deliver the benefits that I listed above. In our work we don’t cut corners. And the clients that choose to work with us do so because they know that. Simply put, we will never compromise our work to meet a client’s budget if it’s anything less than what’s needed. I don’t say this to be rude. I say this to be honest. The people who really want to work with us, have a budget to match their appetite, an understanding of what it is going to cost, and an awareness of the ultimate value it will bring to their business. They are also smart enough to realize that they can’t do it themselves (perhaps they are too close to the work, or are experts in other areas), and they need an agency full of experts to be their partner.
If you’re the type of client that likes to dictate how an agency should do things, or dictate how a project will run, then we’re probably not the agency for you, and ultimately it’s ok if you’re not ready to work with us. We understand that budget constraints, time commitments, and just the fact that the design process itself can be emotional, can create a high anxiety-inducing environment. But those are the exact things we take a lot of pride in being in the position to alleviate. I encourage you to let go a little, and let us do our jobs. I promise you, we’re pretty good at this.
When Conga, an industry leader in digital document transformation, merged with Apttus, they came to us to help navigate the complex nature of combining two companies’ brands in order for them to emerge as the industry’s new singular powerhouse. We took on the challenge and what we found were shared opportunities to help customers manage complexity – moving not only faster but smarter – ultimately improving the experience for everyone.
In another case, when our client Zix acquired AppRiver in 2019, we were challenged with creating a comprehensive brand strategy that would maintain customer trust and brand equity. After speaking with both customers and employees (among many other things), we determined the best way to do that was to position AppRiver as a Zix company rather than merging the two brands. From there, we create new brand identities for both based on each brand’s aspects that established trust among its customers.
So, with all that said, what two is it going to be for you? Good and cheap? Cheap and fast? Fast and good? I know I speak for Studio Science when I say that we are accommodating, but as I mentioned above, we will never compromise our work. So, if I haven’t scared you off and you’d like to talk to me more about this, please reach out at chrisbelli@studioscience.com. I’d be happy to discuss further.
