Greatly improve your marketing by thinking Win-Win-Win
December 2, 2017
In order to understand win-win-win, you must first understand win-win. It’s a common philosophy but let’s take a look at it from an agency standpoint.
As business director, at a creative agency, I find myself in the natural role of balancing our client’s needs and budget with what our creatives need for a budget in order to collaborate on making awesome. The first step is to gather information from the client, encouraging them to treat us as a trusted partner with direct and open communication. Then we can reciprocate at a deeper level and propose options. Thinking win-win alongside our client, to get as much production value as we can out of each project.
A big part of thinking win-win is both parties having empathy for the other. Asking questions seeking to understand. Done correctly, it feels different. It is not adversarial, it’s positively looking at what’s needed, what the constraints are and how to creatively make it work.
A myriad of solutions come out of this approach including greater efficiencies, ways for the client to contribute, perhaps a different than standard payment plan or a creative concept that works within a smaller budget.
So far we’ve only talked about win-win. Just two ‘wins’. You’re thinking to yourself, where is that third ‘win’?? Ultimately, the win-win-win approach includes the target audience, and they can feel the difference. You miss the mark if the client and agency are happy, with the marketing, when the target is not. The win-win-win approach requires you to always think critically about your target’s needs and wants. This results in the content and fit being better all around. At the end of the day, the most important win is for an awesome experience for the target audience. Bonus points if you’ve managed a win-win-win and the client and agency are happy about it as well.
