Welcome to Get Shirty

Learn how to haggle

Design Week (10th Feb) had an interesting article of the above title from John Mathers, UK Chief Exec of Enterprise IG and president of the DBA � The article went through the scary activity of the arrival of a procurement letter and what as a client you should do. It was interesting for a myriad of reasons � mostly, because their was a belief in the article that all design businesses still work by a process of smoke and mirrors and that open transparency is scary and not something you want to tell the client about � ironically this is just what the clients are after (as the former Head of marketing for The Royal Bank of Scotland - I know this) that you in fact have a process and that you follow it � that is tangible and robust, and defensible and works.

If you have a process and a way of working then show it � when creating wonderful pieces for clients designers often wax lyrical about the great tools in a production process or the special fermentation to create a wonderful food or beverage � alas design businesses don�t sell themselves currently with the same gusto.

About 6 months ago when I was talking with one of our clients on the benefits of Traffic, Sohnar�s Design Management system they said that they had added the use of Traffic to their credentials pitch (and they � being Kino Design � already have some great credentials � namely the designers behind the 2012 London Olympic bid logo). It helped clients to feel comfortable that there was a process; there was consistency, time management, project procedures and checks that all followed to ensure the best result was achieved. It�s not smoke and mirrors.

The other thing that John Mathers focused on was the apparent lack of understanding of design and design process from client side procurement people � its true people cannot be aware of the design process but education is the solution to the problem and if you can define it you can defend it. They simply want to know that you have processes and procedures and ways of working and being managed that they will have in their businesses. Most importantly, John mentions the need for building relationships � all business is about relationships whether it�s with the client, the procurement team the customer, the supplier � all need to be managed and all need to have one point for holding all correspondence, reports, and information. Key is to get a database that manages all of your contacts and all of their vital communication. Design businesses are no longer an anomaly they are expected to be top notch customer focused businesses that mange, manage and manage.

Creativity is not enough to be a successful design business

Don't get me wrong here - I admire people with creative talents - and in the eighties there was a true explosion of creativity, which really made a difference to consumer experiences, and business successes, with clever branding, marketing and unique creative ideas and executions.

But like anything there is a point when saturation sets in true revolution is difficult to achieve. It is then that you set forward on a path on minor changes to achieve enhancements and this is, just like Darwin monitored with his Finches - evolution.

Design now, in my view is more a process of evolution with less radical steps of creativity, where the key to success is in the relationship with the client, the understanding of the goals, the challenges and the objections they will get. It's about being rapid to respond, estimating and charging what you say you will, and being less revolution and more evolution.

My job as CEO of Sohnar is sometimes an enlightening experience - coming from client side marketing, having worked in the senior ranks of the mega businesses (Head of Marketing for Royal Bank of Scotland and Head of Electronic Marketing for Forte Hotels) I understand innately what it is that needs to be delivered. You see when you have a monolith engine as a client they don't necessarily want the best creative approach, they mostly want the predictable response rate, the well managed costs, and the clear transparency on your processes - that's how they run their businesses and that's what they expect and admire in their suppliers. Shocking reality I know.

Yesterday I met the MD of a large Creative agency - and I knew instantly that this man knew the figures on his business - he wanted to know who the most profitable person in the business was - he wanted controls, he wanted to make sure that he knew where his business was coming from and which clients were his best source of revenue - he didn't want to know about who did the most creative job, he didn't want to tell us what great creative ideas they came up with. It was very clear he understood where the revenues came from, that 50% of their growth was from new business (they had repeat business of course!) So can you imagine my surprise when he told me he was from client side marketing having like myself been the Head of Marketing for a very large blue chip - nope not in the least bit surprised - it simply cemented my thinking all along - Successful design businesses are no different to any other business - they are successful because of a cumulative approach at every facet to good business practices. Marketing, sales, project management, cost capture; operational transparency, robust processes, and business focused accounting practices (billing in advance). Simple and not surprising don't you think?!

An invasion of human rights � or a civil liberty?

Now it seems to be that the world is currently flying high with a lot of anti American sentiment � myself - I have no cross to bear � they are the biggest energy consumer, they are also an enormous powerhouse to the entrepreneurial spirit. If you have a dream there is no where else in the world that has such true cultural belief that anything is in your power � if you can dream it, you can make it happen. As I was told by a shop assistant in Macy�s �this is America honey � anything is possible� Ah huh. Girlfriend.

So why am I blogging on my recent trip to New York � well it was the customs experience that I have to declare I was appalled about! My first touch of the American continent was a rather un-charming man demanding my fingerprints and a photograph. What the devil will they do with this � I don�t live in the US, I�m not a citizen, and I certainly haven�t done anything wrong � or intend to. I�m a visitor who wants to spend my hard earned money going there to visit them, and buy their goods from their every struggling economy.

It wasn�t till after I had begrudgingly given over my fingerprints and photograph that I realised that I was truly offended � what next � I�ll find myself in Guantanamo Bay � or they will want to place a DNA chip under my skin to track my movements � what is the rest of the world doing about this!! Is this not the invasion of our civil liberties that now famous Americans like Mr King were fighting 50 years ago � I think so!

What also resonated loudly was that since living in the UK, we have become more and more relaxed around Europe with the breakdown of borders to one giant European family. Beauty and the Beast me thinks.

New Year resolutions!? Anyone?

There was a time when I used to relish in the opportunity of a new years resolution � when was that I hear you ask!?

Well when a New Years resolution was about drinking less, trying to get to the gym more than 4 times a week and making sure I get more than 3 hours sleep a night. Now it seems as I�ve got older my New Years resolutions seem to be about how to serve clients better, how to make more time for the team (and my friends) and being more organised with my already tight time. Oh for the days of worrying about drinking less!

Now as luck would have it I run a business whose sole purpose is to �. Wait for it �. Help design and marketing based businesses to serve clients better, generate more time, for the fun work things and reduce the time you spend doing the admin chores, and last but not least �yup it helps you be more organised and successful in understanding where your business is coming from and which parts are more profitable and which are not.

So my New Years resolution this year is to �. Go to the gym more (an oldie but a goodie!) and have a drink every time a client calls us to thank us for helping them to be more responsive to their clients and more profitable. Now that sounds like a much better New Year�s resolution don�t you think?

Tracey
www.sohnar.com

A cabaret at Christmas

I was invited to a cabaret Christmas evening last night on Battersea bardge. The 'Dustiest Christmas Eva' and it was, I have to say one of the most amusing evenings I've had in 2004. Brilliant. An overly camp Australian singling christmas songs in cabaret with friends. It was the third year they have done it and it was simply hillarious.

Dusty started with the story of Christmas as the pagean festival, and then the relevance to christianity and the celebration of the life of a man who died, nailed to a plank of wood .... from there they covered songs by Mariah Carey, Chris DeBurg (Has he ever had a Cabaret song??).

There was also lots of whitty retort from the crowd and lots of christmas cheer - Thanks Dusty for the best christmas EVA!

Where do you come from?

I've been doing that classic thing lately, talking about where I'm from - more than normal (what is normal I hear you say - well yes indeed!) I've decided it must be the change of seasons, whenever it turns cold in sunny Englan I find myself fixated by the fact it's coming into my favourite time of the year in my native NZ - Summer - You see summer at Christmas, and for the welcome of a New Year is just the most wonderful experience - stunning. Ahhh. The fact of the matter is I'm from New Zealand and when it turns to concrete coloured skies in London I find myself being darn proud of it!

The other interesting thing is that I'm getting alot of web traffic from people coming by to have a look what I've got to say ... come on I know I've got a lot to say but I'm intrigued - where do you come from???
School friends, old work collegues, ex boyfriends ... the mind boggles ...

So what characterises where I come from:

The way I speak and those funny colloquial things I say ... here you go a few treats!

'Life is no dress rehersal you know'
'Oh don't sweat the small stuff'
'If you love something set if free, if it comes back it's your's if it doesn't hunt it down and kill it!'
'Boys no matter what age - are still only just boys'
'You go girlfriend'
'Is it beer o'clock?'

Sometimes you just need to share ... a little wisdom

I'm not normally at all partial to the many jokes and ditties you get on the internet - in the early days certainly ... and still once a month I get some new material that I genuinely chuckle at .... when a friend sent me this - my heart strings were tweaked ... and it's got it's own spot!! Enjoy the wisdom! and take from it what you need - I did!

A Message by George Carlin:

The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness.

We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.

We've learned how to make a living, but not a life. We've added years to life not life to years. We've been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbour. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We've done larger things, but not better things.

We've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We've conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We've learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.

These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, big men and Small character, steep profits and shallow relationships. These are the days of two incomes but more divorce, fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill. It is a time when there is much in the showroom window and nothing in the stockroom. A time when technology can bring this to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight, or delete.

Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the Moments that take our breath away.

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them. That is why you pay him/her.

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. " An idle mind is the devil's workshop." And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for
breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The
only person who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's
family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If
it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the
Next county, to a foreign country, but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at
Every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the Number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

Tennis the game of champions

I was invited to play tennis for the local builders merchants today - an honor - I now understand. I was the only woman and the only one without a beer belly. The tennis was of a surprisingly good standard. It's a league, amongst the inner circle.

It made me think back, and to the secret talents many people have that they keep well hidden. My father, a New Zealand farmer plays the piano, a mystro no less, which when I was growing up, people found it very hard to belive. He actually used to win money, in bets that he wouldn't be able to play let alone belt out some brilliant classics that Elton John would be proud of!

My Nana - charming lady - worked hard to ensure he had all the right elements to be a young man, yes he can dance well too. So I shouldn't be surprised at the talent of tennis that comes out of the local builders merchant - I now know there will be no challenges to darts or pool.

Off the the rainforest

I got an email today from a work friend - it was really quite strange - he's done what we all only dream of - he's jumped from the corporate ship and is sailing to Costa Rica to work in a wildlife reserve, I've got it on good authority he is also going to surf a lot. After that he's off to a Rainforest or the pacific .... Bless.

The really poiniant part of the email is: 'On the rare occasions that I venture back into civilisation, it would always be a pleasure to hear from any of you'.

Is corporate life so bad? Given that he was a high flyer at Apple, I think you should worry for Steve and the rest of the team if they are driven to this!

Outsourcing call centres

I had a business catchup lunch yesterday with some friends that I met during the heady internet boom days. It was interesting in just hearing others views of their experience - a fly on the wall view, through anothers eyes.

The upshot is that we all thought it was a great time and really enjoyed the journey. Two of the four of us now run software companies - so we can't have been that effected from the experience.

Discussion started over lunch about brands, consumer empathy and developed into an interesting class on corporate efficiency and the drive for reduced costs v's consumer empathy with Brands. It all boils down to the consumer expereince, the case study we all referred to was the outsourcing of call centres to India and the damaging effect on the brand and the consumer ecpereince. Having been on the recieving end of an indian call centre experience I can comfortably say it was crap as a consumer experience but I'm not sure that I blamed the brand - I saw it for what it was - an attempt at lowering costs and winning in business. I didn't blame the brand - or the business - or the man on the phone - he was doing his job too.

I don't believe in outsourcing call centres but then I haven't seen the bottom line figures. The issue is that of shareholder value, more profits at the threat to the consumer expereince - who wins - always the shareholder, it's only when the expereince effects the shareholder that the return of call centres back home will be in droves.

'Making the olympic games more interesting'

Selling something without a website

Having been a large part of the new media age - or web media age as it's now known - it's no longer new you know!!

I just believe that your website needs to say something about you - if you are selling something its critically important, if you're not its still critically important. It's the first place people go to reseach you - find out who you are, what you've done, and who else is talking about you.

I had lunch with a business contact on Friday - one of those lunches that was really enjoyable - was business, but it could have been lunch with a friend - anyway - he runs two design agencies - great ones - with fantastic fabulous clients. But today in following up from my promise to get him some business, I checked out his website - it was just one page - perhaps they are so creative that I just don't get it - then again maybe they are not!

You see content is king - websites are about cudios, credibility, information, and most of all they let you identify with the business. Next lunch I need to tell him he needs to work on his website - the joy of being honest!

Mantra v's Mission statement

I was sent the Art of the Start, by Guy Kawasaki from Grarage ventures. I was told that it was an inspiring easy read that got you all reved up to go and do great things. Yep, I was up for that.

Check it out at www.garage.com
Guy had some very inspirational things to say, he doesn't think that mission statements are worth the paper they are written on, it's Mantra's for Guy baby!

The really key thing here is vision and focus - a mantra in Guy's words is really about saying what it is you do - a say what it is on the tin approach. And I believe it works. Mission statements are for big companies and for big shareholders. He also thinks that anything that slows you down in a business or takes you away from the core objective - selling stuff - developing product - is a waste of time, energy and scarce resourses. It's not rocket science and its not even new - it's just reminding new businesses (and old alike) about priorities.

He also said some poininat things that I'm going to have a go at:

A CEO can never have a bad day: are we talking bad hair, hangover, food poisioning - Guy we are human too - the secret is to have as few as possible - I'll keep trying!

No one ever achieved success by planning for gold: I believe that plans are key to success, its a fine line between plan and action. A common thing I ask myself is - do I have the 'whatever it takes appraoch' that the true way for success. Another key for me is asking myself, out of 10 to score my vision, action, and passion, as those are the real drivers for success - getting an even balance and running them home.

It's not how great you start its how great you end up: Oh how true. My Dad have a variation on this theme - he always used to say of falling from a building a plane, a moving car, it's not the 2o stories that kill you - it's the last six inches - the same alas is true in business - save some energy for the sprint!

Don't wait to develop the perfect product or service, good enough is good enough: Just don't admit this to the first customer - product development cycles will never be the same again.

So mission statements v's Mantra's, well if Guy had cut to the chase, he would in synopsis, have had just had one thing to say - Nike's mantra 'Just do it'