The reason why we explore unchartered territories and recommend tools we've never used before!
Our Creative Director Alex Bremer writes about the wearisome habit of so many agencies to pitch solutions based solely on their experience and comfort zone…
“I find myself moved to express a concern I’ve had about the whole pitch / tender process for some time; namely that far too many digital agencies - the exact agencies we so frequently find ourselves at 3B pitching against - are invariably proposing platforms, CMSs and solutions based solely on their experience and comfort zones. I take huge personal pride in the fact that when we at 3B pitch for a piece of business we’re just as likely to propose a tool or solution that we are entirely unfamiliar with!
“Really the best thing to consider is that, unless asked or specified, no client need necessarily be required to sign off on all proposed platforms and tech; often it’s enough to outline methodologies, deliverables and measures-of-success and let the agency just get on with it.”
This of course sounds on the face of it like we’re deliberately hamstringing the project but really nothing could be further from the truth; to look a client in the eye and implore them to trust you as we navigate unfamiliar waters in search of the perfect solution is actually tremendously liberating and has - for us and our clients at least - always delivered the correct solution for the long term health of that client’s digital strategy.”
Our Technical Director Jack Bremer often describes 3B as “platform agnostic” - and that’s absolutely true - but it goes further than that. We’re unlikely to recommend Drupal, Joomla, Wordpress or the like based solely on the fact that we’ve used those wonderful platforms so often - we enthusiastically embrace any opportunity to take on a project that means using something new and unfamiliar if it’s clearly the better path for our client’s needs. Accordingly we’ve become experts in bleeding edge content delivery networks, data management tools and mapping that makes our pre-project consultancy, if I may be so bold, pure gold!
All of this sounds marvellous, doesn’t it..? However the reality of trying to pitch and sell the notion that, as an agency, we’ll be operating outside our comfort zone is a minefield all of its own. No client wants to be made to feel as though they are a “guinea pig” for a solution that an agency is keen to use for their own benefit, and no client wants to be told that an agency is using tech with which they have no experience.
No real conclusion here, to be honest; the author felt a need to have a lovely little rant about an ever-present frustration when dealing with RFPs. If any little nugget of advice might be gleaned from the above perhaps it is that if agencies are to truly deliver the best solution for any given project they need to have the courage to think beyond their established skills set and experience and implore their clients to join them on a journey of discovery...
