Same Side Selling

Where We Were

Like many companies in our space, we used to spend a lot of time focused on pursuing all potential opportunities that came our way. As Chris mentions:

"We tried to be agnostic for all technology for a long time."

But eventually trying to do all things for all people gets taxing - or you end up simply being not very good at a lot of things. We realized that by focusing our efforts on the people we believed we could really help, and the technology platforms we work best with, that we could actually get more business, have a greater positive impact, and frankly, just enjoy ourselves more.

Changing the Conversation

So what did we do?  We started focusing more on the impact we can help a client make and the value that impact has for their organization, rather than just on getting and keeping whatever business came our way. We now ask ourselves several key questions during our first few conversations with a potential client:

• Are we a good fit?
• Would we enjoy working together?
• Can we really knock this out of the park?

If the answer to all of those is "yes," then we're ready to jump in and go for it. We recognize that some relationships aren't the best fit and being able to recognize that goes a long way towards improving our business.

For us, success usually means working with clients and organizations looking to have a positive impact on the world, and who use or would like to move into using:

• Open Source
• Content Management Systems
• Marketing Automation Platforms

And if we're not the right partner for you, we don't want to do you a disservice by pursuing a partnership that we know may not be to everyone's best advantage.

The Yoko Co Differentiator

Part of changing the conversation is realizing what separates us from every other firm working in the same space.

A lot of other marketing firms go into conversations with potential clients from one of two perspectives:

1. The Design-Centric Perspective.

You start your engagements with the design already in mind - maybe even mocked up - with the idea of fitting everything your client is trying to do into those designs. But maybe you haven't actually talked about objectives, and if that's the case, how can that design help your client achieve the impact they're trying to have?  It's quite a challenge to reach a goal when you've started building the product with no goal in mind.

2. The Development-Centric Perspective.

You want to give your client the latest and greatest technology, but again, are coming in without having discussed objectives first. Just like with the design-centric perspective, you're not really serving your client by trying to fit their objectives into something you've built with no particular objective in mind.

We start our conversations with the impact our clients want to have - on their customers and the world. We figure out what objectives we need in order to achieve that impact, and we work backwards from there. It's easy to say that you'll have that focus, but harder to do. You have to truly care about those clients and what you're helping them achieve. For us, that has made all the difference.

If you're passionate about what you do and whom you're doing it for, you're not going to let your clients down. You'll try harder, and that extra care will resonate, leading to repeat and referral business, and by extension, a greater positive impact for you and your clients.

Or as we like to put it: Do Good. Better.