When Collaboration and Strategy Collide

How to Re-Create Your Company's Core Message in Three Days

With the economic downturn in full swing, we found ourselves with a little breathing room for the first time in years. A good time to take stock of our company, and really examine the way we do things. So we asked ourselves, “Is there a better way to beat the truth into our clients?” The answer was yes.

Our company has evolved greatly over the years, from a web development shop, to an advertising agency and design firm. But the one thing we really do well is identifying how to best position our clients for success. Traditionally, this entailed a lengthy client questionnaire and several conversations; then we would retreat to our proverbial corner and begin our research, only to emerge a few weeks later with the answer in hand.

This was all good, except that often while delivering our recommendations to the client, we were met with a “deer in the headlights” stare and hesitant approval, followed by months of wrangling to try and get them to see the light and stick to the strategy. Not exactly a rewarding experience for either the client or us—hence the re-examination.

What we realized is that the best way to foster understanding and acceptance of a big idea, is to involve our clients in the process itself. Give them ownership of the outcome and, not only are they on board, they’re moving faster to make changes than we had ever imagined.

And so, it began. We retooled our brand position process by developing a three-day seminar that involves a set of exercises that requires our clients to look at their business differently. Each exercise requires an open-minded approach, brainstorming, and honesty. It also requires 100% participation on the part of everyone in the room. There are no bad ideas. No kowtowing to the boss, just an honest flow of information, discoveries, realizations, and possibilities. At the end of the first day, we have identified the number one focus or goal of the company, and all else falls away. We don’t know how we’ll get there yet; we just know the one thing we are focused on as a team.

In the second day, it’s all about developing a leadership position in order to achieve the objective set forth on Day One. This is the meat. The ideas are flying and suddenly we know exactly what we stand for—just like that. The best part about it is that our clients are the ones who discovered and declared the answer. As one of our esteemed colleagues recently put it, “the rest is gravy.” With newfound enthusiasm and direction, our clients are amazed at the process and the outcome, and can’t wait to get started applying what they’ve learned.

So, with a newly retooled brand process in hand, we are moving forward and feeling pretty darn good about the downturn. Sure times are tough. But if a little downtime provides the space for innovation, (and the time to brag about it) it can’t be all bad.

When you’re ready to take a fresh look at your business, give us a call. We’ll pull out all the stops to really get your business humming on all cylinders again.

TsunamiMarketing.Com 808-332-7992

Is Your Web Site Taking on Water?

Holo Holo Charters Launches Upgraded Web Site

Based on Kauai, Holo Holo Charters offers daily, guided boat tours of the Napali Coast and the neighboring island of Niihau. In recent years, they have come to rely more heavily on their web site as a sales tool, attracting customers and allowing them to book boat tours online. With Internet technology rapidly evolving, after five years online there was much to do to bring their current site up to speed—so we jumped right in.

First, we implemented a site wide search engine optimization project, greatly improving the site’s visibility in search engines. We took advantage of faster Internet speeds by creating larger image areas on the site to really draw the consumer into the experience of being on a boat off the coast of Kauai.

We simplified the shopping experience, by redesigning the entire purchase process. Visitors to the site are now able to begin the transaction right from the home page. With enhanced security features, the entire transaction takes place on Holo Holo’s web site, rather than being completed on a third-party site as it was in the past.

With all of these changes in place, we were able to implement a variety of tracking tools that provide us with much greater visibility into consumer traffic patterns. This new data allows us to monitor the success of the site and make incremental adjustments in order to increase online sales and continue to improve the on-site consumer experience.

Your web site should be your hardest working sales associate. If it’s not living up to its potential, give us a call.

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