Alignment to the Customer
In 2002, a long-time client, Yoav Levy, president of Phototake,
a small stock photography agency in New York City, and I discussed
the problems he was facing in the next year. Many of his competitors
had gone out of business or been bought out by larger companies.
His own company had just survived a difficult ownership struggle.
The national economic slump hit his best customers—advertising
agencies—very hard. To put it simply, Phototake offered
great products and services, but didn't have enough clients or
enough sales. Unless they could change that, the company would
face very serious difficulties in the next year.
QTI offered an affordable solution in several steps:
- An initial strategic planning session that combined best
practices in strategic planning with coaching in leadership
for the owner.
- Ongoing leadership coaching at a low monthly retainer that
was affordable for the client.
- Additional work for six months focused on creating a new
marketing campaign and improving product quality
Fast Success
QTI proposed a campaign called alignment to the customer.
We completed it in several simple steps.
- QTI conducted telephone interviews with key current customers
to find out what they liked-and didn't like-about Phototake's
products and services.
- QTI analyzed website data to find out what customers were
looking for-particularly what they were looking for and not
finding.
- Working together, Phototake and QTI designed a new home page,
new advertisements, and an improved marketing campaign to present
all the best features of Phototake to many new potential customers.
- A Phototake team member took charge of each problem identified
by a customer and came up with a permanent solution.
- The team members solved their problems and wrote instructions
for how to do their job, making work much more efficient.
- Phototake launched a new newsletter to its vendors, letting
them know what photographs and illustrations customers wanted,
and teaching them how to package their images for faster processing,
so customers could get more of what they wanted, sooner. QTI
helped by writing the first issue.
Lasting Success
With QTI's help and guidance, Phototake survived through the
economic slump and was poised for growth when the economy bounced
back. Within a year, Phototake revenue jumped significantly.
The new marketing tools and work methods have been used for several
years now. As business grew, costs went down because the team
found ways to work more efficiently, so that, when some folks
left, the others were able to do more work and make more money
with fewer people.
Where do you want to go next?
Over the last several years, Sid and QTI have helped Phototake
through a number of major transitions. Ours is a small stock
photography agency with only six employees. Many other companies
like us have gone out of business facing the same challenges
we face. We're still here, and our customers love us and our
images. Here is what QTI has helped us do:
- 1998-99: We made the transition from an old, pre-DOS computer
system to a Y2K-ready, web-enabled SQL database. Sid's team
of analysts and programming experts moved information about
over 100,000 pictures to the new system.
- 2001-02: Sid helped resolve a struggle for company ownership.
He stood with me through a great deal of conflict, showing
compassion for all sides and proposing practical business solutions.
- 2002-03: Sid has helped me define our corporate strategy
and launch our marketing plan. We understand our customers
much better, thanks to QTI's research team. All our efforts
are now aligned to serving our customers better. We are cutting
costs and getting more done.
All of this has taken more than just consulting services. Sid's
abilities as a coach have made it possible. Here's how:
- Strategic planning: Sid helped me articulate my own vision
for my company.
- Business systems expertise: Sid was able to explain the transition
of the entire stock photography industry to me. He helped me
design a marketing position that is moving us through turbulent
times in our industry.
- Emotional Intelligence: I had to ask for major changes from
staff who have been with me for years. It wasn't easy. Sid
has helped me see myself and my staff clearly, helping us become
a focused, successful team.
Where do you want to go next?
