By Steve Veile, Founder
This being a big political year, we hear it all the time: “The devil is in the details.” If you are looking for something to criticize, that might be true. If you are wanting to do good work, there is nothing devilish about it.
One of the hallmarks of our firm is that we pay attention to the details. Whether it’s social media planning, project development, event coordination, budget work – we know that details are important and that clients want you to pay close attention to them. We always keep the big picture in mind, but when it comes down to execution, the details are what make or break a project.
While all staff members must pay attention to the details, some of our staffers are focused on them constantly. There is copy to be edited and edited again. There are proofs to examine and approve. There are schedules to maintain and meetings to facilitate. Many balls in the air and care must be taken to keep them there. Drives you crazy sometimes, but then again, it is the work we do, and clients expect us to keep our eyes on all of those balls, and all of those details.
There is something closely related that is also of great importance to clients – responsiveness. When a client calls, or more likely emails, our business is to be responsive to their wants and needs. Speed is often of the essence. The last thing we want is to keep a client waiting and wondering if we got their message, or if we really care. Our clients believe we are attentive to their needs, and we certainly do all we can to demonstrate that fact.
With the prevalence of online communication these days, the matter of responsiveness is interesting. Does the client expect an instant response? Is getting back in touch an hour or two later too late? Responding a half-day later or maybe the next day might almost seem like a snub. And, God forbid if you should somehow miss an email from a client that for some reason just seems to slip between the cracks. Those things happen, and hopefully, a lack of response will be so out of character that the client will realize you might not have actually received the email in the first place.
Being responsive and paying attention to details. Those are two of the more important aspects of running a successful communications company. As our firm approaches its 37th anniversary of its founding, we take pride in the fact that we have always been there, and done that!