Like any business that is launching new products or services, all of the planning and development we have put into the new creative services department will have been for naught if we don’t announce the launch of new processes to our clients. Here is one such memo I delivered to just our larger department.
Good morning everyone,
Since March we have been analyzing Creative Service’s existing processes, capabilities, and needs along with those of our clients – both within and outside of the [department].
There have been a number of behind-the-scenes improvements to how we collectively work to produce creative deliverables. While we hope that some of these behind-the-scenes changes are already noticeable to everyone, today we have an exciting announcement that we think everyone will appreciate.
Beginning today there is a new centralized point of contact for all creative services requests (E.G. graphic design, photography, video production, and brand identity review). Simply send an email to our department by typing “Creative Services” in the “To…” field of your email, and it will go to our department general mailbox.
From there someone will review your request, ask for more information as needed, and assign a creative professional to assist you. You will receive an email with our project reference number, and who your assigned creative services contact will be. When initiating a new creative project of any kind, please feel free to use the attached Creative Services Request Sheet. Additionally, if you are requesting video production assistance you may find the attached Video Production Project Sheet useful in planning your production timing and script.
While neither tool is mandatory to use, they will allow us to more effectively, and efficiently, get the project opened and into our production queue. Plus, you may just find them helpful in collecting, and communicating to us, the details of your project prior to requesting creative consultation and assistance.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to call me, or drop by my office.
Andy Brenits,
Leader, Creative Services
What’s important about this message is not so much all of the behind the scenes process development we have undertaken that will make the new creative services team more effective and creative, but the fact that it addresses just the two most common pain points clients complained about when I began my analysis and planning work;
- They don’t know how to get someone in creative services to help them.
- They don’t know what information to provide when asking for creative consultation.
Providing solutions to just these two challenges can be such a big paradigm shift for clients to embrace, that we really only call this our soft-launch. The big changes are still to come… in the BIG launch a couple of months down the road.
More to follow…
I will be at the InHOWse Managers Conference this June 21-23 in Boston. Won’t you join me and other in-house leaders to share stories and learn from each other? Details here and register here.
I’ll also be leading the InSource roundtable on Career Paths for the Creative Leader in conjunction with the HOW Design Live! events. Register now to hold your seat. Details to follow.
Andy Brenits has had the privilege of managing creative services start-up operations for four organizations in his 20 year career. The In-House Business Startup Journal is an amalgamation of his experiences leading creative services businesses and the trials and tribulations of getting things up and running to a sustainable state. Names have been changed to protect the innocent or those who should have known better.
