In Real Estate, It's 'Location, Location, Location.' In Business, It Should Be 'Collaborate, Collaborate, Collaborate.' Here's how one marketing and advertising agency has proved that knowing who to partner with is just as important as who you know in the business world.
By Matt Mayberry Edited by Dan Bova
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Collaboration is one of the main reasons that some businesses are successful. Knowing who to partner with is just as important as who you know in the business world. Choosing the right business partner can lead your business to success, whereas choosing the wrong partner can lead to your business' downfall. Here is an example of how teamwork is driving a Santa Monica, California-based marketing and advertising agency's growth.
Related: Partnering With Your Competition Could Actually Give You the Competitive Edge
Quaintise, LLC has combined strategy and emotionally charged storytelling to deliver impactful and revenue-generating campaigns for some of the most prominent healthcare brands in the U.S. The agency is growing and one of the main reasons is its focus on collaboration.
At the core of the Quaintise team is a great partnership between Raquel Baldelomar, founder and managing director, and Matthew Dinnerman, partner and director of strategy. Baldelomar has a background in finance and advertising and focuses on the management of the agency's largest accounts, business development efforts and growth strategy, while Dinnerman, founder of one of the largest college marketing companies in the country, uses his vast experience in creative branding, advertising and sponsorship to bring clients' vision to life by putting together the right team to execute the goals of the campaign.
Together, they drive one of Quaintise's core philosophies, which is to build a unified team that is focused on the client. Baldelomar and Dinnerman concentrate on building collaboration into every aspect of the business. They have created a work environment for staff focused on teamwork where everyone's thoughts and ideas are valued and encouraged -- even if those ideas differ. They also established a marketing process with clients that is centered on building a shared, cooperative, two-way experience.
Here are three lessons leaders can take away from Quaintise's philosophy to improve quality, increase resourcefulness and drive your business forward.
Related: What Brands Can Learn From Lilly Pulitzer and Target's Sold-Out Collaboration
1. Find experts to partner with in various disciplines.
No one is an expert in everything. Just as Baldelomar and Dinnerman have leveraged their combined expertise in leadership and marketing to drive results at Quaintise, business leaders should find experts in various disciplines to strengthen their organization and its products. Quaintise evaluates its clients businesses, develops marketing plans and adds to its highly experienced team of agency professionals when needed. For instance, the agency partnered with professionals who have years of experience in search engine optimization (SEO), social media and healthcare writing to ensure it created high quality and effective marketing products for its clients.
That strategy helped Quaintise increase a physician group's web traffic by 62 percent, which contributed to a 21 percent increase in new patients. Similarly, the agency helped a client improve its content marketing, which led to a 100-percent increase in newsletter subscribers as well as six new media placements.
2. Unify your team under a common goal or purpose.
Building a team centered on collaboration enables businesses to be agile and resourceful. When employees are used to working together, know each other's strengths and understand the common goal, they can get things done quickly, when needed, while still maintaining quality and product integrity.
Quaintise recently developed a branding and strategic marketing campaign for Clearpath, a revolutionary digital dermatopathology software tool, on an extremely accelerated timeline. In just two months, Quaintise completed a brand audit, roughly 20 stakeholder interviews and created a brand identity, including logo, tagline, website and tradeshow marketing for its product launch.
3. Treat clients as collaborative business partners.
One of the basic tenets of any successful collaboration is listening to each other. It's imperative that you listen to what your clients or customers truly want. This skill will allow you to build a loyal following, positive reviews and referrals. One of the first steps that Quaintise takes after meeting with its client's leadership team is completing stakeholder interviews.
This process is about listening and gaining a better understanding of the client, its products, services and needs.
"Quaintise has hit one home run after another for us. They truly listen to our needs and have exceeded our highest expectations. Our relationship is incredibly close and they have become an extension of our marketing department," says Dan Angress, CEO of Clearpath.
These three strategies have helped Quaintise establish trust and build a true partnership with its clients.
"The varying needs of our clients have accelerated our need for team members with expertise in their respective disciplines who are available to communicate with and meet the needs of our clients," Dinnerman explains. "By bringing together a team of experts with the goal of serving our clients higher interests, we have been able to achieve remarkable results time and again. This is the bedrock of our successful, long-term relationships with clients."
Related: Why Collaboration Is an Easier Route to Small Business Growth
You often hear the phrase in real estate, "location, location, and location." Perhaps business leaders should adopt the maxim, "collaborate, collaborate, collaborate."
