Shortly after signing an engagement contract with us, your team will be contacted by our Project Manager to schedule a Referral Interview with our Lead Researcher and Strategist.
A Referral Interview is a conversation with our lead researcher and consists of 10 open-ended questions that explore your path to finding us at BS LLC. We’ll ask that you allow for up to 1 hour for the conversation.
What is the purpose of the Referral Interview?
The Referral Interview serves several purposes:
It introduces your team to our primary research method.
Even if formal research isn’t part of your engagement with us, we often perform a certain amount of “base level” desk research on which we’ll base our recommendations to you. One of our formal research methods is known simply as “4-Way Analysis.” This tool helps us understand your brand’s current state, the nature of your customers, your competition, and your industry niche. Several questions help us understand your point of view on these important areas.
It helps us understand your expectations
The engagement and contract process assumes that all parties are in agreement regarding terms and language that can often be misinterpreted. One of the reasons many clients find their relationship with their agency frustrating is this lack of alignment. The Referral Interview helps clarify what success looks like and sounds like so that BS LLC can target those expectations successfully.
It helps us understand how to delight you
Marketing and creative agencies obviously don’t sell “hard goods,” we sell services based on understanding. Ultimately, our personalities need to “mesh” with yours in order to deliver an experience that is not only good for your business, but good for your team as people. The Referral Interview helps us understand each other better so that the outcome can extend beyond positive marketing metrics. We want you to be delighted with our efforts on your behalf and enjoy working with us.
How to best prepare for the Referral Interview:
Relax
Ultimately, this is a low-key chat, not a formal interview, and certainly not formal research. There are no “wrong answers;” we simply want to understand your path to us, and your hopes going forward.
Be able to articulate why you ultimately chose our firm other others
Most of the time, our new client relationships occur at the end of a sorting process. I'd be very curious to understand what specific characteristics of our company lead you to entrusting us with this assignment.
Review your brand’s positioning statement
We’ll be asking you some questions about your brand and it’s target audience. Going back to your foundational brand documents could help you be crisp and succinct here.
Discuss internally what desires and obstacles you see ahead
Hopes, desires, fears, and concerns. These are all emotional attributes that are impossible to separate from the beginning of any new relationship. During this conversation, we're helping we can get as many of those out in the open as possible.