Lemonade StandLemonade Stand, the old Apple ][ game that taught us all how to run a business is out for iPhone/iPod Touch. We won’t presume to tell you that running a business is as simple Lemonade Stand, but it reminded us of something relevant.

Yes, we know that economy is shaky, and some even say it’s really bad. It’s amazing that so many businesses can forget those lessons we learned from Lemonade Stand so many years ago…

What to do when things are normal
When the weather is normal, you need to advertise. When things are stable there is no risk. You plow ahead advertising as much as you can afford, and tweaking your pricing, and inventory.

What to do in a heat wave

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Which is more important to you: the adulation of your clients, - or the customers of your clients? It’s very important for studios and agencies to keep their clients happy. Short term it may seem like the most important thing. In the long term however, the thing that will really keep clients happy is more sales. It’s your client’s customer who is always right…

There’s a big difference…

“The customer is always right.” It’s the first rule of customer service. The housepainter does not critique the customers paint selection, the chef will serve the steak with ketchup. These are preference based decisions that are meant to please no one other than the whims of the customer themselves. To argue against customer taste would run contrary to the whole purpose of the profession’s existence.

There are of course service based professions that don’t follow this logic. A doctor for example won’t amputate your arm just because you ask. A CPA won’t round down your earnings on your tax return based on your preference to pay less. Both of these professions have organized governing bodies to dictate ethics and accuracy. Customer satisfaction is prized only in so much as that the jobs are performed successfully based on the standards of the profession.

Graphic design walks an interesting line. A primary function, and the end result of which is an artistic creation. Quite unlike many services, graphic design results in something undistinguishable from a product, albeit a made-to-order one. Which Is why it’s probably often confusing for clients; are they buying graphic design the final product, or the service that leads to it?

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No studio or agency wins every bid they go after. Even the best studio loses out based on cost, relationships, un-perfect meetings, bad chemistry, and occasionally clients just have bad taste. It still hurts, -if you’re in this business and you don’t believe with your whole heart that you do a better job than your competitors, - quit. Quit now, and don’t look back. If you’re like us though, you work extremely hard at being a great company, and it’s hard not to get angry about it. The single, and only reason you can feel ok about it, if you really wanted it, is if you lose it based on cost.

There is always someone willing to do something cheaper, and competing based on price is a race to the bottom. We’ve always opted to compete on quality. Our hourly rate is competitive, and we’re fast at what we do, -but we have a level of quality that we aren’t willing to go below. Not every studio is like that, and not every client can tell the difference. Sometimes it requires education to tell the difference between paying more for quality, and being taken advantage of. It’s important to admit that paying less for something of inferior quality is being taken advantage of just like the opposite. It’s contradictory of your ultimate goal.

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