“How do you differentiate yourself from your competition?” The question hung in the air for a beat. VIA’s executive team was being interviewed by a consultant, and the routine question gave us pause … For good reason. Please don’t misunderstand;, we’ve read the books, performed the exercises, defined our “Differentiating Three”, and told VIA’s story many times. So, we all knew the answer: Ultimate commitment to client success!

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Then, why the hesitation? 

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Presenting “client experience” as a differentiator is always good for an eye roll. Rightly so, I admit. It gets thrown around a lot. It’s really easy to just say, and most people can’t tell you what it means practically applied. Plus, generally speaking, it seems like service has hit an all-time low. So, yeah, people might scoff when you tell them client experience is how you differentiate yourself. 

Quality work is important, of course. In fact, VIA places extreme value on effective audience engagement, BUT we do not believe quality work is a differentiator.

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Quality work should be fundamental.

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Especially in modern-day production. The tools are better, technical capabilities are more sophisticated, and talented artists are everywhere. If you’re not getting quality output from your production vendor, regardless of your budget, then you should probably bounce.

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So, can “client experience” be our differentiator? We believe so. And here’s how.

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First, we get really clear with our intent: Ultimate commitment to client success.

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VIA isn’t interested in just providing good service. We live and die by our clients’ experience. VIA’s vision is: To Provide the Best Vendor Experience Across All Industries. We hire for this. Of course, we recruit talented artists, but for a team member to thrive at VIA, they must have a heart to serve others. We’re a team, 20+ strong, all committed to coming through for our clients. 

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Second, we get really specific with how we do it:

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1) Know the need

2) Understand the need

3) Own the need

4) Solve for the need

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‍We LOVE needy clients. We’re very co-dependent in that way. If it’s your problem, it’s our problem. We’re in the trenches with you, discovering problems, identifying opportunities, and focusing on solutions. We’ll put forth effort, but only results matter! 

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Third, we put our money where our mouth is.

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I once overheard a prominent retailer tell a vendor, “Don’t call yourself my ‘partner’ unless you’re willing to share in my losses.” I thought that was a pretty good point. So, you probably won’t hear us refer to ourselves as your partner... But we get pretty darn close.

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VIA comps hours, invests in research, and we even reinvest in our clients’ advertising - simply to get better results. Plus, we don’t charge self-serving fees like percentage markups or rush charges. We work to protect your margins at the expense of our own. 

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Can VIA differentiate itself by making an ultimate commitment to our clients’ success? That’s what we’ve been counting on for 15 years! 

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Are you skeptical? See for yourself.

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We’re so committed to your experience that we’ll produce your next promo or event at no cost. You don’t even have to replace your current vendor for the test. We’ll work in the shadows, juxtaposed to your production company. You can compare the different experiences.

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If we don’t knock your socks off, then you walk with no strings attached. But, we’re hoping we have the opportunity to serve you and make an ultimate commitment to your success! 

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