FAQ 01: What if I don’t like it?

No matter how confident we are in our ability, and no matter how confident you were in choosing us as an agency, we can all be forgiven for having those niggling, doubting thoughts at the back of our minds. We’re only human, after all.

Let’s set the scene: You’ve briefed us and we’ve delivered. But it hasn’t quite hit the mark. Not only with you, but with your stakeholders too. Now, we’ll be honest and upfront here: This doesn’t happen to us often at all, and we’ll use part of this article as a way to explain why. But for now, let’s imagine that we are in a “Nope, it’s not right” scenario.

If you don’t like it:

1. The customer is always right

This phrase isn’t exclusive to the retail shop floor. We believe it applies in our world, too. So first and foremost, we cannot and will not disagree with your opinion. We will listen to you and ensure that we book in the time to unpick the design and address your concerns. There may be times when we offer rationale for some of our decisions, but ultimately, this stage is about understanding.

2. Back to the drawing board

This phrase originates from draughtsmen and women of yesteryear, and it still stands today. Design, by its very nature, is iterative, so getting things right with our clients may require iterating just once more. At this stage, we take your feedback and revisit the work with a fresh perspective. “Final” becomes “finalfinalv2”, and we are more than okay with that.

3. The devil is in the details

Iteration could be anything from revisiting a colour palette or changing some lines of copy, to redesigning a website’s navigation or completely changing a sitemap. Whatever the task, we’ll always present the updated work to you line by line, ensuring that we cover off each and every piece of feedback. This not only shows that we’ve listened carefully, but that we’ve understood exactly what you’ve asked for and why. 

Rinse and repeat?

Absolutely not. If we find ourselves here again, then we have a bigger problem. At Silverback, this doesn’t happen. But in our previous lives, with previous agencies and previous clients, we definitely have a war story or two. If (and we stress the “if”) this were to happen a second time, generally, this is a larger conversation around the “how and the why”.

• What are we missing, and how did we miss it?
• What have we not made clear or explained very well?
• Is this relationship between client and agency set up correctly?
• How do we remedy this, and where do we go from here?

But really, this shouldn’t happen at all

That’s right. We’ve spent years and years building our agency, practising our processes and honing our craft. And that gets us to where we are today: An agency that doesn’t hear things like “We don’t like it”, or “This isn’t what we asked for”, or “No, Silverback, NO!”

So, how do we do this? The magic word for us is “discovery”. This forms the first of four parts in our Troopwork® brand evolution process: Discover, Design, Develop, Deliver. It’s a framework that we apply to each and every client project, ensuring we fully understand you, your brief, your brand, your audience and your mission. This approach not only applies at the beginning of the project, but all the way through, and we achieve this by keeping you involved.

Discovery is questioning, research and strategy. Our opportunity to really unpick your brief and arm ourselves with everything we need to move forward with purpose. This may be an in-person discovery session or a series of calls with you and the various stakeholders in your business. We may even talk to your customers.

Our “no stone unturned” approach exists purely to help us deliver a brand, digital product or experience that doesn’t just tick the boxes, but goes above and beyond what you could ever expect from a creative agency.

So, what if you don’t like it?

Well, we’re confident in saying you will like it. We’re not saying you won’t have questions or queries, or maybe tweaks and suggestions. In fact, we welcome unabashedly honest feedback, and we’re always open to those difficult conversations. But the bottom line is, if you’re successful, we feel we’ve succeeded too. And as your creative partner, it’s our job to ensure you do like it. Every single time. Submit your question here…

If you like the way we do things and you’re looking for a trusted creative partner, then let’s talk! 

And do let us know if you have a particular question you’d like answered. We know it’s a jungle out there, so we’d love to shed some light on the full agency process.