Service Level. It's sexy.
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Lately, we’ve been landing high-profile pitches and reviewing some tasty creative frameworks – exciting, right? Absolutely. Getting invited to a potential client’s fold is always cool.
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It’s a familiar scene: we excitedly devour the latest RFP. The creative team (myself included) initially thinks it’s all on us, creatively speaking. But beyond the sexy deliverables, who handles everything else, especially if we win?
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Cue the studio kettle, creative moodboards flashing with ‘dying to use’ styles, and phones filled with ‘cool shit I saw’ photos. The ‘unused creative genius’ folder might even get a look-in (it never does, BTW).
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Full steam ahead. Freelancers are chosen to add to the mix, fresh cuppas brewed, and we’re off... but who’s writing the detailed cost proposal? Compiling competitor research? Clarifying the brief while building a relationship with a marketing team they may never have met?
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Meanwhile, they’re massaging creative egos, fielding ‘what do you think?’ questions, and delicately delivering constructive feedback to designers who’ve poured their heart into a project (a cuppa and the good biscuits help here).
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Recently, we won a pitch – a welcome change from the ‘really close, but...’ news. While the creative hit the mark (as it did for the other agencies), our service level, highlighted in an impromptu chat, swung it in our favour.
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Our website’s studio page reads:

Working with Fred feels more like working with a trusted friend – someone who knows your ambitions and challenges, someone who is approachable and available at the end of the phone or for a coffee in person. And whoever you reach, they’ll always have that same unmistakeable Fred ethos.
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Our Account Management team delivers on this daily, not because they have to, but because they want to.
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So, next time you see the sexy creative being praised, spare a thought for the ‘rest of the team’ who delivered the service, who allowed that amazing strapline and stylish brand to sing.
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Because everyone knows that people buy from people, we just put that strapline in a sexy new grotesque typeface with that lovely ‘O’.

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