So I'm trolling through the local paper and I spot this article on one of Ottawa's most popular musical acts, the Fiftymen. In the article, the band compares the recording of their latest album to a philosophy adopted by the late great Frank Zappa - which, to my mind, makes incredible sense to the PR consulting profession and how we approach the work we do for our clients...
In the article, Fiftymen frontman Jeff Hardill is quoted as saying: "Apparently there was a sign on Frank Zappa's studios, and it was a triangle: 'fast, cheap and good.' You could pick two. If you want fast and good, it's not going to be cheap... It hit home. We took the time and got a few deals."
Shiver me timbers, matey! But didn't this just smack me upside the head... To me, this encapsulates -- in a very succinct way - a heckuvalot about how a relationship between a professional services firm and its clients should function... Pick two and discard the other:
1. If you want services delivered fast and cheap, the quality of work isn't likely going to be very good... which is why, in my view, it is so important to focus our efforts on the quality of our services, particularly in this age of service commoditisation....
2. If you want quality services (good) delivered quickly (fast), then it likely won't be cheap... and, to me, that's a fair statement which too often becomes the stickler in a client engagement... but it is also one which will become increasingly prevalent as issues emerge and evolve with much greater rapidity and response times grow shorter. How firms like ours deal with this issue will be critical in the months and years ahead...
3. And, finally, if you want quality services (good) that are cost-effective (cheap), then you probably won't get it in a hurry (fast)... because like other businesses, it is critical that we focus our efforts on helping those clients who understand the value of the services we deliver and are prepared to pay for the quality of the service they receive...
So is this a philosophy that should be stamped on our foreheads everytime we pitch a client? Maybe not... but for sure it is important that we keep this in mind as we negotiate our contracts and seek to develop client relationships that are long-standing and mutually beneficial.