Atigro

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Team Results USA runs leadership and team training and development programs. We use an incident management model that gives people hands-on practice managing situations that resemble many real-life organizational challenges. Our graduates include leaders and teams from government, law enforcement, business, manufacturing and medical fields. They emerge better prepared to lead, to collaborate, to solve problems, deliver outstanding results. We deliver preparation through practice.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Atigro?

We had put years of work and thought into what we do and how we do it. But when we tried to explain it we struggled to get the perspective we needed. Atigro helped us think deeply about what our product really is and is not, why others would want it, and how to describe it - and in the end, together we've come up with language that is simple, punchy, factually correct, and to the point.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a simple narrative that excited people about our original methods and global reputation using straightforward language and absolutely no jargon.

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor?

I met CEO Ken Fischer at a group for CEOs, and he convinced me to let his branding specialist have a try at improving our brand message.

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

It's the old joke about lending a consultant your watch so that they can tell you the time. What the joke doesn't allow for is that sometimes you do a poor job at reading your own watch, especially when your detailed knowledge of every cog and sprocket in that watch gets in the way of a clear message to an outsider.

Team Results is a group of performers and creatives, so getting someone else to do our phrasing and writing for us was a new experience. What we wanted was a way to explain our services, which are all to do with teamwork and leadership. But there is no field more cliched, more overpopulated with people who have never led anything, less well-regarded or more full of BS. The challenge was to cut through that terrible reputation with a message of real difference, against a background of everybody claiming to be special while in fact being depressingly similar.

Much of the initial benefit with Atigro came from a deeper understanding of why the problem is hard. In essence we needed to verbalize something that can't be put into words, whilst claiming difference in an overwhelming environment of sameness and positioning ourselves as honest brokers in a field synonymous with bullshit. It's quite a circus act, easy enough with people who already know us - and therefore don't need Atigro to explain why Team Results is special - and close to impossible with people who don't. Basically what we needed was the Gettysburg Address. Easy, right?

What was the team composition?

Atigro's Deb Lavoy took this on, talking not only to our whole small team but also to two client focus groups, all with their own views on why they repeatedly hire Team Results. Fusing these often diverse views into a common narrative that would make outsiders interested enough to get in touch was the goal.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

What we have at the time of writing is the so-far untested short narrative that you see at the beginning of this review, along with a lot of background detail and a broad plan of how to roll the message out. We should know how it's going in about six months, but I already have confidence that the "practice makes perfect" message will resonate with anyone who might reasonably hire us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Deb has the right experience and background for this type of work, so we felt in good hands even when she didn't agree with us or (very politely) told us that we were being nerds. This is two small companies working together and hence is all about personal relationships. Responsiveness was good and nobody got visibly impatient with us during the many twists and turns on the way to a final narrative.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

I admired their willingness to take the trip, not just to take a brief and issue a document. If we could have briefed Atigro perfectly from the beginning, we are all accomplished writers and wouldn't have needed their help!

Are there any areas for improvement?

Perhaps a little more segmentation of their services, so that writing and branding for example is not part of any wider agenda to build a website - we wanted one but not the other, and the writing is both more unique (and harder to find) and a value in its own right.