We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Scott Markman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Scott below.

Scott, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Taking care of customers isn’t just good business – it is often one of the main reasons folks went into business in the first place. So, we’d love to get a conversation going around how to best help clients feel appreciated – maybe you can share something you’ve done or seen someone do that’s been really effective at helping a customer feel valued?

Currently we have a client, based in Dallas, called Americase.

They design and manufacture custom shipping containers to transport valuable but potentially hazardous or fragile components such as batteries or helicopter blades for the world’s largest companies. Their job is to design and then rigorously test best-in-class, cannot-fail metal boxes or high technology bags to prevent major fires or other catastrophic events.

From the moment we met the company leadership, my partner and I knew this was a very unique and special client, They immediately understood and embraced what we were hired to deliver, the process we would undertake together and its potential impact on their company. This may seem like a common occurance, but it is not, and in fact we can’t remember another client that comes close over 20 years.

The project has gone exceptionally well as a result, we have delivered A++ work for them, and they have invited me to present their new brand to an audience of 300 people at their holiday party.

Unbeknownst to them, after my presentation at their holiday party we are presenting them with the first ever “K.O.N.A.” Award, which is an award from our agency to the client of the year (and named after my golden retriever and our agency mascot, Kona). What is noteworthy is that this award didn’t exist prior to getting the idea to give them something to acknowledge our deep appreciation and respect for them as a client.

Scott, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am originally from Baltimore, and graduated from Washington U in St. Louis with a BFA in graphic design in 1981. For 9 years I was someone else’s designer, but after moving to Chicago in 1988 for a job and leaving that job a year later, decided to hang my shingle as a freelance designer. That was the start of my agency 33 years ago.

What’s important to note is that I was raised in a entrepreneurial family. My parents owned a small but reasonably successful business in Baltimore, so I understood how to run a small business by the time I ventured out on my own. My parents loaned me $20,000 to get started, with the caveat that if I failed not to worry, but to go out and give it 110%.

My agency (MonogramGroup) has had three stages of evolution: First as a graphic design firm, the second as a traditional ad agency, and the third (for the last 16 years) as a branding agency. These changes in services and focus coincided with taking on two partners, one with a big agency background and one with a corporate market research background.

Today we are a nationally recognized mid-market B2B branding agency, with clients all over the country. We have had clients in several dozen categories, mostly mid market but with several that are multibillion dollar public companies.

Our oldest and largest client category is private equity, serving not only the firms themselves but also the companies they own. Collectively, over 26 years we have had nearly 100 clients in this sector, and we are acknowledged as the premier branding agency in the US for this category.

The work that we do ranges from brand strategy, architecture and messaging, to naming, logo and design system development, sales materials, websites, photography and video content, digital campaigns, and more.

What defines our agency is that focus on the research and insights front end of each engagement, so that our work is not only creatively excellent, but smart and on target for each client’s internal and external constituents.

After 33 years, what I am most proud of is:
We only do excellent work. Our standards are very high, and we never waver.
We treat everyone with respect, starting with our employees and extending into our collaborative partners and our clients.
We love what we do, and enjoy the journey as much as the outcome.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

In 2016 we went through an epic drought in new business. We had endured the ups and down of business development/revenue generation for years like most small businesses, but in that year we went six months without closing a proposal when our typical close rate was about 25-33%. There was no rhyme or reason, just an unprecedented streak of bad luck.

We cut costs and laid off some staff, but at some point I faced two existential questions:
1) Do I put my last remaining life savings into the agency to keep it afloat?
2) What can we do differently to reverse our fortunes in winning contract?

After careful thought, I decided to put all of my chips on the table to keep the doors open, and we developed a new business pitch to our private equity sector after having reduced our marketing efforts there for 3 years.

It was the right answer. We won a few contracts within two months, we were able to get out of an expensive office lease to save a lot of cost, and we started our first ever digital marketing campaign the following year which proved to be immensely beneficial to our substantial growth over the last 5 years.

Can you tell us about what’s worked well for you in terms of growing your clientele?

We created a targeted but diversified positioning and selling strategy over the last six years, which has proven to be quite effective.

We have three new business buckets:

1) Private equity firms. We are the leading agency in the US for this work, and our brand awareness in the category is probably 90%. We get a swing at nearly every opportunity when a PE firm wants to evolve their brand and sharpen their public presence. As a result we are working on 6-8 engagements at a time. We don’t win every proposal, but most of them. It is the metaphorical bonds in our portfolio, being predictable and paying the bills every month.

2) The portfolio companies PE firms own. This is the largest growth area for our agency, as PE owns perhaps 35,000 mid market companies, most of whom need what we sell. Our reputation in #1 feeds this opportunity directly.

3) Any B2B client not associated with PE. This is a much more competitive space, but we are now being included in nationwide searches by much larger clients. We will win fewer of these, but the contract we do win are much larger than PE related assignments.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.monogramgroup.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/96527/admin/