Sharing Stories Will Strengthen Bonds, Both In and Out of Your Agency

Editor’s note: This piece is part of our Columnist Network series, which explores the tactical thoughts and actions from Adweek’s community of high-level experts. Today, Patrick Llewellyn of 99designs reflects on a client call that renewed his commitment to interpersonal connection at all levels. Below, in his own words, he shares how emotional resonance can strengthen identity and belonging among team and client relationships. The challenge In our early startup days, we barely spent anything on marketing and were reliant on word-of-mouth—connecting with and supporting individual customers was what fueled our growth. And ultimately, the trust this created has been a critical component of our success. But when you’ve been doing something for so long, it’s easy to underutilize what you start to take for granted. A recent conversation with a particularly inspiring client reminded me just how energizing and uplifting it is to hear authentic customer stories firsthand and how these stories can have a ripple effect through an entire organization. The process It started on a Zoom call with Cedric [Belisle] and Exequiel [Alcober]: two Ottawa-based entrepreneurs who built their new business and brand, Zappyo, from hotel quarantine during the pandemic. Their passion and energy was palpable, their story representative of all the ingenuity and resilience small businesses have shown over the past year and a half. The conversation left me feeling supercharged and invigorated, not just because it was a story of global creative connections that captured the essence of helping others create their own success—one of our foundational values—but also because it was a timely reminder of how these stories can make such a significant impact. By simply recording a customer call and interviewing the freelancers who helped them create and shape their brand, we've been able to share and enliven the emotional response I and others had to this story in a myriad of formats. An authentic first-person narrative communicates your "why" to key stakeholders in a compelling way. For us, creating empathy for both sides of our marketplace within a new organizational structure, post-acquisition, has been invaluable and has effectively fast-tracked internal understanding of what we’re about. Similarly, integrating these stories into the onboarding process enables new team members instant access to a living, breathing manifestation of your brand in action. What better way to humanize our mission than creating space for new hires to hear directly from our customers and global creative community on day one? And these stories make a powerful impression on existing teams within the organization, too. Injecting the faces and voices of users into our day-to-day communications has helped motivate and inspire teams around the world about the work and opportunities we have ahead of us. We’ve seen the sparks ignite ideas for brand campaigns, social ads and more—after all, what resonates with potential customers better than real people who’ve been on the same emotional journey of building a business? But alongside the excitement, tenacity and enthusiasm that inspires, sharing these voices also crystallizes opportunities for improvement and growth from a product and CX perspective. The context and occasional ruthless honesty in these conversations brings clarity and humanity to the problems our teams seek to solve on a daily basis. And within our own business, having recently become a part of Vistaprint, these stories help highlight how much more we can still do to help small businesses and our community of creators to succeed. It’s an exciting prospect and an outcome that has helped many of us reconnect with our sense of purpose—and reminds me why I really love my job. The takeaway Sharing an authentic customer experience is about more than just a case study. Client and community insights are one of, if not the most effective tools we have for organizational progress and evolution. As a leader, one of the best time investments you can make in your brand and your business is creating moments and opportunities for your team to reconnect with customers and the people that your organization exists to serve.

Columnist Network

Sharing Stories Will Strengthen Bonds, Both In and Out of Your Agency

Authentic conversations have a ripple effect

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Patrick Llewellyn

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Patrick Llewellyn