Around this time of the year, I am always struck by the similarity between gardening and running a small business.

The sunshine and milder temperatures and seeing early daffodils and crocuses and robins looking for worms in the cold brown earth bears similarity to those of us seriously engaged in finishing projects.  Some of us can see the end goal, others are mired in changes and more changes. Others are excited to close a project successfully.

Again the tasks are similar to waking up a garden after a brutal winter. There is brush and endless twigs and other debris to clear, there are remnant oak and maple leaves matted in clumps, diehards from the Autumn that refused to drop from majestic branches, but now hiding places for disease, beds that must be turned, decisions about transplanting bushes overgrown for their original spots… and so it goes.

At DDA, some of us grit our teeth when we get emails asking for changes that we know should have been discussed much earlier in the process. We all try to anticipate these changes by meticulous pre-planning, but even with our collective experience, website projects and video driven platforms still require change orders.

So gardening and running a marketing and advertising agency both need passion and persistence for the long haul.

“The true gardener, like an artist is never satisfied.” H.E. Bates.  Let’s hope the Spring and Summer months bring exciting blooms to the garden and to DDA, where many artists reside.

There are two important items on many business persons mind today: one, taxes and how to get then done before the APRIL 15TH deadline and two, how to generate new business for the second quarter which coincidentally also starts in April. And because the winter was brutal, I am going to add a third to my list, furious spring storm. No wonder the poet T.S. Eliot called April “the cruelest month”.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. Today, the weathermen are predicting fair skies and mild winds and gentle rains for a few weeks, we are done with the voluminous paper work required at tax time, and our business development team is working hard on new RFQs. How many will turn into projects? We have to wait and see. But if prospects take the time to learn what DDA can do for them, they won’t hesitate to sign on the dotted line.

We prove every week why we should be the vendor of choice, especially when looking for something innovative and custom. This is true for both corporate and medical work. The things that make DDA unique as a vendor, also make us valuable over time.

We are a great match for companies looking for the most comprehensive development services, the most efficient and cost effective process, the most bang-for-the-buck, and the best results.

How do you distinguish yourself when selling the digital way?

It is not easy because it totally depends on what the prospective client is looking for. The last two years the leading indicator is price. We have had so many requests for projects from video training, to flash/animation, to web design, to branding, to SEO services, we generally win these jobs…unless all the client cares about is price.

What these companies fail to realize is that DDA offers more than a competitive price. We offer true value in the quality and custom designs we create for clients. We provide one-on-one attention, no voice mail at DDA, no waiting for days for someone to respond to a client’s email, a tracking report at the end of every project so the client knows how the time was spent, and an ongoing concern to providing long term solutions when there are issues.

So, as I started out to say, to build a WIN-WIN relationship, a prospect requesting an RFQ from DDA cannot put price at the top of the list. Those who have accepted that challenge and become long time clients can attest to the importance of finding a vendor like DDA who believes in creating work that endures and stays relevant and contributes positively to the clients’ bottom line.