Holding Point 6 Up To The Light

Earlier this year, we commissioned Jonathan Kirk and his team at Up To The Light to conduct a client survey on our behalf. There’s been a lot of change over here at Point 6 in recent years and we wanted to make sure our reputation and quality remained suitably steadfast.?

In total, Up To The Light spoke to 15 of our regular, active clients to get their views on what we do well, where we can improve, and what we’re like to collaborate with. Asking the people you work with every day “what do you really think?” has the potential to be a don’t ask, don’t tell sort of situation — but truthfully, we wanted to know. Not just to fan ourselves with praise, but to genuinely unearth the opportunities we have to be even better.

Some clients are relatively new to us, some have been partnering with us for more than 30 years — so we got a great range of responses. Here are the highlights:

(Please note, our clients’ names and employers have been kept anonymous)

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?The headlines

Out of the 15 clients who were surveyed, more than a third (6/15) scored us 10 out of 10 when asked if they’d recommend us to a friend or colleague. The others scored us either a 9 or an 8 (no one scored us lower than 8). So, we’re clearly doing something right!

?Our highest scores came in Creativity, Client Services, and Collaboration — we keep projects running smoothly, are skilled in each of our disciplines, and produce impressive work.

At a glance, our areas to improve further include Consultation and Strategic Thinking. There are moments when we can go above and beyond the brief and be even more forthright when it comes to challenging our clients, shouting about our skills, and proposing alternative approaches — definitely feedback we’re taking on board.?

Overall, 81% of respondents said we had ‘very good’ chemistry (the other 19% said ‘good’).

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Where we deliver value?

Pretty much every client told Up To The Light that our “people, team and relationships” are our stand-out strength. Our open and personable approach creates a sense of partnership and our positive personal relationships make us feel like an extension of their team. This was music to our ears. If there’s one thing we’re most proud of, it’s our people.?

“They’re always very positive and proactive. They put their best foot forward and are very professional. I really enjoy knowing that if I have to reach out to Point 6 with an urgent request or a long-winded project request, they’re always enthusiastic. I enjoy speaking to them.” – Amsterdam-based design experience client?

Our flexibility and responsiveness were also praised. One respondent said “If they can help, they will help. I have confidence in them.” — which underlines the commitment we show our clients. Devilish deadlines, bereft budgets, time-sensitive tweaks, we’re agile, accommodating, and help whenever we can.

When it comes to the quality of our work, we were commended for our trustworthiness, absence of errors, and timely delivery — who wouldn’t be delighted with that!? To be honest, it’s the least one would expect from a good agency, but it’s still nice to hear and perhaps reveals that this aptitude is not as common as you might think.?

‘Knowledge and understanding’ was highlighted as another area of value. Clients remarked that we “put time and effort into gaining understanding”, we show “experience and expertise”, and demonstrate an “ability to just ‘get it’”. Some of the businesses we partner with have relatively complex portfolios, so this effort to understand is not something we cut corners on.?

“We do find them very knowledgeable. That combination of knowledge, creativity and likeability is a winning combination.” – German environmental solutions client

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Areas to improve

As we said, we didn’t do this survey to bask in the plaudits (although we did indulge in a little bit of basking). Our clients were really honest in their appraisals and one clear theme stood out as an area we could improve in.?

Basically, we need to “be a bit less British”. That means being a little less humble and polite, more direct and assertive, and more prepared to stick our necks out. A considerable portion of our clients are based in the Netherlands — a nation famous for its no-nonsense, straight-talking approach. But we’re not using cultural quirks as an excuse; we admire that unflinching attitude and appreciate that it’s a trait we should exhibit more.?

We’re working on a number of things, including: bringing more of our knowledge to the table, pushing back on sub-optimal briefs, being tougher on stakeholders, and shouting about our range of capabilities — not just the ones that client knows us for.

We’ve already taken some steps. Our designers and copywriters have put together a capabilities deck that we can easily share with both new and existing clients. We’re also having conversations with our teams to make sure they feel empowered and equipped to dial-up the directness.

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Other nice things

Our clients were asked if they had any other things they wanted to pick out, and once again, our people were noted as the jewel in our agency’s crown. Warm, approachable, down-to-earth, humble, productive, inclusive, open and collaborative were just a handful of the lovely ways we were described.?

A special shoutout to our wonderful project management team, too. Lots of our clients went out of their way to praise them as “best in class”, “proactive”, and “on the ball”.

?“They’re good at being planned and structured. They help a lot with being my additional right hand. I can really rely on them to manage a project on their own.”

Overall, we were categorised as an agency that “produces what they promise”. “Reliable” comes up a lot, with one green energy client saying that “the services and the output [we] deliver is of quality. It’s always on time and [they] never have to chase”. We certainly go to great efforts to deliver what we say we’re going to deliver, when we say we’re going to deliver it.

“If they tell you you’re going to get something tomorrow, then you will get it.”

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Where we go from here?

As we said at the top: it’s both reassuring and flattering to hear about the things we do well. It’s arguably even more important to hear about the areas we want to improve in, and we’re already taking steps to be more direct in our communication and bullish about our abilities.?

We’ve been running a Good Branding campaign on our socials this year, designed to showcase our branding expertise. We’ll be producing more thought-leadership pieces that give insights into our clients’ worlds whilst simultaneously showing off our copywriting talents — as well as launching a series of interviews with industry experts that delve deep into topics we find interesting.

We’re also restarting our internal monthly trends and knowledge-sharing sessions with the intention of ensuring the whole team has a solid understanding of all the areas we excel in, better equipping us for client conversations where we’re expected to challenge and inform more willingly.

All in all, we’re really proud of the results that Up To The Light has presented us. We’re totally enthused by the positives, and there’s plenty of food for thought for us to chew on over the coming months. Make sure you keep an eye on our socials for the things we mentioned above.

And once again, a huge thank you to Up To The Light and everyone who gave up their time to be interviewed — we really appreciate it.