You’re in the market for a video production company because you believe a well-produced video or animation will benefit your business—whether it will assist with advertising, training, branding, or communication with your clients and prospects. What should you ask yourself about your choice of production company?
You’ve crunched the numbers and know what you can spend
James talks about the three questions to ask yourself before your next video or animation and goes blah, blah, blah on purpose.
You’re in the last stages of deciding who to hire. Maybe you’ve done this before, and have experience in working with a video production team; you might have a list of capabilities you know you want in the company you decide to to work with.
As you sit down for your final discussions with your top candidates, it’s important to assess whether these people understand your business and what you need. You don’t want to sink a lot of time and money into a product video that misses the mark because the production team didn’t listen well enough, or you feel you didn’t express your needs well enough!
They have to get the message before they can communicate it
You’ve done your research Production companies are similar to advertising agencies: they are a resource capable of delivering a creative solution to your communications needs that will engage, entertain, and inform your target audience.
You’ve vetted the company for the creative and technical skills need to produce your video; now it’s time to assess their business and communication skills.
Have you taken a class from an expert in a field, and been frustrated or disappointed because you didn’t learn much? Their knowledge and experience might have been impressive, but they lacked the teaching skill to transmit their wisdom so you could digest and retain it.
Similarly, you need a video production company that not only has the technical and creative chops to make you a great video, but also has business skills. These include the ability and willingness to learn about your field and understand your business’ unique needs and message, and to manage your project professionally, including meeting deadlines and budgets.
Consider who is listening to you
In short, are you talking to moviemakers or businesspeople? That isn’t to imply that technical and creative skills aren’t essential; they are. But those qualities are becoming ubiquitous. What you need are those skills combined with business skills. You need a company run by business people, just like your company is.
How much do they need to understand?
Every business owner knows the intricacies of their business. You know what is unique about your product or service, and only you know how you want that presented to the world.
Your production team doesn’t have to understand the nitty-gritty details of your operation, but they do need to learn (and want to understand) what you do, who your consumer is, and exactly what you need this video to do for your business.
As the team shows you or talks about projects they’ve completed successfully, you can listen or ask for an understanding of how they worked to learn about those businesses and represent them accurately and deeply.
Listen for indications that the production company is willing to invest time in learning about your business.
- Perhaps they are willing to take product training.
- Maybe they already have demonstrable experience in your field.
- Possibly they inquire about opportunities to sit down with you or your experts.
- Certainly they express interest and curiosity in your work.
The bottom line is that they are able to converse with your organization in in a way that demonstrates understanding and avoids costly factual errors and omissions.
The three questions to Ask Before Your Next Product Demo:
As you sit down with the company you’re ready to entrust with your video project, assess for these three questions.
- Is the company run by business professionals as well as production specialists?
- Are they willing to spend the time necessary to understand your service or product?
- Do they have a track record working on projects that require an understanding of the business they’re working for?
Make a choice that brings you a true partner in bringing your message to the world.
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