How We Live Our Core Value of Going the Extra Mile for Our Clients

At Workshop Digital, we're driven by values, more specifically our six core values. During internal discussions, we often reference our core values to help us make decisions. When interviewing and hiring, we look for people that embody and live by these concepts. One of my all-time favorite interview questions is, “Tell me about a time when you went the extra mile for a client.” We also regularly discuss our core values with prospects and clients—and it is often one of the things that draws them to work with WD.

We’ve blogged about our core values before and we even added an additional core value in 2017. This sixth value really embodies how we think about client service at Workshop Digital.

“We go the extra mile for our clients”

This concept immediately resonated with the team when we added it in 2017. But now that we have a few years of really embodying this value, we are better able to explain how we live this value. For Workshoppers, going the extra mile is really about delivering stellar results and building great relationships.

Learning & Testing New Features

Our team members are proactive and push performance boundaries by constantly learning and testing out new features and ways to manage accounts. We prioritize the right work that supports our clients’ business goals and will have the largest impact. We aren’t afraid to ask tough questions of each other and the platforms we partner with. For example, when Google started to roll out their Smart Bidding features, we pushed for education. We wanted to understand as much as we could about this new tool so that we could make smart, educated decisions for our clients. (We are happy to share that Google’s Smart Bidding has improved performance on many of our accounts, but more to come on that in a later blog post.)

Similarly, we proactively look for relevant new platform features and Google Ads Betas that can help improve performance. We were thrilled when we got early access to the Customer Match for the Google Display Network Beta for one of our event based clients. We were able to save some money by excluding current event registrants and we were able to bring past participants back by remarketing to past event attendees. (This is now a feature available for all advertisers.)

At Workshop Digital, we want our clients to have the information and knowledge they need to make informed decisions about paid digital advertising. We have hosted educational sessions and lunch-and-learns to teach terminology and do high-level platform walk-throughs with some of our clients. We view our clients as partners—and a partnership is stronger when both parties are educated and can contribute insights and make knowledgeable decisions.

Sharing Knowledge

We are also passionate about knowledge sharing internally. Workshoppers are constantly sharing information and discussing cool articles and industry trends. We have regularly scheduled team meetings where we chat about learnings, challenges, test results, and more. I’m constantly amazed by the great work our teams does and after being in the industry for more than a handful of years, I find myself still learning something new almost every meeting. We also hold account brainstorms, which are meetings dedicated to generating new ideas for one client. Finally, our office is an open workspace which spurs constant collaboration.

Ultimately, our team leverages each other’s knowledge, strengths, and passions to benefit each of our clients. What does this mean? That our clients not only have a dedicated analyst on each account—they actually have a team of nine really smart analysts supporting them in the background.

Giving Little Unexpected Extras

At Workshop we embrace the concept of GLUE: giving little unexpected extras. This is about going beyond the day-to-day work of digital marketing and adding value outside of just strong performance metrics. It allows us to add value beyond paid digital marketing and builds strong relationships with our clients. We’ve hosted internal focus groups that examine a client’s print mailers and their corresponding digital experience. We also love to test what language resonates with our client’s target market in ad copy to help them make informed decisions about what to use in other marketing efforts.

Going beyond day-to-day business, we regularly send flowers for new additions to families or surprise a client with our favorite Red Eye Cookies. In addition, we love to have clients in our office and treat them to lunch or a happy hour. Little surprises that show that we care are important in going the extra mile for our clients.

Going the Extra Mile for Each Other

While this core value specifically calls out going the extra mile for our clients, Workshoppers also go the extra mile for each other. I’m in constant awe of how our team members always find time to help each other out with a quick peer QA or account audit—even though they are each busy. Our team members regularly collaborate to solve issues or come up with a better way to do things. Younger analysts are strategically seated next to experienced analysts so they have additional support and get to know more tenured team members. As a new employee at Workshop, you are assigned a Shop Partner to help you settle in and answer questions. Shop Partners and new team members also make a point to get out of the office a couple times and explore some local cuisine. In addition, team members often enjoy a lunchtime walk around the canal together and you can always hear laughing in the cafe. Plus, there are regularly homemade snacks and goodies around the office for team members to enjoy!

At the end of the day, I think our team members can best describe how Workshop Digital goes the extra mile for our clients. Below are a few responses from our team members.

“Going the extra mile has never been as encouraged or apparent as it is at Workshop Digital. This value runs throughout our teams and creates an unmatched dynamic between analysts and our clients alike. Celebrating personal milestones with clients, helping other team members even when it’s a tight deadline, and collectively contributing to client and company success has never felt so good. Having the freedom to support and encourage each other allows me to bring that energy to my client relationships, which have only grown stronger as a result.”

“I love seeing our teams pull perspectives from various and sometimes unrelated departments to brainstorm and get feedback on a specific problem.”