Step 1 — You want what?
A great process can be the best or worst thing that happens to a project. Process makes sure the dots are dotted, but an over–adherence can make you miss the big picture. That’s why the first step in our process is to ask a client why they want what they want. Often clients approach us with a deliverable in mind, but without a clear business case for why they need that deliverable. So we start by talking about what the client wants to achieve. Then we know what to deliver.
A great example of this is the flooring company Mannington.
Environmentalism has become a potent force in the commercial interiors industry, and Mannington wanted to update their environmental brochure. We explored what the market needs and how architects and specifiers get information. This sparked a collaboration to not only create environmental communications, but to codify environmental values and take a more active role in the environmental community in the building industry.
Mannington’s commitment has been astounding. The CEO, division president, vice president of sales and the director of marketing gathered with PencilBox to undergo one of our Strategic Blueprint sessions. From that session arose a plan to integrate the environment and environmental concerns in the company’s marketing, product and operations strategy.
Since that session, we have developed Mannington’s environmental story through an internal environmental values book, the corporate web site, and their presence at EnvironDesign, NeoCon and GreenBuild. This has also lead to a greater involvement on the part on Mannington in the USGBC, from sponsorship opportunities to speaking opportunities. Currently we are working with Mannington to expand their Learn to LEED program, an educational tool about the role of flooring in LEED points.
Since collaborating with PencilBox, Mannington has become one of the more clear and credible voices in the flooring world about green building. In December, Floor Focus Magazine surveyed 500 facility managers, asking which companies were the most trustworthy when it came to the environment. Mannington was voted as the fourth-most credible flooring company. Not bad for a privately held, quiet company operating in the same world as Shaw and Ray Anderson’s Interface.
www.mannington.com