PHN Creative

Brand, web and systems studio · Beacon, NY

Find the real problem before you pay for the fix.

PHN Creative works with owner-led firms that sell premium services. We find out what you really want, show you where the work is being lost, and build the right piece first, then the one after it.

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How we work · an invented firm

How we work, told through one invented firm

[01]The usual way · The problem

Busy, but not growing.

It shows up as money, time or quality. Here it's money. “We need more revenue. We need more jobs.”

[02]The usual way · Their fix

So they reach for one action.

“We need to get on social.” “We need to run more ads.” The fix is picked before anyone looks at where the work comes from.

Which would you try?

The Reverse Trap: acting first, thinking later

[03]The usual way · Their pipeline

More enquiries. No more revenue.

Here's their pipeline. Activity 1, more ads, lifts the top of the funnel: 30% more enquiries (illustrative). Revenue doesn't move, and nobody can see why until it's broken down.

[04]Think big · 1 · The want

Before we do, we understand. Ask why.

Ask the owner why, the way a child does, until there's nothing further. The last answer is the real want.

[05]Think big · 2 · Test it

Is it really what you want?

Hold it to three questions: what the owner wants, what clients need, what the firm can do. Want alone is a wish. Where all three overlap is worth building.

[06]Think big · 3 · The compass

Set the compass.

Vision, mission and values set the direction, so every later choice can be checked against them. Then name the obstacle most likely to stop the plan, and decide now what to do when it shows.

[07]Break it down · 4 · Layers

Then ask how, one layer at a time.

Vision, mission, values, goals, strategy, plan, action. Where does steady work come from? Divide it by the stages a client passes through, and don't skip a layer.

[08]Break it down · 5 · Evidence

Gather the evidence.

Stage by stage, the team's notes and the numbers show where it leaks (illustrative). The biggest: only about one in three enquiries reaches a first meeting. A smaller one sits between proposals and signed jobs.

[09]Break it down · 6 · The level

Name it at its level.

Revenue is flat. Signed jobs don't grow. Enquiries don't reach a meeting. Each one waits days for the owner's reply. More ads never reached the biggest leak.

[10]Do small · 7 · The right action

Do small. One step.

The first small step: name a coordinator who replies to every enquiry the same day. Visible, measurable within 30 days, reusable.

[11]Do small · 8 · Measure

Then let the results plan the next.

Pilot it for 30 days with the scale rule and the stop rule set first. Read the numbers against the compass. Simulated, to show the method.

[12]Do small · 9 · Repeat

Each step adds to the big idea.

The reply fixed one gap. The results now point to the next one further down, and the cycle repeats.

Find the real problem before you pay for the fix.

Start a conversation

[01]What we make

What it took: 15 of our 68 parts.

Lit up are the 15 parts the firm in the story used, from the brief to the monthly review. Every project draws on the same 68, each with its own checklist, handed over to you when it's done.

Direction

8 parts

Where the business is going, and in what order.

Project brief, vision and values, roadmap, success measures

Research

9 parts

What we learn before anything is made.

Interview notes, customer questions, journey map, assessment report

Story

9 parts

What the brand says, and how it says it.

Positioning, messaging guide, script and storyboard, newsletter

Brand

3 parts

How the brand looks.

Name check, logo and visual system, brand guidelines

Print

5 parts

Physical pieces, designed and produced.

Business cards, stationery, print pieces, welcome kits

Web

7 parts

Sites and stores.

Site plan, page copy, website or store, site care

Media

5 parts

Photo and video.

Photo sets, video, documentary, social clips

Operations

10 parts

How the business runs, written down.

Process map, SOPs, playbooks, operating manual

Tools

4 parts

Software, data and automation.

Workspace setup, apps and integrations, automation, platform care

Launch and grow

8 parts

Putting it out and keeping score.

Launch plan, pilot, monthly report, analytics setup

[02]Is this you?

Owner-led firms of 5 to 100 people that sell a service where one more customer is worth thousands, are about to spend on a fix, and can fund someone to lead the work as well as people to make it.

It isn't a fit if

  • You need one piece made at the lowest price. A good freelancer will serve you better.
  • You'd rather skip the questions and start building.
  • Scope and price can't be agreed in writing before the work begins.

[03]Working together

How we’d start with you.

  1. [01]A first conversation

    Twenty minutes. Tell us the fix you have in mind, and we'll ask why.

  2. [02]The workshop and the brief

    Half a day with you and your team, then one page: what we're solving, what's in and out, and how we'll know it worked. A fixed price agreed first. You own it and can take it to anyone.

  3. [03]The first small step

    The smallest useful piece, tested with real customers for 30 days, with the rules for scaling up and for stopping set first.

  4. [04]Keep score, then hand over

    A monthly review against the plan. Everything is made in your name, with the files and the training, so you can run it without us.

Then back to [03]: the next small step, as the firm did

[04]The next step

Which door are you about to open?

More ads, a new website, another hire. Tell us which one before you pay for it, with a few lines about the business, and we'll suggest a time for a first conversation.

Email
info@phncreative.com
Studio
Beacon, New York