9 June 2025 Visual identity service: a business coaching case
How business coaching helped define the value of a visual identity service.
Business coaching to reveal the intangible value of creative services
It is very often the case that in creative services, the real value lies in intangible elements that are not immediately and directly recognisable.
This case study recounts the intense journey of business coaching undertaken with a talented visual communication professionalusing a strategic approach to the definition of its visual identity and branding services.
Our work together started with the target definition.
The declared objective was twofold: to refine the presentation of one's service proposals and to properly valorise every facet of one's work, which is often underestimated or communicated in a generic manner.
This route originated as an integral part of a larger and more ambitious projectstill in progress, and concerns the creation of a new website. This new site intends to present in a clear and engaging manner both the specific services related to visual identity creation and the more articulate and comprehensive projects, with a particular focus on brand sustainability.
However, let's return to visual communication services.
Awareness: the first step towards clarity and safety
The starting point was a real deepening of the personal definition and perception of the value offered through their services.
For my client, it was essential to gain confidence in the communication of her various services.
We therefore worked together on how to make customers perceive the true underlying value of visual identity and branding services.
In fact, the value behind a visual identity and branding service is not reduced to the practical execution of a logo or shared definition of a colour palette, but includes a far more complex, strategic and intellectual process.
Many specific activities behind a visual identity and branding service
In business coaching together, we clarified the following components of creative visual identity and branding services:
- prior analysis on visual identity:
an initial and indispensable phase to fully understand the customer's values, objectives and desired positioning in the market with its visual identity. It is here that the foundations of all success are laid.
- in-depth research and brand design:
meticulous and creative work that turns insights into tangible visual concepts, exploring trends, competitors, and target audiences.
- study of visual coherence in different media:
to ensure a homogeneous, recognisable, and memorable impact on every communication channel, from the brochure to the website, via various social media channels.
- strategic consultancy activities and customised training:
ongoing support that is not limited to the delivery of work, but includes the transfer of skills and tools to enable the client to manage and continue to visually develop their identity as it evolves over time.
In our work of reflection and deepening two words emerged constantly and strongly, becoming a true inspiration and guide for my client: 1) awareness and 2) choice.
These two words indicate an awareness of one's intrinsic value as a professional and the ability to guide the client through informed and strategic choices, rather than mere aesthetic preferences.
Quantifying value: from strategy to customer investment
The next step in our coaching journey was translating the achieved awareness of the value of one's activity into economic and practical concreteness.
We worked together to precisely define the time spent on each activity and how this contributes to the creation of a visual and brand identity. Not only the hours of 'doing', but also those of 'thinking', 'researching' and 'advising'.
Afterwards, we attributed a clear and justified cost item to these hours, thus identifying the real economic value of the service for the customer. This allowed my client to present transparent and comprehensible quotations, eliminating any ambiguity.
Service structure: modulation and multiple value propositions
During this quantification phase, a clear distinction emerged in different levels of visual identity and branding services.
These levels, although intrinsically linked by the same design philosophy, proved to be separable, offering valuable flexibility both in terms of design content and economic proposal to the client.
This modularity allows my client to respond in a more precise and targeted manner to the different needs and budgets of its customers, turning a 'no' into a 'yes' thanks to a scalable and customisable offer.
Creative lighting: strategy and intuition meet
A breakthrough moment, full of enthusiasm, occurred when my client exclaimed: "...my light bulb went on before I plugged in...". This insight, although seemingly a flash of genius, was actually the fruit of our coaching strategy that had led her to connect her professionalism with a more authentic passion of her own.
The result? A new vision of an existing service, now more consistent with its identity and more able to resonate with customers. The language, aesthetics and words chosen have become an authentic extension of its approach, making the offer more recognisable and memorable.
Conclusion: transformative awareness and a defined mission
Our business coaching course ended with my client fully realising that she had achieved a solid level of clarity on the services she offered.
A clarity that mainly concerns the tangible and strategic value that such services offer to customers.
I want to mention at this point the words of my visual communication professional client. These are words I absolutely agree with and perfectly sum up the new, clear communication strategy:
"I don't sell to sell anything, but I want to be useful for the budget that everyone can invest".
This statement is not only an ethical approach, but a strategy to build trusting and lasting relationships with customers.
And equally importantly, it expresses a willingness to position itself as a strategic partner.
The value lies not only in what is donebut in why you do it, and how you communicate it.
AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN!
Do you also want to find ways to effectively communicate the intangible value of your services?
Find out how business coaching can help communicate the unique value of a service more clearly and confidently.
GET IN TOUCHIf you are curious about the visual identity service I mentioned in this case study click HERE
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Effective communication: the secrets to make yourself understood