When we set out to find a solution for a universal storage and template engine for our clients, we created the Six Collateral Engine (SixCE). The platform, itself, can service your brand and creative managers, sales team, and perhaps most importantly, your own clients.
But how can you use a collateral engine for your clients? What types of documents and templates might you want created and stored to offer to them?
Today, we will take a look at what exactly a collateral engine is and how it can be a unique offering to your clients.
What Is a Collateral Engine?
Our CEO and Founder, Melissa Hoffman, explains it best:
Collateral Engine: A software platform that brings all company assets into a central, organized view for teams access and brand control, making collateral standards and role-based accessibility across your organization a reality.
Melissa hoffman, CEO & Founder of SixDegrees, INC. LLC
A collateral engine like SixCE is the best way to keep your team from experiencing extreme overwhelm. It makes the creation of recurring documents, such as press releases, whitepapers, business cards, proposals and more, efficient.
Here is a recent example we ran across, where SixCE was our best solution:
One of our clients routinely requests minimally designed flyers. While the request is small and has a quick turnaround for our graphic team, we found ourselves scouring for the previous month’s flyer.
Unable to find it, our head graphic designer needed to start from scratch. While she did so, a few more client requests came in. Suddenly, our designer found herself overwhelmed.
While the tasks were small, as they piled on top of each other, they began to take up all her time. Then, the strategic campaigns we needed to be putting out were falling behind, due to the overwhelm of recurring document creation.
So, we took a moment to asses a way to somewhat automate the document creation process. That’s when SixCE was drafted and created. We began to store universal templates for flyers and guides we knew needed to be produced monthly (sometimes weekly) across multiple clients.
Instead of our designer needing to start from scratch on each individual client request, she suddenly had an arsenal of pre-established, brand-oriented templates to work with. Not only that, but anyone on our team, even those with little graphic design knowledge, could create these documents.
This example is just one way that SixCE can aid your marketing department. As a business owner, it is crucial to make your team more efficient and to eliminate stress where you can.
Why Should I Care About Having a Collateral Engine For My Clients?
As you read from our example, SixCE can make your team a better, well-oiled machine. However, it also has its place among your clients, as a way to easily deploy branded knowledge resources.
For example, some of our clients work within the employee benefits sector. They often have to fulfill client contracts in regards to updating their clients on latest compliance news. An easy way to so so is to import compliance resources into SixCE and give their clients a log-in.
You could also consider using SixCE as a place to host contracts, proposals, pitch decks — whatever your client may need recurring access to.
Having a collateral engine for your clients provides them with a universal solution for document storage and design creation. It’s a way to keep everyone from your sales team to your clients aligned. Work smarter, not harder and provide value in every digital (and printable) asset.
From compliance disclaimers to letterheads, a collateral engine makes the struggle of design requests and document updates a worry of the past. For more information about SixCE, contact TeamSix.
