Each business is different from the other even if all the businesses deal in the similar industry.  No matter what type of business you own, you must have a brand mission and vision that is different from the companies in your industry. Hence, when you want to collaborate with a design company for your branding purpose, you have to be sure that the company portrays your company vision.

The competition is pretty stiff when it comes to choosing a design company for outsourcing. There are hundreds of companies that offer similar service to companies belonging to different industries. It might become difficult for you to choose one graphic design company that fulfills your necessity. I have been in the industry for years. So, I can guide you in choosing the right company for outsourcing your design and branding work.

Is the company experienced enough?

The first thing that you need to look for is whether the company is experienced or not. Now, I am not saying that an inexperienced company won’t be able to give you the desired result. However, a company that has experience in designing and branding will know how to get started with your branding.

So, your aim is to know the types of companies that the design company has worked with. The company should also have experienced designers who not only know the ABC of branding but also have handled successful branding projects. The designers should have an in-depth idea about how to proceed with your banding.

How will you understand whether the company has worked with other companies before? In most cases, companies have testimonials of their clients. In case you can’t find any testimonials on the website of the graphic design agency, you can ask the company to demonstrate some specimen of its work.

Even though the best idea is to visit the company in person, it is not always possible. Especially when you are outsourcing to another country or continent, you can’t physically be there. However, taking a look at the sample works and the branding works that are live now can be a good way to evaluate whether you should outsource to the specific company or not.

Do the professionals understand your business goal?

As I mentioned before, the ultimate aim of branding is to attain the vision of a company. If you are collaborating with a design company for branding, you must understand whether the company will be able to achieve the goal.

You need to explain what your company mission and vision is. And then you need to clarify the goal of your company and the goal that you want to reach with the help of branding. To achieve what you want from your design and branding company, the company should understand the process of your business. The company should understand how your employees work, how your process functions and how the design company can help you.

By understanding what you want from the company, the designers should be able to create a roadmap. They should share with you how they are planning to achieve the goal. This is the stage where you can ask for changes in the process. The designers should be able to give you a customizable option for your branding.

Did you try before getting started?

One of the primary reasons that people still prefer in-store shopping is that they can try and see whether the apparel looks good on them. I know that buying a piece of apparel is no way connected to hiring a company for outsourcing your branding. But trust me it is equally important for you to try out the service provided by the company.

Obviously, the process is different in this case. You can always ask for a demo from designers of the company. Since you are hiring the company for branding purpose, you will need website design, flyer design, brochure design, social media pages design, business card design and a lot more from the brand. Choose one of the design related works and ask the company to deliver what you are looking for.

So, you can ask the design company to create a business card design for your business. Don’t forget to explain exactly what you are looking for so that the designers can give you what you expect. Apart from checking whether the company has been able to provide you with what you wanted, you should also pay attention to the time it tool for the delivery.

Time is one of the most important factors that you need to keep in mind. When you are outsourcing your branding work, you need it to work flawlessly and timely. So, it is necessary for the company to be able to provide you with the end result faster.

Does the company provide customer support?

Communication is the key to any the success of any business. Effective communication is something that you simply cannot compromise with. You need to communicate your goals to the designers or project managers, whoever is your point of contact in the company. Similarly, they will need to ask you certain questions to clarify your requirements. Some projects may take longer than you imagine. Besides, you may need to make changes in a design, update some information about the design details or may need to converse with the person of contact many a time every day. In that case, you would need to have proper customer support system.

So, before you get started, ask how the communication is handled in the company. Does the company converse through emails? Or does it use phone calls and chat-messages? Some companies use Skype calls to talk to you. While emails are necessary to keep track of the official communication taking place, phone calls and chat-messages help you to inform something immediately.

What are the price plans?

I would personally prefer to collaborate with a company that has its pricing plan clearly mentioned on its website. On one hand, a clear structure helps you to understand what the company claims for the amount of work it provides. On the other hand, there is no chance the company can ask for a hidden fee after the work is done.

Apart from checking out the price plans, you also need to ask the company to give you a quotation for the work you are asking it to do. Some companies like Digital Polo have fixed rates. So, no matter what work you ask for, the company designates your work to one of the fixed plans. And you have to pay only what the fixed rates are.

Which country does the company belong to?

Many a time companies in the USA or the UK or Australia, Canada or any other Western countries outsource their design and branding related works to countries like India, Ukraine, The Philippines etc. Now the question is which country is best for outsourcing your work? India is probably topping the list of countries that are best for outsourcing. You not only get so many options to choose from but the pricing is also quite cheap in comparison to any other countries.

Why is it important to know which country the company belongs to? The answer is that the time difference. If you are outsourcing to India from the USA, you get a time difference of around 10 to 12 hours. This time difference is great to get your work done within a designated timeframe. You don’t have to wait for a whole 24-hour. Designers get done with your work while you are sleeping. You can verify and provide feedback for the work the very same day. This system makes it easier to get the work done in a seamless process and that too pretty quickly.

Conclusion:

If you don’t belong to the design industry, you will need to outsource your design and branding work. In that case, you will have to look for an experienced company that has professionals who will work according to your goals. Once you finalize a company, you can ask them to provide you with one task. This will help you understand whether the designers are able to understand what you are looking for and deliver that.

You should also try and find out about the customer support that the company provides. Ask for the means that the company uses to converse with you. Knowing the price plans will help you in making an informed decision in choosing a particular plan. Knowing the country that the company belongs to will also give you an edge.