Back when I started talking to companies about marketing online, one of the sales points often touted was “the web allows the smallest of companies to look like a big company”. Is this actually a good thing?

I would argue in many cases what people actually want is authenticity, but aside from that you might be surprised how often people do not want to work with a big company.

For years when I worked in advertising we would have a “creds doc” full of reasons why a company should choose us. In this document would be case studies of all the big brands we had worked with before, and what we achieved for them. While many companies were very impressed with the logos and names of products and companies they recognized, we found after a while there were others who were intimidated. In the end we would customize the doc for each pitch, tuning the case studies as appropriate. We had a far better success rate.

There was a similar story with our staff numbers. Like many companies in the dotcom boom and bust we went from having an army of bodies to shedding the majority and ending up with a more, um, intimate little collective. For a while we would pretend that there had been no layoffs, or not as harsh as they were, but it got to the point where we would have to be honest. Rather than baling on us some of the clients we retained actually preferred our smaller headcount. They knew they were getting more personal service and they were getting better value for money. Instead of missing the hoards of “account handlers” and having phones answered by “reception”, they preferred to be able to pick up the phone and talk to a designer, copywriter or programmer.

This year I stopped marketing my services under my company name. Instead I am just me. I came to realize that clients wanted to work with me, not a company. You will find in most service businesses it is true. Consider comments you get in your daily work, things like “They are great guys to work with” or ” I am glad you don’t just wheel out a pitch team”. Even back in the agencies I knew this, I am a little ashamed it has taken until now to act on it. I still have a company as structure, but other than in invoices and paperwork you wouldn’t know.

Have a think about it. Are you trying to project an exaggerated size and scale or are your communications reflecting an accurate picture of who your company is? Are you basing your strategy on what you guess your clients want or what your customers are really asking for and like about you?

It could be worth talking to your customers, you might be surprised at the answers you get?