Business Profile: Visionworks

Visionworks uses mixed approach to help clients gain customers

The first thing you notice at Visionworks Marketing & Communications is the preponderance of art in every nook and cranny of the office.

Visionworks President Lili Vianello, right, discusses ad ideas with staffers during a brainstorming session. Daniel Hood, left.

The pieces from more than a dozen artists, most of them local, provide inspiration to the marketing firm’s owner, Lili Vianello. After all, marketing is an art, as well as a science.

KT Diamond Jewelers co-owner Kyle Batisch, along with his wife, Tracy, said Visionworks has done all of his company’s advertising and marketing work for two-and-a-half years and two weeks ago launched the company’s new Web site, which he said is already bringing in more traffic. Visionworks marshaled both art and science on the jeweler’s behalf, he said.

“It’s kind of like what we do here in jewelry; it’s a combination of both,” Batisch said. “For any art, there’s a science behind it. In designing a piece [of jewelry], there’s a lot of math and science that goes behind it.”

After graduating from the University of Missouri School of Journalism’s advertising sequence, Vianello worked as director of communications for eight years with Mehle Enterprises, a company with multiple McDonald’s franchises. She started Visionworks Graphic Design in 1995 with then-partner Craig Weiland. About two years later, she bought out Weiland’s portion of the business and expanded the company into the related fields of public relations, media, special events, publicity, outreach and community relations. Since that time, the firm has added in-house audio, video and Web site production and now regularly handles search engine optimization, viral marketing and ongoing maintenance of Web sites for companies.

Visionworks employees discuss ad ideas during a brainstorming session. From left Brenda Russell, Lori Rhoades, Barb King and David Bickley.

Visionworks has grown to 10 employees and just launched a new Web site of its own, www.visionworks.com. “The first thing a company used to ask for was a brochure; now it’s a Web site,” she said.

Two years ago, her company expanded onto the first floor of its building at 204 Peach Way, adding on-site audio production studios. She said she purchased the space last month.

The firm is now one of the larger players in the Columbia market. Her secrets to success in business? Be honest about what you can and can’t do; be fair; listen to your staff, customers and vendors; and do what you do to the best of your ability. Then develop your business to take care of the client’s needs.

“I don’t think it’s a secret; I have an amazing team,” she said. “I’m very careful of who I hire. I choose them for ability, but also for their spirit and ability to fit in with the team.”

Daniel Hood works on a project in the audio studio.

That fit is not only important for employees, but for clients too. “While they’re interviewing me, I interview them,” she said. “Just because they have money to spend, it does not mean they are a good match. I look at companies of all sizes, and I try to be consistent in how I treat them.”

A bad fit doesn’t serve either party, Vianello said. “This is a very small town,” she said. “Word gets around if you’re not getting results or being straightforward and honest with your clients. Other people hear about it. My goal is to never have those stories told about me.”

Vianello believes in teamwork and encourages each member of her team to have regular contact with most clients. Likewise, every week her team discusses what is being done for each client.

She also believes strongly in community involvement. “My staff would say I’m overly involved,” she said laughing.

Vianello currently serves as president of the board for the Family Counseling Center and as a member of the boards of the Heart of Missouri Council of the Girl Scouts, the Alzheimers Association and Access Arts. A Chamber Ambassador, she co-chairs the Junior Leadership Committee of the Columbia Chamber of Commerce, was the top salesperson three years running for the Total Resource Campaign, and served on the Business Conference and Showcase committee, for which Visionworks is the agency of record and sponsor of the Small Business Awards.

She is a member of the United Way marketing advisory committee, the Missouri Symphony Society, and the Missouri Theater Center for the Arts capital campaign committee. A hospitality minister at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, she recently has agreed to be an advocate within the canonical annulment process. The annulment cause resonates with her personally, as she has watched her fiancé, John Shrum, endure the process for four years.

A regular Columbia Business Times columnist, Vianello’s list of clients in the mid-Missouri market also includes such local companies as McDonald’s franchisees in the region, Missouri Credit Union, Shelter Insurance, McKnight Tire and Auto Center, the National Biodiesel Board, the Columbia Public Schools, The Barton Law Firm, Westminster College, Pavilion Furniture and Gibbs Company. Her future plans include expanding to other markets, as well.

Client Randy Gibbs, co-owner of Gibbs Company, signed on with Visionworks about five years ago, at the suggestion of his business advisor, John Shrum. Visionworks helped him narrow a mix from the wide range of available advertising choices so that, during the past two years, Gibbs Companies’ business grew 30 percent even though its advertising budget stayed the same.

Using an approach that employs both science and artistry, Visionworks found the spots that give him the most bang for his buck, he said. “It’s a science when it comes down to where we should spend the money, in other words, where are we going to get the coverage of the people that can afford us,” he said. “Once we’ve got the venue or the media selected, then the art kicks in as to how are we going to tickle those people to where they remember you and not the other guy.” ϖ