The financial crisis in Ireland has hurt many people and families. None more so then the self employed and small business owners who have seen their incomes collapse. Self employed people and small business owners have been left to fend for themselves. They are refused access to the state support networks that are available to people in employment and those receiving social welfare benefits.  Many people have been left in position where bankruptcy seems their only option. But th ey do have options.

Empathy, Integrity, and Credibility

IFDS was set up to help people who due to the current financial crisis have found themselves in difficulty and do not have access to state support.   Initially we had two challenges: (1) to define the service and (2) get the message out there.

We used our service ideation process to help us frame IFDS key proposition. We knew that many of IFDS clients would contact them as a last resort suffering the stress of debt. We brainstormed with IFDS senior management to define the service offering. We came up with a serious of scenarios which detailed the typical interactions that IFDS would have with their customers: from initial contact through successful resolution. We tested our ideas by interviewing self-employed and small business owners. We built upon the ideas that resonated with potential clients and put a framework in place to deliver those services.

Next we had to build credibility with the banks and leading creditors. We came up with the IFDS brand – the core values of the brand are empathy and integrity. We designed website to communicate those values. We wanted to keep the site as simple as possible to clearly communicate the IFDS service offering; we wanted a clear contact channels for those in financial distress to contact the IFDS. Users can contact the IFDS through a free phone number detailed on the site, and a form which appears on each page of the site. The website copy was tuned to ensure that it would appear prominently in the search engine rankings. We designed in detail the experience: from the initial contact between the customer and IFDS to the first meeting with an IFDS representative to ensure that potential clients would have a positive experience.