Company Overview: The DMV Life Real Estate is a District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia based agency that specializes in assisting buyers on a budget and struggling sellers through the tricky process of a short sale.
Problem: Real Estate agent Daniela Jones needed a custom presentation folder for sharing sensitive materials with clients. She wanted a design that expressed who she is and what she does for her clients, but she didn’t have a designer or clear vision of what that would look like.
Story: Daniela Jones is a hard-working real estate agent with a lot of personal flair. She had been meaning to create a letter-size real estate folder that expressed her business style, but it wasn’t until the pandemic that she found time to get it done.
An online search for “business folders” turned up Company Folders, Inc.
“I was looking for a company that prints custom folders. I have a local printing company, but they would have needed to outsource it, so I did a Google search,” says Jones, who wanted a polished folder for client documents. “A lot of my clients give me paperwork such as tax documents, bank statements, mortgage statements, contracts. I’m returning them in the folder.”
When she reached out to Company Folders, Inc. Founder and CEO Vladimir Gendelman happened to answer the phone. Still very hands-on with customers, he decided to work with Jones himself.
“I founded this business to help customers stand out in the marketplace,” said Gendelman. “So, it’s always a pleasure when I get the chance to work with a customer, especially one like Daniela who really cares about her image and wanted an eye-catching design to represent it.”
Jones wanted a classy, luxurious design. She describes her logo as a cupid real estate matchmaker, and it was important to her that the design attracted attention “in a good way.”
“I appreciated that while she didn’t know how she wanted it to look, she knew how she wanted it to feel,” said Gendelman. “That gave us a great jumping off point to start on her design.”
Jones and Gendelman had several phone conversations and the Company Folders, Inc. designers came up with some designs, trying multiple colors until they finally settled on a black background. A few more rounds put all the design elements into place.
Gendelman often requests images of a client’s other collateral, office, and other style indicators when he’s working on a folder design. In one of the images Jones sent, he could see that she had an intricate, colorful manicure decorated with rhinestones, and that gave him a sense of her style.
“She like bling. She wanted foil. She wanted it to shine,” said Gendelman. “She wanted it to be amazing and after seeing that image, I started to get a picture in my head of what that meant to her.”
One of the design elements Jones was drawn to was actually the Company Folders, Inc. sample packet, which has a spot UV coating pattern in the background.
“I was already sold on that idea. So, through printing proofs and Vladimir talking it out with me, we were able to come up with a similar design,” said Jones.
“With everything she was sharing with me, I suddenly got an image of a Louis Vuitton bag in my head,” said Gendelman. “That was the style I started going for, and it really clicked for her.”
“She always said she’d know it when she saw it,” said Gendelman.
Although it took a few tries to get to that, Jones was thrilled with the collaboration.
“I loved having a one on one – a real person I could talk to. With other companies that I have contacted for marketing pieces, it was an online process. You upload your comments. You can only respond through the website. That process can work sometimes but more often than not important details get lost in translation. I felt Vladimir cared and he gave me his honest opinion. I loved the honesty. It helped me, especially when I was indecisive. I felt like having the one-on-one process made all the difference.”
In addition to the artwork, Gendelman helped Jones decide which folder product was right for her. Jones was a little overwhelmed by the number of choices and loved the guidance she got from Gendelman.
“I liked the way Vladimir phrased stuff,” said Jones. “He asked questions like ‘how important is this?’ He kept saying ‘Do you really need this on the inside? It’s just going to be covered by the documents.'”
“Ultimately, it came down to price,” said Jones. “I didn’t want to compromise the goal, which was a super luxurious folder.”
In the end, they decided to go with a standard two-pocket folder and use her budget for the options that would make it extraordinary such as foil imprints and coatings.
“I didn’t need a Lamborghini,” said Jones of the folder itself.
“I never felt like he was trying to upsell me. I always felt that my company’s goal was at the forefront of the process.”
Daniela Jones, The DMV Life Real Estate
“We had lots of phone conversations,” said Gendelman. “The design process took a little longer than average, but I started this business to help customers who really want to stand out, so it was fun for me to pass the designs back and forth until she got precisely what she wanted. After all these years, my favorite part of this business is still working directly with our customers.”
“It’s the personal touch,” said Jones. “Automation is great for some things, but technology can’t replace everything. Even when I’m going to need another folder, I’ll still want that personal touch.”
The final design more than met Jones’ vision. “It’s just such a unique folder. I love the foil because most folders definitely don’t have that. And, of course, the pattern – I love that as well – it just adds a flair and a uniqueness to it.”
After the design was finalized, Jones said the ordering process was simple. Again, Gendelman was very helpful, talking her through the decision about what quantity she needed.
Jones has been thrilled with the results, and so have her clients. “I’ve gotten so many compliments on this folder. They notice it,” said Jones. “When I pull my folder out, it’s like ‘oh, she invested in this.’ I have noticed that they look at me differently. I honestly wish I did it sooner. I wish it didn’t take Covid to get me over this hump!”
Product: 9″ x 12″ Square Corners Two Pocket Presentation Folder in 14pt C2S White Semi-Gloss with Copper metallic foil and teal metallic foil, 1 PMS color, on side 1 and 1 PMS color on side 2. Coated on side 1 with spot UV on Aqueous Soft-Touch coating, and on side 2 with Aqueous Matte.
