Clients need to TRUST us more!
Yup, big surprise! You just got out of college with a marketing degree and some company gave you a job and told you to “interface” with the advertising agency. Great idea, huh? Well, maybe you could look at this as an opportunity to learn something since the agency most likely has years of experience (experience you don’t have) and the agency just might be able to help you do the job you have been hired for (in other words, make you look like the hero).Okay that’s the ad agency’s dream…the reality is you will be overcome with the feeling that you need to pee in the corner to mark your territory. You start with the premise that your little piece of parchment from some fancy college makes you way smart. When there you are with nothing but great theory training and no real experience. In this industry, this creates a situation that can go no place but wrong.
Clients need to learn that we (the ad agency) have done this before and they are not the first client we have ever dealt with. We all make mistakes in this field. But the worst one is when the client does not, at the very least, give us the respect our experience has earned. Our answer? Go ahead; do it your way (Hell, we will argue for a while and then roll over like dogs wanting our stomachs scratched) and in the end we will both look stupid and point fingers at each other.
Here’s a novel idea, at least give your agency a fair chance to tell you what they recommend and why they propose what they want to do. Trust us occasionally. If it doesn’t always work we know what happens…we get fired. I would much rather be fired because I tried it our way then be fired for trying it your way when I was pretty sure it was the wrong way in the first place.
And to play devil’s advocate, we as agencies also need to keep an open mind…we must admit, clients do have good ideas and it’s just as okay for them to be right as it is for us to be right. This relationship is a two-way street.
April 9th, 2007 at 9:50 pm
Al,
Ahh, it’s my privilege to be your first comment! Good luck on the blog’s launch. I am sure you will quickly find a devote following!
As for this post — I agree with you, of course. Our industry has not done us any favors however, in this arena. When clients read about bbillable hours inflating etc. — they get suspicious and we all get painted by the same brush.
We have to earn their trust. But it would be nice if they didn’t start us off in the hole! Let us prove your faith in us is justified, not let us dig out of a hole that someone else dug.
Drew
April 10th, 2007 at 9:12 am
Al -
Nice job on the blog. Keep it up!
When it comes to agency client relationships, unexpressed expectations are planned resentments. Often both the agency and its new client engage each other thinking they both know what to expect. . . and frequently harbor assumptions quite different from the other party’s. It’s imperative that both the client and agency write a sort of “job description” detailing what each will do, outlining boundaries, authority, and responsibilities, and building in a mechanism for solving problems without things becoming contentious. Put it all down on paper - it will become a roadmap for sucess.
Joe Grant
April 10th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Hey Al,
Best of luck on your latest foray into the great unknown … if anyone needs a great ad man they need look no further than right here … you are the tops, my number one (#1) go to man when it comes to anything directly or even remotely related to the people game of advertising !
Gordon
April 12th, 2007 at 6:38 am
Al, good job. Now if your golf game could reach the same level as this blog!
Steve
April 12th, 2007 at 1:58 pm
so in other words…….it isn’t about the book learnin’….it’s about experience..earning trust..common sense..an ability to know what the client needs…and his target audience..to be good talkers as well as heightened listeners..
have i learned something being with you for four years??
your hospitality director ann marie—- (who has a BA from BU and Masters degrees from Simmons and Lesley with certifications from Northeastern)look how far that’s gotten me!
September 22nd, 2007 at 3:59 am
If so Applying for a Payday Loan is fast and simple. Click below to start your Fast Cash Advance Online! No Faxing, No Problems, Quick Payday Loan Service …