I’m just back from a conference of fellow ad agency owners. As we sat around the conference table in Half Moon Bay, California we talked about common agency problems—one of those being gorilla clients. You know, the ones that take, and take and take some more. Yup. That’s what I mean.

Many years ago I had a gorilla client (55% of my business) and when they left I was devastated and had to lay off a third of my staff. I said then that I would never do that again. I’m proud to say that 15 years later I never have. Yes, I’ve been tempted. Who hasn’t? But the downside is just too risky. Take a look at the following articles and you’ll see I’m not alone.

http://www.corridorbiznews.com/aspx/NewsDetail.aspx?ItemID=465

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/a-dozen-common-mistakes.

The big problem with gorilla clients is that they want to rule your agency. Even worse, if they know they are the gorilla they WILL rule your agency. These clients want stuff without realistic deadlines and at prices that don’t let you make a fair profit. It also churns employees more than any other single issue in my experience. Face it. When anyone on your staff works on one gorilla client, they feel over-worked and under-appreciated and eventually say, “Hey, I don’t need this.”

Don’t be fooled, or teased, or seduced by the money. Gorilla clients will be the death knell of many businesses. It makes us lazy. Seriously. Who has time to look for new business when the big client is always on the phone? It’s easy to get lulled into a feeling of having no time for anything but the big client. I speak from experience. I drank the corporate Kool Aid once, but never again. Be careful for the big client you wish for—you might just get it.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 2nd, 2007 at 4:35 pm and is filed under Advertising. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.