You know the saying, “While the cat’s away the mice will play,” so here I am, guest blogging for the Boss. I’ve never been invited to sit in his seat for the Woody and Al show (thank goodness), but I have had a chance to “stand in” for the boss here and there for other activities. Granted, it’s usually on the rare occasion when he doesn’t want to do something or he can’t. But nonetheless, “stand in” should probably be part of my job description.

As a public relations professional I find myself being others every day. I often speak on my clients’ behalf and advise them what to say—sometimes I even script it for them. I write editorials from their point of view and I help (with a great team of others here at the office) determine what’s best for them in the marketing world.

My job is to find a way to one-up my clients over their competition. I have to find that something that makes them the better option. To best determine how they have a leg up over their competitors, I have to pay close attention to the competition. Impressions are everything to me and I do a lot of pseudo-investigating. I watch people closely. I pay close attention to customer service. I price shop, comparison shop and window shop.

I guess you could say my profession has made me an informed consumer and in some regards, more of a loyal customer. Being a “stand in” isn’t so bad. In fact, it’s probably saved me money (my husband can thank me later) and I like to think it has contributed to the success of my clients. It’s a win-win all around. Now if only I could find a way to “stand in” for the Boss when he visits the satellite office in Florida…

I want to visit a topic that came up this year at our annual holiday party. (The social event of the year I might add, here in the Greater Manch-Vegas area.) Several of my peers were there, as well as numerous media sales folks. A bunch of us got into a discussion about clients and the problems we all have. It is not a surprise that we all have similar experiences, but what was somewhat surprising is that all of us mentioned having clients with champagne ideas on a beer budget.

In and of itself this is not a problem. Where the problem does exist is the point when we, the agency, are not told in advance about budget limitations. More often than not we are asked to put our best foot forward, to make recommendations blindly, and then told to start over because we were way over budget! I don’t for a minute want to spend more than the client wants to spend but I can’t possibly imagine the right budget for them. Yes, I can use their industry standard as a guideline and go from there, but most clients have no idea what their industry standard is to begin with!

During the peer conversation I mentioned above, in more than one occasion we all noted we had been led to believe there was more money in the budget then there really was. When presented with the harsh realty of actually paying for what they asked for, far too many clients resort to the “what can we get for half of that” dance.

As you can expect, this scenario causes immediate problems of trust and leads to unrealistic expectations by clients who expect to do just as well with half the budget.

All I ask is one thing–if you are working with an agency don’t keep your budget under lock-and-key. And if you work with the media, tell them the truth about the budget. It may not set you free but it will make all of our jobs easier and you’ll get a better product for it in the long run. Let us be creative with the money you DO have, rather than hack away at the budget you don’t have.

Well this one will get me in trouble with the research folks at my place, but research in and of itself is not the end all be all. Why? Because it’s static. It is information but it misses one key element in the process of creating a marketing plan.

Research misses instinct! Most of us in this business have used research for many years, myself included. I admit it can be an invaluable tool, but it can also create blinders in agencies and in clients. We view research as a reason to do something, or better yet, not to do something. We use it as an excuse.

What we as an industry need to get back to (at least during the development of a marketing plan) is our instinct. Yes, I can see you 20- and 30-something’s rolling your eyes thinking that the old guy has lost it again. The truth is–I most likely have forgotten more about marketing than most of you know. I don’t mean for that to be hurtful but today’s new folks tend to think it’s matrix this and matrix that. For many years we used our gut to make some hard decision for clients and it worked far more than it failed.

We need to not get away from the human element of this business. When trained well, we can have the instincts, the gut feelings, whatever you want to call them. Do not discount your feelings. Embrace them, they may save you a client–or better yet, get you one.