For most of my career, I was "the client."
Until I started theONswitch in 2003, I worked on "the client side." Although I always had an immediate supervisor, rules to follow, and all the fears and anxieties that come from being a corporate employee, I knew that working in a service business was going to be fundamentally different. For starters, the client is always right.
But, in retrospect, I wasn't always right when I was a client -- and I respected external partners who were fearless and persistent enough to convince me that they were righter than I was. So, although we know when to "fold 'em," we often hold fast to ideas if we really believe they will work. What are some of the other principles we live by?
- We think hourly billing is a silly concept. In the creative world, sometimes things take a little time, and sometimes they take a lot. It all seems to even out in the end. So, we charge flat fees -- and work efficiently all the time.
- We give our clients weekly status reports. Weekly reporting is a habit I picked up during my fifteen years at a bank. We even had terrifying weekly meetings where people who were late on projects were publicly humiliated. It was bad. But the update part is good. Everyone likes to know where his stuff stands. And we especially love data! If you're not making money from what we're doing, why are we doing it?
- We are honest. I refuse to be a consultant "bobble-head," agreeing with everything that comes out of a client's mouth. Aren't we being paid to give direct feedback and solve problems?
- We spend our clients' money as if it were our own. The notion of 20% mark-up on third party services is another agency tradition that should meet its demise. If I produce 1 million widgets for a client, do I really deserve to make more than if I produced 10 widgets. (I didn't do any more work.)
- We believe in the power of interns and entry-level staff. Yes...they need training and close management, but young professionals often come up with brilliant (and sometimes obvious) ideas.
- We don't speak in a foreign marketing tongue. Many marketers use all kinds of razzle-dazzle and mumbo-jumbo. We believe in simple explanations.
- We know that marketing is a profession. And that's not just because we do it for a living. The "do it yourself" trend and the number of social media experts, web developers, and graphic designers who call themselves "full service marketers" has commoditized a profession that's a true art and science.
- And, although the customer may not always be right, he/she should always be appreciated -- especially in these rocky times. We value all of the great, visionary people who put their faith in us when we were just an embryo (not literally, of course)...and have allowed us to bring them great ideas, visibility, strong brand image, and now Google-cred and social media savvy. Thank you!
The vendor-client relationship -- in real world situations
Advertising -- prior to "modern marketing"
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