Client Relations

Don’t avoid the hard conversation

We're human beings. We're going to make mistakes. But how we handle those mistakes determines how the client feels about the agency and our brand. One of the best skills that your account people and other client-facing folks need to have is the ability to face bad news, hard news, and mistakes with clients with as much candor as possible. We have to know that the relationship is much bigger than whatever the situation is in the moment, and we have to take care of the relationship first and the situation second. And by doing that with respect to the audience, with understanding that we're going to disappoint them, frustrate them, or make them mad. Our job is to do that as kindly and as early as possible with respect, and to treat them like grown-ups. That's what saves the day. Let's make sure that when there are problems in our agencies—because they're bound to be—we handle them with grace, respect, and candor so that we don't damage the relationship much deeper than the situation calls for. Watch »

Reciprocity

One of the most powerful laws out there is the law of reciprocity. And the law of reciprocity says that when someone gives us something of value — genuine value, not with a hook, not with a string, but true genuine value — that we immediately do two things inside. Number one, it elevates our level of trust in them. And number two, it triggers a social desire to give back. So agencies and brands have known for years that if they are generous with something, their audience, whoever that may be, responds well in kind. So I've seen a lot of agencies try to do things like a free audit or other things like that that allow someone to sample them. But the challenge with reciprocity is that it's a well-oiled machine and a well-used tactic. And so the trick is that reciprocity has to be literally no strings attached. So when you offer me a free audit, what do I expect? I expect that you're going to try and sell me something, which diminishes the value of not only what you've given me for free—“for free”—but also makes me wary. So instead of going into that relationship with trust, I'm suddenly on guard because I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. I'm waiting for you to say, "Well, now that I've given you the assessment, here's what we can do for you for money, or here's what would be the next logical step." You have to remove the hook when you offer something in your new business efforts that is a free sort of hook. It has to be given without any hooks or an ask. You absolutely can leave a door open for whoever gets that free audit, or whatever it may be, to ask you for more, or to say, you know what, tell me more about your services. But you have to stop short, one step short of going in for the sale. And that is tough for agencies. So if you're thinking about doing something, as a free offer, you're offering a free Q&A, you are doing something like a free audit. You are willing to do a strategy session with someone. You're willing to have an initial call about their business rather than your business. Whatever it is, catch yourself before you ask for the sale. Next time, stop one step short of where you normally stop and watch the good things that happen. Watch »

Check in

In the last couple of weeks, we have talked to several clients who got some bad news from their clients, which was that we're not renewing contracts. We're not happy. We want a new account exec. We are going to another agency. Some level of “we are unhappy” news. Several times, when the agency owner jumped on a call, picked up the phone, or sent an email to that client to find out what happened, the message they got from the client was the same. Which is why you are asking now? Why haven't you asked over the last three months, six months, nine months, a year? Why is this the time that I'm hearing from you now that I'm ready to cancel my contract or cut back my budget, or in some way impact you financially? Now all of a sudden you care. And you know, at AMI, we always talk about how agency owners need to invest a certain amount of their time in what we call “Client Love.” That's just cultivating relationships with the clients, spending time with the clients, as high up the food chain as you can go, but that you're having conversations that only business owners or business leaders can have with other business owners and business leaders. If something's not quite right, you want to hear about it on the early end, not on the way out the door end. And that doesn't happen if you don't cultivate the relationship before there's trouble. So if you don't have booked into your schedule client-love time, today is the day to start booking that time with all of your clients. Watch »

Are you meeting your client’s expectations?

We were just with a peer group, and one of our conversations was around how often we should be taking new ideas to clients. How often should we be trying to show them that we're thinking about them? And again, let's reframe the word “sell” so that we're not trying to sell them something they don't need. We're not trying to sell them something to benefit us, but we are trying to help them by having ideas that will help them hit their KPIs and grow their business. And how often should we do that in a way that doesn't feel like we're always putting our hand in their pocket? Well, when we look back at the Agency Edge research over the last several years, particularly the year when we specifically said to clients: How, when, and where do you give your agencies more budget? One of the facts that we talked about yesterday, which was a great reminder to everybody, is that clients expect, and I want to underline the word expect. Clients expect us to bring them new ideas consistently—not once a year, not in a big dog and pony show, but on a regular basis. So that's why Danyel and I wrote the new workshop, Growing Your Existing Clients, which we're teaching again in September. In that workshop, we identified a whole bunch of places where you should talk to your clients about new ideas. So here's your homework for today. I want you to go back, talk to your account service team, and document how often you present new ideas to your clients. I'm going to bet it is not as often as it should be. Remember, clients expect us to consistently deliver new ideas to them. Watch »

Unreasonable Hospitality

I'm rereading a book called “Unreasonable Hospitality,” which talks about all of the little ways any business can go out of its way to make a moment or an experience magical. So one of the examples in the book is that the author is a restaurateur, and one of the things they did in their restaurant was make sure they knew if the restaurant patron had driven into town to go to the restaurant. And if they had parked to the meter, one of the things they did was they found out what kind of car they drove and where they parked, and they fed the meter so that that patron didn't have to leave in the middle of a long, enjoyable meal to feed the meter so that they didn't get a parking ticket. So his point was that for $0.50, a handful of quarters, they made an ordinary experience—something that the diners could get anywhere—extraordinary. It had nothing to do with the food or the ambiance. It was just looking for a little way to do something small but memorable that made the experience and how the person felt about the experience really magnified in some way. And we don't do a great job of that in our business. I think we do all the big things right. We get all the big things right, check all the boxes properly. But I do think there's an opportunity for us to do the little things better. So that's my challenge to you this week. What is one little thing? Watch »

Me, me, me

I find it interesting and a little ironic, given what we all do for a living, that often times the feedback we give agencies is, Wow, your website is all about you. It's not about the client. It's not about the client's problems. It's not about how you can help them right now by giving them some insight, some tools, some resources that will allow them to see this agency understands my industry or niche – this agency understands my job and how hard it is, and they're going to help me be better at my job. This agency wants to teach me, coach me, and help me get better. Look at this agency—they're giving me help right now, and I haven't even hired them yet. So I want you to think about going back to your website and taking a look at it through the eyes of your prospect. Watch »

How will you show up?

As economic conditions and social situations unfolded in the spring, things have gotten tight, and they've gotten tight for our clients, too. And I think today, in today's video, what I want to remind you of is that we talk a lot about being a partner to our clients. We talk a lot about wanting to be at the strategy table at the big decision table, which means that we have to actually be their partner. Being a partner means that we care as much about what's going on with them as we do for ourselves. It's challenging when clients are cutting budgets or not approving things or prospects are ghosting you, and you have to make payroll. It's hard not to think just about what you need, but the reality is that we have to show up differently for our clients. So I want to challenge you this week to think about, from your client's perspective, what's going on in their business and how you could help them. How could you help them save money? How could you help them make money? How could you help them protect the clients or customers they already have? How can you ensure that the situation swirling all around them, the economic situation, the social situation, whatever is impacting their business, doesn't diminish their business anymore? Watch »

Surprise!

We are staying at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel, which is a vast hotel. One of the things that's been really interesting about our stay here is that they've done a fantastic job of sort of weaving in some surprises. It's all under a dome, and there are over 50,000 trees and plants inside the hotel, growing live inside this dome. But anyway, it's this amazing environment that you walk around, and it feels like you're outside. It smells like you're outside. And so there are many natural surprises baked into just wandering the hotel, trying to find your room. But beyond that, they do all kinds of interesting things: light shows and music shows throughout the day and the evening. They've got a riverboat. But what I find fascinating is they don't tell you that all these things are here. They let you discover them, they let them be a surprise. And I thought, as we were watching this light show last night, that was a surprise. We often talk about clients who don't like surprises, and they don't when it comes to deadlines or budgets or things like that. But I think everybody likes delightful surprises, surprises that demonstrate that someone's thinking about them and that they are going a little above and beyond. And I don't know that we are thoughtful about baking in that kind of surprise into our client interactions. And so my challenge to you is when was the last time you surprised a client by just doing something that would delight them, that showed that you were thinking of them, that you cared, or something a little something extra that they're not expecting for no other reason than to make them happy. And if your answer is, which I guess I'm going to think, most – for most of you- we don't do that very often. My suggestion is that you spend some time thinking about how you could delight your clients and surprise them in a way that makes them feel special, appreciated, and seen. Watch »

Exclusivity

At AMI, we are firm believers that agencies need to be specialists -- niching in some way to differentiate themselves so they can claim a position of authority. But what do you do when a client wants exclusivity within that niche? Watch »