What Are The Real Assets In Your Marketing Firm?

April 9, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

Outward vs. Inward Leadership

Constantly changing client demands, new marketing technologies and shifting options are all circling overhead, claiming the attention of agency leaders. These red herrings have shifted the focus outward, away from the IMPORTANT day-to-day operation of the agency. As agency leaders focus on the external forces, the tendency is to start creating a mental wish list. Most leaders are always looking over the fence, thinking “gee… the grass sure is greener over there! If only we had award-winning talent. If only we had more money in the budget for xyz. If only we could establish a presence in a more competitive market.” This type of thinking leads to a very reactive way of doing business.

These are the murmurings we hear at agencies of all shapes and sizes. The feeling is that the “environment of opportunity” is a feast fit only for other agencies – the bigger ones, the richer ones, the ones with cool space – whatever excuse one can dream up. No one would argue that some agencies have distinct built-in competitive advantages – better city, recognizable name, big account, etc. But how do you explain occasions where the “best-of-the-best” gets decimated in a drought and the weed-filled lawn suddenly turns a lush green? Clearly, there is more to the equation than meets the eye.

Back To Basics

For every big plan, there is a simple reality to consider: the day-to-day details surrounding the operations of your agency that can make or break your performance in today’s environment of opportunity. And make no mistake, tough economic times create new opportunities. Most agency leaders are focused on maintaining their current position – without first looking at the greater opportunity. What it boils down to is your agency’s ability to manage, develop, and leverage its assets in meeting new challenges and achieving your goals. An agency, even one with deep pockets, that pays no attention to its assets will eventually have nothing to show for themselves but empty pockets.

Agency ASSETs are the Accounts, Specialties, Skills, Experience and Time that define the very who and what of your agency.

Read on and see if you can make the grass greener on your side of the fence…

“Walking Dead” Account Service

February 25, 2013 By NewBusinessHawk

The Walking Dead, an American television drama on AMC, has struck a chord in popular culture. Set in a post-apocalyptic fictionalized present where zombies, or as they call them “walkers” roam the Earth, like many I was interested in seeing how things would work out. The other night I watched as a “walker” in a suit shuffled past. And it hit me… That’s just like one of the old suits in the agency world – brainless and just trying to feed.

Saving Account Management

For many years we’ve all watched the decline of Account Management. Watching that other great AMC show “Mad Men” reminds us that the three-martini days of Account Management has been reduced to the “bag carriers.” The bag carriers are the “walking dead” who lug creative from the agency to clients and back again today. In terms of agency effectiveness, Account Management is brain dead. In the TV show, “walkers” are slow, constantly getting shot in the face, and want to eat the living. However, the problems Account Management has today are far more severe than what’s portrayed on The Waking Dead. The reasons are many, and it all starts with the fact that client top executives don’t look upon advertising agencies as critical to helping them meet their marketing and sales goals. They view other communication activities and tools as much more important. And what business are you in?

Reality Check

Today, account management teams, Zombie Suits if you will, have to cope with the demands coming from a new breed of client: younger, smarter, more aggressive, and more anxious than ever for results. And these new clients aren’t tied to the traditions of the past. What’s more, these clients don’t want high-paid account management teams that just manage projects. Clients quickly see the inefficiency of this and resent paying high-priced fees for low-level work. Clients are willing, and even anxious, to pay for smart people who can have an immediate and strategic impact on their business. And age, or seniority, doesn’t matter. The stress on Account Management is not a passing phase but represents a long-time trend in the making that marketing firms must overcome.

How to Survive an Attack of the Zombie Suits: Prepare Now for the Change!

The more prepared you are now for the coming Zombie Suit Apocalypse, the better your chances of not only surviving and becoming a new breed of marketer, but you may escape the chance of being a zombie agency. The continuing loss of Zombie Suit prestige impacts the way you should think about your business. Clients are thinking about marketing differently, and you have to think differently as well. To them marketing is tactical. And tactical is measured on achieving results, fast delivery and staying on budget. So anything that keeps you from delivering on their tactical-oriented measurements needs to go. Your Zombie Suit Apocalypse Check List should include examining inefficient operating structure, department thinking and department silos, slow response and low productivity. All these things need to go. The zombie horde is coming so leave behind anything that’s not necessary for survival.

Take the High Ground!

It will happen – zombies will surprise you, catch you off guard. The roaming undead are everywhere, and there’s only one of you. It’s time to move up, into the larger and faster growing market of consulting. You do this by launching a flanker brand, aimed at the client top executives, offering a variety of strategic services: serious CEO type work that’s more than just communication, and more than just the branding work that agencies do just to win an account. Every decision you make in advance of the Zombie Suit Apocalypse is an important one. Developing consulting skills now will help you become more agile and adaptive to the changes in the market down the road.

Start a Serious Training Program!

The coming zombie attack means you’d better be in peak shape. Shed any excess weight and dead wood, and be prepared to book it out of there when you see the first Zombie Suit. Always be faster than at least one person in your group. Everywhere you look, Account Management suffers from poor fitness, or what many call “under-delegation.” This is a systemic problem at most agencies. Under-delegation is when you have A people doing B work and your B people doing C work. That’s a killer. Top performing account management teams do the exercise needed to outrun the Zombie Suit Apocalypse.

Top performing agencies train their Account Management teams in three ways:

Always bring Business-Building Ideas (BBI) to clients. It’s what they want and value most. And they want one at least every month. Most agencies aren’t set up to create these for their clients.
Offer Value-Based Initiatives (VBIs). Does your firm work to do just what it’s assigned? Is your Account Management developing marketing communications, or do they have the skills to offer VBIs on those things that trouble clients the most? Like daily organizational problems and conditions that drive clients crazy.
Always do Client Retention Planning. Are your largest clients handled with a written 18-month client retention plan in place that shows the steps necessary to bond them to your agency for a long time? Developing these skills, doing the drills, practicing NOW will help keep the Zombie Suits at bay. You are now moving faster than the competition.

Don’t Hesitate!

The future for agencies will belong to those agencies that prepare themselves best, enter into new service areas such as branding and consulting at the right time, don’t compete where there are few home-field advantages, and avoid getting outrun by quicker, cheaper competitors on the tactical side and by consultants on the strategic side. In the future, agencies will discover that there will be no “Walking Dead” survivors left standing in the middle. Agencies will be forced to move one way or the other.

Filed Under: Client Retention Tagged With: Account Executive Skills, Account Management, Ad Agency, Client Bonding, client retention, Client Service, Keep Clients Forever, leadership, Negotiation, operations, Structure is the Enemy, Training, Walking Dead, Zombie Suits

Retention: How to Prioritize Clients

October 2, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

The temptation is to treat all clients casually, with no planned approach.

Running a marketing firm of any size is a juggling act. Not only are you working on several different client/agency initiatives at any given time, but you’ve got projects from several different clients as well.

Often competing client conflicts will drive staff and leadership crazy. Starting a new project vs. finishing another, what comes first? The clients all the while breathing down your neck claiming “I need it yesterday!” All this and more adds to the already chaotic work environment and makes organizational planning a difficult task.

Prioritizing your clients may help you and your team to keep focused on the most important work at hand; keeping the clients you truly need happy and growing the ones that you can.

Suns

Definition: Sun clients are essential to the agency. Without these clients, the agency might cease to exist. Sun clients provide warmth, nourishment and energy to the agency. Sun clients allow the agency to do good work and take chances. Organic growth oportunities exist, staff relationships are good, and projects more often end up on time and on budget. Sun clients are to be retained and protected.

Planets

Definition: Planet clients should be very profitable to the agency. These clients should operate with very little support from agency senior management and should sustain life pretty much on their own. Planet clients should be protected but may not be essential to the agency’s existence. Planets by definition have little opportunity for real growth and cannot ever be Suns in the opinion of agency management. Planet clients should be worked with minimal agency investment in resources and must have limited impact on senior management time.

Black Holes

Definition: Black Hole clients suck up a lot of agency energy and give little in return. These types of clients often overuse creative services and account management time without fair compensation. Management often thinks they help cover operational cost, keeping the lights on so to speak. They miss the impact on staff morale. Black Hole clients should be dropped by the agency at the first opportunity. Black Hole clients often represent lost causes. Their impact on the agency should be minimized.

Shooting Stars

Definition: Shooting Stars are unknowns to the agency. Their path is not clear. Shooting Star clients could be Suns, Planets or Black Holes. It is the responsibility of the agency to ensure a Shooting Star client is transformed into either a Planet or a Sun. If this client cannot be transformed into a Sun or Planet, then that client is a Black Hole the agency should plan to eventually drop. Shooting Stars are most often new clients moving through the agency. Their long-term trajectory has not been established. Shooting Stars need more management time and require more agency resources if they are going to become Suns and Planets. Shooting Stars take up a lot of agency effort and must be watched closely.

Prioritizing Leads To Organic Growth

What clients want from agencies are ideas to make their businesses grow. What agencies want from clients are opportunities to do great work and be fairly paid for their contribution to clients’ businesses.

It is impossible for either of these to happen without “chemistry” among both parties. In order to obtain chemistry, an environment must be created that will breed success. It is the responsibility of agencies to create this environment.

Great chemistry helps make things happen and will create a more positive reaction to your ideas. A well trained account service person should always be prepared with relevant topics, points of view and issues that flatter the client and demonstrate interest and imagination. In advance prepare some BBIs, VABs, or VASs. Get ready to introduce these to stimulate the conversation. Organic growth works best when relevant to their consumers, their industry or their operations, not just selling in more of your services.

The purpose of our High Gear Training is to help agencies create this environment to keep clients and do great work.

Filed Under: Client Retention Tagged With: Account Executive Training, Account Management Training, Account Manager, Client Bonding, client retention, Client Retention Strategy, Client Retention Tips, Client Service Training, How To Keep Clients, Improve Client Service, Keep Clients, Keep Clients Forever, Negotiation, operations

Winning: Client Presentation Check List

September 25, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

More often than not, great communication concepts get rejected by clients, not because the idea or execution was wrong, but because the work wasn’t properly presented.

In this business, it’s difficult to represent the same idea a second time using better presentation techniques. It’s usually one strike and you’re out. Firms have to get it right the first time. If marketing communication companies put more care into presenting their recommendations, more work would probably be approved by clients. Clients expect agencies to be masters at presenting work. Poor presentations skills bring into doubt the firm’s overall competency.

A. Before Presenting

Understand what you are presenting. Really know what you are taking in. Consider making a logic trail of how your team arrived at the recommended suggestion.
Get help before you go. Discuss with a planner or an expert the target audience you are going after. Look for supporting facts and market truths that will help your presentation.
Assemble your team. Consider holding a stake-holder meeting with everyone involved with the recommendation before you go. Seek suggestions and recommendations on ways to help the client better understand the recommendation.
Go in a great recommendation. Make sure you and everyone else on your team believes you are moving forward with a great idea or strong recommendation to the client.
Pre-sell the client. Use a phone call or e-mail to create enthusiasm for what you are bring over. Tantalize in advance without giving too much away. Use members of your team to call and add their support.
Plan the presentation. Know who says what and when. Go in with a presentation plan and then stick to the plan.

B. During the Presentation

Bring the recommendation to life. Use a story or paint a picture of your recommended course of action to help sell in the client. Words have power. Picture words have more power.
Use a should board. List out what the recommendation should accomplish. And then show how your plan hits the “shoulds” dead on.
Show it, don’t tell it. When possible make your recommendation real by showing it in a newspaper, magazine or on the TV. People buy with their eyes. And then their heart. Use that to your advantage.
Read the room. If the idea wouldn’t fly, take it back and start over. Avoid committee solutions and Frankenads. Be prepared to take the loss and win another day.

C. After the Presentation

Help the client sell the idea up the organization. Work with the client to get the idea sold in and offer to help.
Thank the client. Win or lose. You asked your client to be open to new ideas and hear you out. If that’s what happened, then show how.
Do a post-mortem. Review the check list and be sure you followed the rules. Great teams get better by reviewing game film and correcting their mistakes.

D. Before the Next Presentation

Start winning the next presentation now. Get the client involved in looking at the creative landscape or reviewing the market place on a regular basis. Show the good, the bad and the ugly from what’s happening in the client’s space on a regular basis. That’ll probably make it easier to sell in your next suggestion.
Share great work. Even from competition. You can’t hide what the competition is doing and its better your client hears it from you than someone else. So talk about the business and what’s working and what’s not. You are a business partner with your clients and partners act like partners.
Build relationships. Everyone on the team should know and have a good relationship with your client. It’s more fun when more of your team members are personally involved with the client. And it helps during the tough times to have reinforcements who are up to speed on the client and on the market place.

Key Reminder:

Use Personality Profiling as a way to help you select your best presentation strategy. Strategy is the key to making a good presentation to a client. It’s all about the timing and what makes a client most comfortable. You are not presenting to a corporation; you are presenting to a person who has likes and dislikes on how he or she prefers to receive information and make decisions.

Agencies are never fired by the companies we serve. Agencies are fired by people at those companies who believe we don’t like them, can’t work with them the right way, and aren’t meeting their expectations in some way. We are fired by people with whom we don’t have good chemistry.

Photo Credit: Vicente Hraste

Filed Under: Client Retention Tagged With: Account Executive Training, Account Management Training, Account Manager, Client Bonding, Client Presentations, client retention, Client Retention Strategy, Client Retention Tips, Client Service Training, How To Keep Clients, Keep Clients Forever, operations, Presentation check list, Winning Presentations

Take Care of Your Own: Leadership!

May 23, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

In this tough economy, employee training and development is the last thing on your mind.

In fact, how many times have you thought or said to someone, “You should feel lucky to have a job.” Is this the attitude you want to project at your agency? Fearful of the future, you may feel reluctant to add more staff even if new projects, client work, and prospects are on the horizon. Your employees, also fearful, are hanging onto their jobs with every ounce of strength even if they are unhappy. You may have even resorted to more cost-saving strategies by cutting your own pay, eliminating perks, and slashing operating costs trying to squeeze every nickel out of your budget.

During this fallow period, however, you must never lose sight of the critical role employee development plays for an agency—especially YOUR agency.

Eventually, and we’re starting to see some signs now, the economy will rebound. And then many, many people will leave their jobs in the hopes of greener pastures, to improve their reel, to find better benefits or better pay. Or they may leave just to help them forget the unhappy past at your agency and move on…

But, with the right planning and foresight, this does not need to happen to your marketing firm.

There are some practical strategies for building continued morale, engagement, and growth for times good and bad. How?

5 Leadership Strategies To Transform Your Firm

1. Stress open and frequent communication:

Be sure to hold effective agency meetings, briefings and update sessions
Schedule regular Q&A’s with groups and departments
Simple and consistent works better than complex and infrequent (KISS)
Recognize positive movement
Identify quick wins and implement them NOW!
Look for opportunities to help solve issues
Share good news with everyone

2. Take strong action that directly impacts agency morale:

Celebrate the work and the people behind the work
Select great plans, creative ideas, strategies and showcase them
Look outside the agency for trends and hold round-robin learning sessions
Provide training to introduce new competency requirements
Recognize extra effort spent
Provide support and offer rewards (simple non-monetary works well)

3. Enlist your up-and-coming leaders. Possible roles and responsibilities include:

Facilitating the day-to-day direction of agency projects
Meeting the goals for the client, agency, and individuals
Coordinating training and development programs for staff
Monitoring overall budget/profit & loss for the client
Facilitating communication between departments and leaders
Calling and facilitating meetings
Forecasting material, human, and technical resource requirements relative to projected workloads

4. Deploy cross-functional teams to work on achieving agency goals and specific, longer term issues:

Streamline your processes and workflow
Implement new technology/social media to promote your agency
Discover new ways, new tools, new resources to train employees
Revisit your performance criteria and incentives ensuring they are inline with your brand and operational strategy
Redesign your space and facilities – think about workflow, logistics, and never forget the importance of setting up a powerful tour

5. And finally, treat everyone with respect and honesty. They won’t forget that.

Strong Leadership Transforms Your Staff

If agencies want to move from client conference rooms to client boardrooms, then major shifts are needed. Essentially agencies must shift from worrying about ads to worrying about the client’s business. Give us a call to see how focusing on skill development and leadership can transform your firm from talking about advertising to talking about strategies that drive business. This shift transforms the agency from a marketing communication vendor to trusted advisor with an honored place in the boardroom. But it all starts with leadership. This isn’t about looking at old problems from the same angle. We offer a fresh perspective and new ways to improve your agency’s performance with clients.

Photo by *xOxChrystalxOx

Filed Under: Leadership Tagged With: Account Executive Training, Account Management Training, Account Manager, Ad Agency, ad agency leadership, Ad Agency Training, Advertising, Client Bonding, client retention, Client Retention Strategy, Client Service Training, Improve Client Service, Keep Clients, Keep Clients Forever, leadership, Marketing, Marketing Decline, Negotiation, operations, Teamwork, Training

Client Service: Tips for Unleashing Ideas

April 3, 2012 By NewBusinessHawk

Clients place a premium on the creative work and strategic ideas coming from their agencies. A recent study found the No. 1 thing clients want from their marketing partners is effective campaigns, followed by outstanding ideas and implementation and strategic counsel and insights.

Clients have demonstrated that they are willing and even anxious to pay for smart people who are able to deliver a strategic impact on their business. More and more it’s about strategy. Brand strategy. Marketing strategy. Business strategy. Not award winning creative. Or better PR. Or great direct mail. It’s all that, and more. Firms that learn how to deliver a steady stream of Business Building Ideas will win. Win more new business, more organic growth, more client loyalty. We call these BBIs (Business Building Ideas).

How best to keep a steady stream of BBIs flowing at your firm?

You have to unplug ideas, let them roam free, and then put in the hours to bring them to life.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:

Create a Culture of Invention.

Business Building Ideas are not created in a confrontational environment.
The agency needs a culture that supports innovative thinking.

Speed Up.

Most processes and procedures are too slow for clients who demand great work fast.
Agencies need to restructure the way ideas are handled from top to bottom.

Think Strategic. Act Tactical.

Too many agencies think tactical and act tactical.
Think strategically and act tactically: Maintain focus on client objectives while continuously searching for alternative BBIs.

Push Back More.

Too many firms forget that their agency’s value to clients increases when agencies show proper discipline.
This means agencies need to know when to push back with a client and how to push back. Saying “no” can clear a lot of air.

Shift to “Creative” Thinking.

Be the outsider: Always creatively think about the client’s business.
Stop talking about ads, PR, direct, etc,
Focus on strategies that drive client business forward.
Transform the agency from a marketing communication vendor to a trusted advisor.

We recommend you maintain a steady stream of ideas to your clients; that means one good idea per month. Remember, it’s not important if the client buys into all the ideas. It’s that you are thinking about their business. All the time. Strategically.

Shift Into High Gear

Agency management needs its account teams to operate more efficiently in order to protect agency profitability. But most account teams are already struggling with the current account load, so the idea of working harder isn’t a realistic answer.

The solution for agencies is to train their account teams in new skills, showing them how to work smarter, not harder. And High Gear, a high-impact, one-day on-site learning experience for account management, is the best way to do that.

High Gear shows account management professionals how to manage the client relationship better using personality profiling. Once the client’s personality and personal working style are identified, High Gear can show your team how to plan better, present better and negotiate better. This approach makes the client/agency relationship stronger and more profitable for your agency.

Also included in the program is an important skill-building session on how to manage the financial end of the relationship. Another component of High Gear is a special session on the importance of developing long-running programs as a way to improve both client retention and operating efficiency.

High Gear concludes by sharing skills that top-tier strategy consulting firms teach their new MBAs: the social Do’s and Don’ts of dealing with clients away from the office.

For more information on how High Gear can help your agency work smarter, not harder, contact Sanders Consulting Group.

Photo by *lieveheersbeestje

Filed Under: Client Retention Tagged With: Account Executive Training, Account Management Training, Account Manager, Client Bonding, Client Operations, client retention, Client Retention Strategy, Client Retention Tips, Client Service Training, How To Keep Clients, Improve Client Service, Keep Clients, Keep Clients Forever, Negotiation, operations

The Future of Advertising: The (un)Changing World

October 12, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

The winds of change are blowing through the marketing industry, whether we like it or not. The only question is how best to prepare for the change.

Many agency leaders have given up on sailing into winds of change that are blowing through our industry.

Instead they let clients take the lead and force the pace of change. These agency leaders try to manage the unmanageable, struggle to keep up and let the winds of change blow them every which way. Their energy is spent in reaction.

There is a better way.

Believe that the only constant from now on is change. Any attempt to control it flies in the face of reality. It can’t be done. Stop reacting and stop trying to manage what can’t be managed.

Agencies can dictate the pace of change only by getting out ahead of it. On the edge where agencies used to operate. Take a chapter from the clients’ play book. Get back to basics. Focus on your agency’s organization and the way it does business. Clients spend big money making sure their firms operate the fastest, quickest, smartest way they can. And that means they have to put pressure on their suppliers (read “us” here) to either get in step with them or fall behind.

Improve the way your firm operates. This can pay big dividends in terms of profitability, speed, response, and client satisfaction – free up resources to try something different.

Five “Plays” To Improve Operations

Play #1. Service right:

Cut the fat and high salaries out of account service. Replace your account service team with lower-paid project managers who operate as the go-betweens to keep work moving. Think of them as traffic managers on steroids, even though Congress might frown on that expression. Then create a new set of agency people who concentrate on delivering business building ideas for clients. This means helping clients market better. This new role is called account strategists, not account planners. This position puts the emphasis on moving the client’s business forward, not getting the ads right. The results of this dramatic shift can be quite positive including lower costs, more face time, better thinking, more ideas to clients which they love, and a smoother-operating agency.

Play #2. Prioritize right:

All projects and all clients shouldn’t be treated as equal. Hospitals gave up long ago treating all emergency room cases on a first in/first treated basis. They prioritize the work. They call it triage but it’s a priority system. And it works.

Here’s one for agencies to follow. Agree that most of your work load is classified as “Green”. It’s important to the client, and it makes money for you. In percentages, 95% of the work you do is in this Green category. The rule is to do it and move it. Don’t fight over Green work. Concentrate on getting it done to the best of the agency’s ability but solve the problem, help the client, and keep it profitable.

Every now and then you will get a “Yellow” job. This is a project that will make the agency famous. Here you want to over spend and work hard for a “home run.” This classification will happen about 4% of the time. Maybe it’s a pro bono piece. Or a outdoor posting that everyone will see. The client might not consider it special but you do because it can make the agency better known, perhaps famous. You want to do great on the Yellow opportunities you find. And over invest to make it great.

Lastly you will have a one or two “Red” opportunities each year. The definition is that the Red work has the power to change a client’s future. It can have that much impact. Here you want to fight for your ideas and suggestions, risk losing the client in the process because the client needs this, whether or not the client sees the value.

What do you gain? Differentiating work by type and developing priorities and processes that reflect the nature of the job can free up an abundance of agency resources.

Play #3. Start right:

One of the greatest contributors to wasted effort, rework, revisions and general staff frustration can be easily avoided by starting every project on the right foot. A different kickoff with differing requirements can be created for each different job classification. With the Green, Yellow and Red system you know where you want to concentrate your resources. Make that clear at the beginning of each project and the agency will be a happier and more productive place.

Play #4. Organize right:

The best agencies do project management in their sleep. They have different color files for different types of projects; they utilize traffic boards to visually keep track of all of the work; and they never sit on a file that is due downstream. Some high volume agencies have gone so far as to create a war room-like traffic center that is visible from the lobby and utilizes tracking boards that cover the entire wall – utilizing colors and flags to visually illustrate where each project is in its life cycle. The key is to focus on a few key attributes (e.g. job classification and critical approvals) and develop a low maintenance and creatively structured way of tracking the work through its life cycle. The benefits here for clients, staff members, managers, and owners are enormous.

Play #5. Keep time right:

You get better when you really measure performance. And the biggest performance measurement for agencies is time utilization. It’s the biggest resource you have available and you need to know how it’s being used. Reporting accurate time is critical if you want to be paid what you are worth. And having good records allows you to price your services in the future. Time management is an area where consultants shine and agencies can take a lesson. Agencies need to develop the same pride in time as they do in creativity.

Bottom line:

Implementing one or more of these ideas will improve the agency’s bottom-line performance. And the overall impact may reach well beyond the bottom-line. Many agencies find that once they start to address the changing world with some sound un-changing principles inside their walls, they start to lead their clients. Just like the old days… the (un)changing world.

Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: ad agency leadership, Agency Leaders, change management, Changing World, Client Satisfaction, Future of Ad Agencies, future of advertising, Improve Operations, Operational Strategy, operations, Structure is the Enemy

Account Service: Road Kill in a Fee-based, Project-based Economy

October 4, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

More and more agencies are finding that account management is misunderstood, under appreciated and maybe misbranded.

What is needed now is a sweeping transformation in account management... before it's too late!

Agencies have had to find new ways to cope with the demands of a new breed of clients who are younger, smarter, more aggressive, and more anxious than ever for results. These clients aren’t tied to the traditions of the past and your account management team will be judged to be either in step with them or out. What’s more these clients don’t want what they consider to be high-paid account management teams managing projects. They quickly see the inefficiency of this and resent paying higher fees for low-propriety work. This issue is has contributed to the erosion of confidence in many agency-client relationships.

At the other end of the spectrum, clients have demonstrated that they are willing and even anxious to pay for smart people who are able to deliver a strategic impact on their business. Age and seniority are no longer considered a requirement.

More and more it’s about strategy. Brand strategy. Marketing strategy. Business strategy. Online Strategy.

And while this is going on, many agencies are still in the past when talk about strategy only meant advertising strategy, which means getting the ad right. Ad strategy is of less interest to many new clients who are interested in new ways of looking at their problems.

As you consider where your current account management organization ranks in the eyes of your clients, we have prepared the following 10 points outlining how agencies can rethink account management and retool it for the future:

1 – Stop Treating Clients Like Clients

Put the emphasis on the people side of the business right in the beginning. Learn how to get in step with your clients by first identifying and then matching their expectations. The matching of expectations results in a much stronger working relationship with better long-term retention. Most client defections are caused, not by poor service, nor poor work practices, nor bad creative but by bad chemistry.

2 – Take Account Management off Life Support

Replace the account management function with project managers and account strategists, not planners. This new role of account strategist puts emphasis on moving the client’s business forward, not just getting the ads right, where most planners focus.The results of this dramatic shift can be quite positive including happier clients, more clearly defined roles, and a smoother-operating agency.

3 – Create a Culture of Invention

Business Building Ideas are not easily created in a confrontational environment. Account management teams often find themselves in the difficult role of both client and agency advocate. Account teams work best when their function is defined properly, the team is trained right and the culture supports an inventive work place where innovative thinking is fostered.

4 – Increase Your Service Level. Get out the SWAT Team.

Most agency processes and procedures are too slow for clients who demand great work fast. Agencies need to restructure the way clients are handled from top to bottom. A SWAT team concept that pulls the best and brightest for a given project has been proven to speed up the agency, make clients happier and help staff gain insight into solving the account management dilemma.

5 – Think Strategic. Act Tactical.

Too many account people think tactical and act tactical. By doing this they do their agency and their clients a disservice. Thinking strategically and acting tactically is accomplished by maintaining focus on client objectives while continuously searching for alternative ideas without overlooking the need for incremental delivery. Many professionals have interest and skill in one or the other, but few successfully balance the two for the betterment of the agency and client. Develop and train your staff in the art of strategic thinking.

6 – Let the Consultants Do the Heavy Lifting

Agencies serve the clients better by focusing on what they do best. Don’t get the account management staff and creative talent involved in big strategy decisions. More often than not, the project is questionably specified, unsolicited and, when delivered, is undervalued by the client. Progressive agencies are starting consulting firms/divisions to focus on the heavy lifting while your agency speeds up the execution. This way client gets the best of worlds including both solid strategic assistance and solid marketing communications.

7 – Money and Contracts. Contracts and Money

The two most important tools your agency can provide its account staff is a proper contract and instruction on how to set the budget for projects and jobs the agency is charged with completing. Don’t be caught committing to inaccurate budget estimates and engaging clients with a fuzzy contract that doesn’t protect the agency.

8 – Lead Clients Better By Pushing Back More

Too many account management teams forget that their agency’s value to clients increases when agencies help their clients show proper discipline. This means agencies need to know when to push back with a client and how to push back. Learning how to say “no” can clear a lot of air.

9 – Shift from Agency Centric to Client Centric

Move from the client conference room to the client boardroom by shifting the way your team thinks. Essentially this means that you stop worrying about ads to worrying about the client’s business. Stop talking about advertising and focus on talking about strategies that drive client business forward and increase clients’ long-term equity valuations. This shift transforms the agency from marketing communication vendor to trusted advisor with an honored place in the boardroom.

10 – Uh-Oh. The Problem Might Not Be Account Management.

Many agencies find themselves locked into providing poor service to clients, not because of a lack of effort, but because of the agency’s structure. Structure can be the enemy of good service. If you believe your agency can’t work any harder and service still suffers, you might have a structure problem that needs fixing first. Department silos, agencies within agencies and commanded teams all can cause serious problems in agency efficiency, productivity and level of service. Review your processes, proceedures, and structure in light of the sweeping changes in our industry.

These 10 points provide cursory insight into some best practices employed by leading agencies.

Sanders Consulting Group would welcome the opportunity to personally discuss your agency’s plans for the future and how they might relate to what we do. Please contact us if you have any questions.

Photo by Martin Gommel

Filed Under: Operations Tagged With: Account Executive Training, Account Management Training, Account Manager, account service, change management, changing roles, Client Bonding, Client Operations, client retention, Client Retention Strategy, Client Retention Tips, Client Service, Client Service Training, How To Keep Clients, Improve Client Service, Keep Clients, Keep Clients Forever, Negotiation, operations

Organic Growth: Create a Culture to Grow Clients

September 13, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

Organic Growth is the most misunderstood aspect of new business.

Organic Growth: Your Most Profitable Source of New Business.

Few agency leaders have had any training on the best way to grow existing business but it’s an important source of new revenue. Here are some rules to help you find more ways to grow your agency:

Organic growth is a game of singles and doubles. It’s small day-to-day wins and quick suggestions to changes in the market place that build the foundation for both retention and new organic growth.
Too many firms keep waiting for a big idea or homerun idea. They miss the point that singles and doubles are the foundation for home runs. Singles and doubles get the client in a receptive mood and help the client change perspectives about your value.
Singles and doubles provide important discipline. Organic growth requires a new discipline for the constant generating of suggestions for clients. And organic growth requires a discipline of flawless execution of the suggestions to clients.
Clients don’t measure how many suggestions they adopt. So don’t get caught up in worrying about whether or not your suggestions are being adopted. The client isn’t counting. They just want the suggestions to keep on coming.
Organic growth is everyone’s business. Just as it’s important for all hands to be involved in cost reduction, all hands should be charged with the responsibility of generating new growth ideas for existing clients.
Institutionalize organic growth. Build a measure into your evaluations on the number of organic growth ideas offered by each employee. And add in some bonus money for suggestions that were adopted and that added to the firm’s revenue. That will help make organic growth part of your DNA and that’s important.

Organic growth deserves a planned, organized approach at your firm. It really helps retention.

You must understanding how and when to use Value Added Services (VAS) to sell in other agency resources (too many agencies try too often). You know the deal… ”you like our PR you’ll love our direct!” This is both demeaning and irritating to good clients. We want you to discover the power of Value-Based Initiatives (VBIs) and how to find them, present them, and price them. See why clients want a continuing stream of Business Building Ideas (BBIs) coming their way and how only a few agencies understand this strong client desire. All the secrets of organic growth are covered in our HighGear session on taking your account service to the next level.

For more infomration please contact us!

Negotiation: The One That Got Away

August 29, 2011 By NewBusinessHawk

Every person in advertising, like every fisherman, has a story about “the one that got away,” the perfect client that was a great fit, or the one that was “this close.”

: Don’t let the next one get away! By improving your negotiation skills, client satisfaction is increased and retention is enhanced.

Many times, great clients are lost due to blunders in negotiating. But there are negotiating tools and techniques that can help you land prize clients. Or keep key clients longer!

Although negotiation is a natural part of human interaction, it also makes many people uncomfortable. Lots of us, for example, are conflict averse: When it comes to “fight or flight,” we’d rather fly every time. Others see negotiation as an exercise in deception and manipulation, in which we hide our true intent, try to intimidate or outwit our “opponent,” or try to “wait them out” by sitting silently as they present options. Many books and articles on the subject present negotiation as a set of “tips and tricks” designed to make the other person squirm. Negotiation, like office politics, is an unavoidable part of business life that’s gotten a bad rap because of the way it’s practiced by some agencies.

So what is the right mindset to bring to the negotiating table? Let me share with you some pointers from a HighGear session we did in Toronto last month.

Negotiate Right!

One of the first steps in successful negotiations is assessing your client’s style or profile accurately, and responding to their negotiating style in the way best suited to them. There are four key client profiles, based on how they work and respond, whether they are more task oriented or people oriented, and whether they are high or low assertive. For instance, someone considered a “Headline”, high assertive and low response, is focused on “now” and “results”, and wants “options” presented so that they are in control of the decisions. Others, like “Body Copy”, are more interested in “how” and “process” and respond better to fully-presented information as they check off all the pieces they want to consider. Others include what we call the “Logo” and the “Illustration.”

Client relationships tend to evolve, initially being based more on learning about each other, then on tasks and getting the work done after trust has been established. However, tension from something gone wrong can swing that relationship upside down. Until the relationship is healed work essentially needs to, or will, come to a stop.

Negotiations are not always about the money, but can include a number of other items, such as turnaround speed, payment terms, licensing agreements, or limits to the approval process.

The negotiation triangle is a balance between finding out what the client wants, what your agency wants, and then suggesting action in such a way the client can accept, always looking for a win/win resolution.

Common errors in negotiation include misunderstanding what the negotiations are actually concerned with (someone’s job may literally be on the line, so budget is not as key as a client feeling confident that an agency can successfully solve the client’s business challenge). Or the agency team may not have clear goals going into negotiations, or not have a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities for the negotiating team members.

8 Steps of Negotiation:

Preparing: Collect information about the client, their profile, background, and more.
Setting Objectives: Making sure all your objectives are on the agenda, how to counter other issues that might be raised.
Identifying Positions: Setting your “ideal”, “realistic” and “fallback” positions, or even your BATNA – “Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement.”
Opening: Open well away from where you want to settle, never accept an opening offer, and never negotiate with yourself – making concessions to the other party before you meet because “I know they wouldn’t accept that.”
Checking and Testing: Know the power of silence, and don’t accept “no” at face value, try rephrasing, look for non-verbal signs.
Getting Movement: “If you… then we” style of introducing some early concessions.
Giving Concessions: Consider when to give, how much, and what are you getting in return.
Finalizing and Agreeing: Recognize when you are at the agreeing stage. Look for signals such as repeated “no’s”, concessions getting smaller or resistant body language.

One Final Point:

Negotiations on client-agency relationships should be kept separate from those who will actually be working on the business. The reason is simple, the potential for some bad feelings, no matter how good the intentions or how well negotiations proceed. It is critical that the CEO in particular not lead negotiations as they may, at some point, find it necessary to step in to resolve any issues.

HighGear shows account management professionals how to manage the client relationship better using personality profiling. Once the client’s personality and personal working style are identified, High Gear can show your team how to plan better, present better and negotiate better.

Photo Credit: Lomil-Gathiel

Filed Under: Client Retention Tagged With: Account Executive Skills, account service training, agency leadership, Building Your Brand, Client Bonding, client retention, Keep Clients Forever, Negotiation, operations, personality profiling