(five minute read)

Unsure about your job security, I always say, ‘follow the money!’ And it’s usually thrown in large dobs at new business activity.

‘Yes,’ that’s where people are most likely to hear your cry for work, particularly if you have experience in the sector they’re pitching.

And why so much money thrown at new business? Because agencies are not good at holding on to clients!

“There are [fewer] clients that believe in long-term agency partnership,” (Michael Farmer, Madison Avenue Manslaughter)

He continued, “It’s an older concept. It’s amazing when clients [stick with one agency]. It’s just not the way the world is now.”

Why? Because of a lack of what clients are asking for?

Client beliefs – How to Maintain Client Relationships

I recently conducted a straw poll of US, UK and European based clients asking,

‘What factors damage a positive view of your agency killing your chances of longer-term relationships.’

‘The agency isn’t seen to have expertise and knowledge.’ (About the client’s business, exactly how they make money)

‘Agency personnel appear to have a lack of genuine curiosity for a clients business, meaning your interaction is more presentation versus conversation mode.

‘Patterns emerge of non or sub-optimal delivery of expectation.’

‘The agency fails to communicate understanding of commercial benefit’ (For instance, how precisely is a creative recommendation going to impact specific business objectives)

‘The agency isn’t up-to-date (or communicating they are) with the latest trends.’

‘The agency isn’t transparent.’ ‘We feel we are being taken advantage of.’

Encapsulating much of what was said above one client directed,

‘If you want to sustain our relationship, don’t wait for a brief to offer up a great idea. Be proactive with points of view, with cultural trends, with competitive moves, with new consumer understanding.’

It’s clear, there is a desire to see agency personnel get on the front foot/to be more proactive. As one respondent to this summary added,

“That’s exactly right. Then we know the agency is thinking about us after they have left the room.”

Holding Company Reaction to Stakeholder Realities

To be clear, the stakeholder priorities are shareholders then clients then employees.

The holding company reaction (of the last 20 years) to shorter client tenure. Cost reduction as a way to increase margins.

And because of this, there are regular client losses and with them reductions in job numbers.
“Every agency starts downsizing to make their numbers.” Michael Farmer

While the industry still believes in the importance of client relationships, it continues to undermine the ability to deliver them.

Whilst 100% allocation of staff is good for book-keeping it isn’t ideal if agency personnel are to get beyond a largely overburdened and ‘reactive dynamic’ to their work.

Along with regular job cuts, there has been a pernicious reduction of investment in the development of people, knowledge and culture.

And, a greater focus of time and investment in chasing new business, which is more expensive to acquire than organically building existing business.

The agency you should work for

Incentivizes CFO’s and key executives differently – It pays annual bonuses to staff but offers significant bonuses for KPI’s with a 3-5 year horizon encouraging investment in the business…in people.

Doesn’t 100% allocate staff – This agency allows bandwidth for the proactivity needed to sustain and build client relationships. In so doing it retains clients for longer.

Has Client longevity – This agency has more continuity of finance and therefore ability not only to retain staff but to invest in them too!

New Business Selective  – Pitches new business very selectively and can because it reliably increases revenue each year through organic growth of existing clients.

Devoted Proactive Resourcing – This agency has a devoted ‘client building strategist’, (that used to be ‘pulled in to’ new business pitches) – This person’s role is to provide business building thinking/ideas each month, which are shared with clients, in so doing, changes the agency interaction from a reactive to a proactive dynamic.

What do you think? Is what I’ve written ‘pie in the sky’?

Love to hear your thoughts,

Stuart

Articles and commentary that might be of interest…

• The 8 elements of great company culture
• How to manage conflicting stakeholder interests
• Myths and advice about being proactive
• The agency Problem
• How to use proactive management techniques

Adaptability

Who is completely sure what’s going to happen in 2022 and, how whatever it is, it will impact you? This fact alone is a big reason why so many strategists are freelancing, waiting to see how things play out in the business. For reasons of potential mental or physical stress (they often go together) caused by work factors beyond your control, or perhaps because you realise you need a complete professional pivot, be prepared to learn anew, to re-tool both your skills and your mindset. One way to do this is to constantly test yourself/get out of your comfort zone so that you’re better able to cope and adapt when change comes. Another way to be able to more easily pivot. Plan ahead.

Envisioning (your ideal work scenario)

From my experience, what most of strategists routinely do for clients, they don’t do so well for themselves. ‘Ideal’ work scenarios might not be envisaged because of a lack of belief in attainability; Perhaps it takes too much time to go through a process? (SPARKIN has a simple methodology we can share) The challenge for you is that if you don’t have a clear outline of the optimal working/non working setup, you are very unlikely to achieve it, exception being if you have someone that knows you very well, that is constantly looking out for you.

Purposeful

“He did that on purpose!!” How often did you hear that as a kid. Point being, the accusation your brother or sister was making, you did what you did intentionally. Doing things with purpose is not only more satisfying in the moment, but you’re more likely to achieve what you set out to achieve. Obvious? So, be lucid with yourself (and so with others) about the impact you wish to have, be it focused on impacting people, business results, your growth, whatever. Clarity of purpose might make a poor working situation tolerable, but that’s because you are completely aware of what you need. Key, clarity of purpose is about ‘optimal use of your valuable time.’.

Finally, adapting, envisioning and purpose ought to be about ensuring as much as possible, that you have fun/gain pleasure from your work as well as an income. If any of the above is of interest, feel free to contact me. My promise is always to ensure you are heard.

Cheers, Stuart

Articles

• Adaptability: The must have skillset for Normal 2.0
• Adaptability: Your most essential workplace skill
• Creating a career vision for your life
• Why it’s important to have a career plan
• How a purpose-driven workplace impacts the employee experience
• Finding a job with purpose amid the COVID-19 crisis

 

Job Opportunities 08/16

If you know of anyone looking for full time or part time work, some of the below opportunities are full time and some temp to perm.

1. SVP Research – NY based healthcare agency.
2. EVP Strategy – NY based creative agency
3. VP Strategy – NY based PR agency

 

Past Newsletters

1. Adaptability = Career Success?
2. Full job security. Is it Possible?