Being ‘perfect client’ not all that complicated
Published on 07/30/2001 under Ad Management
I’ve written many times about techniques for managing the marcom process: preparing plans, managing agency relationships, making better creative decisions, even ways to write better copy. But I’ve never written about how to be The Perfect Client. I guess this is similar to being the perfect parent or, with apologies to Tiger Woods, the perfect golfer. It’s not humanly possible, but it doesn’t hurt to dream.
If you’re on the client side with responsi- bility for managing the efforts of an in-house or outside advertising group, here are a few thoughts to ponder.
Set the bar high. I hate it when someone calls with an assignment and says, “Now, I don’t want you reinventing the wheel on this.” What they’re really saying is, “Don’t make it too expensive,” and that’s OK. But they also make it sound like they’re willing to settle for something ordinary, and that hurts like a punch to the gut. I’d rather hear, “I haven’t got a huge budget on this, but I know you guys will pleasantly surprise us, anyway.”
Provide good direction. More than once in my 30-plus years, I’ve had clients say, “Why should I pay for you to learn our business?” Well, because we’ll do betterwork for you. The more we understand about your widget, the more insightful our creative ideas can be. Take us on plant tours.
Expose us to your technical experts. It’s OK to send us to multiday training classes even though much of the material might go over our heads. The more we know, the better it gets.
And when it comes to setting direction for specific projects, be sure to tell us how the project relates to your customers and what they’re likely to have seen from your compe- tition. Just don’t give us a competitor’ brochure and ask us to do one like that. Which leads to my next point:
Don’t box us in. We like to be told what needs to be done, not how to do it. You can suggest ideas; just don’t get bent out-of-shape if we end up recommending other things. What most clients don’t understand is that we go through hundreds of ideas in order to get to one or two good ones. Coming up with ideas isn’t the objective; developing concepts that will serve your communications needs is.
It helps immeasurably when you give us adequate lead time and set budgets that’ll cover the time we must put in. If you’re not sure how much of each to allow, ask your creative team. They know.
Take an integrated approach. This is going to sound contrary to the last point, but rather than boxing us in, we need for you to channel our creative efforts for the greater good. It isn’t right when every division or product group is allowed to do something totally different. That doesn’t contribute to your company’s image; it confuses it.
We need for you to establish an overall branding strategy. Better yet, let us help you establish it. Once that’s done, we need your help in getting everybody on board, which is essentially my next point.
Stay the course. One of the sad facts about our industry is that clients tend to give up on communications programs way too early. Part of this is due to NIH (Not Invented Here): The old manager is promoted, and the new one comes in and wants to make his mark on the business. Many creative people love this, because it means we get to do a whole new campaign. Unfortunately, it doesn’t represent the best use of company funds.
The longer you stay with a program, the more likely your customers are to identify it with your products and services. Look at Maytag: Its “Lonely Repairman” theme has been running since 1967, and when you think of dependable products, it’s hard to come up with a better example.
One trait that clearly elevates clients in my eyes is their willingness to lasso nonbelievers and bring them into the corral. It’s not an easy task, and sometimes, the risk seems greater than the reward, because often the nonbelievers are fast-track rising stars who are extremely bright and outspoken, needing to put their stamp on every program and torpedo the status quo. It’s time for something fresh, something exciting, they think.
Or is it? If a program is helping define your company’s personality, maybe all it needs is a fresh coat of paint. Think of how suspicious you’d be if someone you knew went away for awhile and came back looking and acting totally differently. But if changes come gradually, they’re easier to accept—even appreciate—as needed improvements.
Know what happens. The final sug- gestion for becoming a perfect client is to have a burning desire to associate results with every marcom program. Believe me, I know this is difficult. It costs money, takes time and burns valuable brain cells. But it’s worth every dollar and every cell, because it takes marketing communications out of the “art” category and puts it into the “science” category where it belongs.
This isn’t a game we play for creative satisfaction; it’s a serious endeavor to package messages for specific audiences to influence attitudes and behaviors on behalf of your company’s products and services. And you not only have a right to know how well your programs are performing, but you have a duty to know. How else will you be able to improve your performance?
So there you have my six suggestions for becoming The Perfect Client. Remember, it’s like playing golf: If you have one good hole, you’ll probably come back for more.