I have worked for many great agencies in my career. I have also conducted agency searches for clients like Jenny Craig, Raley’s Supermarkets, and Jacuzzi. I believe I have a perspective from both sides of the street.
I reach out to agencies all the time and this creates perceptions.
Few people answer their office phones these days so I often get thrown into their voice mails. When the message for the agency principal is recorded by somebody else for them it creates the perception for me that they think they are more important than they probably are. It creates the perception that they are elitist and expensive. It makes me think they didn’t learn from the recession that value is the new smarts.
My perception is that clients would think the same.
When I talk to the rare receptionists at agency’s today and tell them I am a review consultant and they appear puzzled my perception is that she hasn’t been trained very well and maybe the other staff as well.
When they send me to the principal’s assistant voice mail it creates the perception that they are dummying me down and don’t understand the search game.
When I talk to a principal’s assistant and they recognize my name because they have seen an e mail from me it creates the perception they are on their A game and are a well knit machine.
When I connect with New Business People or Principals of agencies on Linkedin and they use their personal emails instead of their business e mail in their profile it creates the perception that they aren’t up on their game.
When I get e mails from agencies with no contact information like company name and phone number and cell number it creates the perception they don’t want to be reached.
When I fill out the info contact form on agency sites it creates the perception that they don’t get it and I will never hear from them and my perceptions are generally right.
When I send out an RFP that does not include any media advertising and the agency asks are they planning a major advertising push soon it creates the perception that they are self serving and it reinforces a belief that I often hear from clients that agencies only want to increase their billings.
When I contact an agency and then hear from somebody at the same agency that hasn’t reached out to me in years and they contact me and try to schmooze me it creates the perception they aren’t very sincere.
When I talk with agencies on the input calls and they ask very basic questions they could find out on their own on Linkedin or by going to the company website it creates the perception they don’t work too hard.
When I reach out to an agency and hear back from them within 30 minutes it creates the perception they would be fun to work with.
When an agency takes a long time getting an NDA’s signed when others agencies act quickly get them back to me it creates the perception that the agency is very bureaucratic and that things will move slowly working with them.
What kind of perceptions is your agency creating today?
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Watch a video on When Is It Time to Fire your Advertising Agency