Agency push back.
I was talking to a client the other day.
It was early in the morning and she was frustrated.
Seems like her agency was giving push back.
It was a production project. A task to perform.
Nothing to put the agency’s site.
I imagined she paid her agency a pretty penny.
And they were giving flack.
Happens. “Outside of the scope of work for the fee we get, the timeline isn’t right, we don’t have the right info,” agencies say.
It was a project and I suggested another resource.
She said she didn’t want to manage another agency relationship.
She really needed the solution to come from her incumbent agency but they had dropped the ball.
The agency client relationship has been a long time dance.
Often it is one with not enough musical chairs.
How much to push clients because clients need to embrace change?
I had coffee the other day with a client that said her company was a brick of security but doesn’t do new things well. Change is hard. Just look at your own behavior.
One of the best pieces of advice that I learned in the past was give clients what they ask for but sell them what they need.
But that was when I was part of a team presenting storyboards of TV spots with what was hopefully the big creative idea.
Does your agency offer that today when your end product could be a YouTube video, paid search, or a website?
Technology is a commodity today.
One that every agency can offer.
Many agencies push back on tasks. Simple tasks that may be outside your scope of work. But you will create an impression that your agency is simply a transaction and not a relationship
The game is simply different today.
But one thing remains the same.
Advertising is a service industry. Invest and you will gain.