Sure it does in the short term but it doesn’t mean much in the long term if your agency is committed to your vision.
I have conducted a fair amount of agencies searches over the years. Jenny Craig, Jacuzzi, Toyo Tires and Villeroy & Boch to name a few.
I first met a search consultant when I worked on a major national brand that spent mid eight figures. I was a fairly young lad. I got a lot older fast.
I liked the search consultant. I thought he had a great day job.
He told me that his world was 50% hunting and 50% working. I have learned from that because I have worked for myself for over a decade.
I have always believed that is how agency principals should also live their days.
We lost the business but I never forgot the lesson.
It humbled me but humility is a great value for New Business. It is a game of rejection and I have had my share. Humility also tells you to stay the course if you work at a strong shop. Most likely this pitch isn’t the only pitch you are working on.
I have met a lot of great agencies over the years. Some innovative and creating the waves of change and I have met a lot of plodders tilling the soil with a horse because they have duplicated the past.
A lot of agencies ask me why they weren’t selected. I understand that. You have invested time in the pitch. You have made an investment and I appreciate the sweat equity. But maybe you also knew from the beginning that it was a long shot and your emotions and the adrenaline of the hunt made you forget that.
I don’t understand what agencies would do with the information.
Become somebody else? I don’t think so.
Good agencies are clear and unique and most importantly focused. When I tell them the bad news I generally tell them that they are a great agency because they are. They don’t complain. They know their vision. They say thanks for the opportunity and let’s stay in touch.
Agencies that are just part of the pack of sameness lament and moan. We thought we would be perfect for this even though they aren’t and know it but won’t believe it.
When agencies start to chase the drug of money it is a dead end path.
When they lose their identity they become part of the same crowd of agencies that make clients tell me that all agencies are the same.
And that’s not a place where your agency wants to be.
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