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The Voice of the UnderdogÂź
Chapter 1
You want to know a secret? Every agency has a favorite client.
It doesnât matter if youâre an award-winning creative shop, a big media firm, a social media studio, or a top 10 advertising agency. Weâve all got that one client that everybody loves and whose account everybody wants to work on. I suppose the same could be true in every type of business. But in the world of advertising and marketing, I know it to be true.
Thatâs not to say agencies donât love most all of their clients. In my entire career, I can count the number of clients I havenât loved on one hand. But weâve all got our favorites. Â
The question, is why? What is it that makes certain clients stand out from all the others?
I had some thoughts of my own, but in prepping this blog, I decided to ask a number of my colleagues what they thought. And when I started looking at what everyone said, there were some clear themes that came up time and time again. If you work in an agency, see if you agree with our list. If youâre a client, here are five sure ways to become your agencyâs favorite.
TRUST THEM WITH YOUR BIGGEST CHALLENGES
Call it experience, call it intuition, call it reading the tea leaves, but agencies know when youâre holding back on them. We know you have huge challenges and many, many expectations to satisfy, and weâd like nothing more than to help you deliver on every single one of them. But, often, clients choose not to share everything with their agency team, opting instead to give them a smaller piece of the puzzle to solve. Why?
Could be youâre not sure the agency is up to the task. Could be youâre trying to give them room to focus on the problem at hand. Could be you never even thought about sharing the big picture with them, or to ask for help on the myriad challenges you face. Suggestion? Lean into transparency and trust your team. They want nothing more than to make you happy, show you what they can do, and enable your success. Holding back, even for noble reasons, sends a signal that says, âI donât trust you.â If you do, let âem run.
CREATE A MUTUAL SENSE OF CULTURE
Agencies and clients donât have to share the exact same culture to have a fruitful relationship. But what is crucial is building a mutual sense of culture between the two companies. That takes work on both sides of the equation, but those shared values â that mutually created culture âtransforms a business connection into a lasting relationship. In Daniel Coyleâs book âThe Culture Code,â he writes about three requisite skills that every leader must master to create a healthy and thriving culture. First is âbuilding a sense of safety.â Second is âsharing vulnerability.â And third is âestablishing purpose.â Imagine building a relationship with your agency team with those three things in mind. It may not be how youâre used to thinking about the people you work with, but, from our perspective, it is a far more positive, productive, inspiring place to live.
TELL THEM MORE THAN THEY NEED TO KNOW
Despite the fact that agencies routinely sign NDAs as part of the client/agency relationship, we know there is still information clients donât feel comfortable disclosing to their agencies. We understand the concern. But, too often agencies are asked to solve problems and make decisions without the information we need to make them. Whether weâre developing insights, strategies, or new creative, working with a dearth of information is like trying to pack the car for vacation without knowing what all has to go in the trunk. You can come up with any number of solutions, but until you know what all youâre dealing with, you canât really solve the problem. Donât be afraid to tell your team more than they need to know. Theyâre professionals. They understand privacy. And theyâre far more likely to come up with brilliant solutions they never could have otherwise.
INVEST IN THE RELATIONSHIP
In every relationship, thereâs a big difference between being friendly and being friends. âFriendlyâ requires courtesy, politeness, and a surface level of kindness. âFriendshipâ is far more intimate, requiring time, trust, and commitment. Thatâs why most of us can be friendly to anyone but can count our very best friends on a single hand. For some clients and agencies, real friendships are rare â whether on purpose or by accident. And there are a number of valid, understandable reasons why.
If thatâs where you are as a client, based on my experiences and those of the colleagues I talked to, I would encourage you to rethink your position. Becoming the agencyâs favorite client isnât about popularity, or bragging rights. Itâs about getting the best work. Itâs about knowing you have people who think so highly of you that they literally go to bed and wake up thinking about how to make your brand and your leadership extraordinary. Invest time, trust, confidence, and love in your team and they will not disappoint you.
ENABLE THE IMPOSSIBLE
Believe it or not, sometimes all your team needs to do transcendent work is knowing that you believe they can. That may seem unnecessary, but think about the energy you felt the last time someone told you, or better yet showed you, they believed in you. That kind of positivity is what enables the impossible. It literally gives your team the confidence to solve any problem you throw in front of them. They know theyâre good at what they do. But when they know you know, thatâs a whole different feeling. Itâs the kind that lights you up. And who wouldnât want to work for someone who made them feel like that?
JULIE ONDRUSEK is chief operating officer at LOOMIS, the countryâs leading challenger brand advertising agency and a top ad agency in Dallas. For more about challenger branding, read other posts from our blog BARK! The Voice of the Underdog
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We challenge underdog brands to think differently. We help them find their voice, and urge them to blaze new trails to make sure they stand out from the pack. Whether you need an agency of record or support on a project, we are here to help you win.