The reason for this post is to share some experiences which have helped cement client relationships for me in the hope that it will reassure you that there is nothing wrong with being transparent in the way you work.
For nearly 20 years I have been working in the advertising and marketing industry and in that time I would like to think I have learnt a great deal…….. I will also admit that I have made some mistakes, nut leanred from them.
At a previous agency and like many businesses, the emphasis for BD and Marketing was to generate leads. I was advised to say try and “yes” to every request and then were sometimes faced with the worry onhow to deliver it. For example, “do you do xyz” or “can you help me with xyz” ? Basic questions, yes, but the agency in question didn’t have strengths in areas like SEO and therefore it was outsourced. Yes, we could then take the credit for the work, but inevitably the suppliers cost was less than ours. This is actually quite common in my industry and it made me feel very am little uncomfortable. What I always felt would be a better way of positioning this type of expertise, would be to be transparent about bringing in a specialist and therefore, charging the client accordingly. i.e the supplier is an expert that we can vouch for and we already work with.
When I set up Bath Marketing Consultancy, it was my aim to deliver the best marketing to each client and if that meant I couldn’t physically deliver a certain initiative, I would work with an associate who is better at that particular area thean me. Why hide this from the client or give the impression that it is me (or my agency) doing everything? Surely no client would expect you to be the best at absolutely everything so tell them what you are doing and the benefits they will have from this situation….??!
Does any of this strike a chord? Do you have any similar experiences?
