When my career first evolved so that I was providing marketing services for a variety of clients rather than working directly for one (from the seat of a small San Antonio advertising agency), I was like most Account Executives. Eager to please. Striving to give the answers that the client is looking for. I was always smiling and pretty much always said “yes” or “okay, we can do that!” to a client when they made a suggestion.
I, oh-so-often, would return to the agency with the client’s list of requests and sit down with the creative team. At that point in my career, I had the stereotypical creative-to-AE agency relationship. In other words, I existed much to the disdain of the creative team. I would parlay my client’s feedback on their creative designs amidst many groans and much complaining.
“Why do they want to do THAT? Why didn’t you tell them that that would ruin the entire concept? Why didn’t you just say NO?”
I would sometimes have to crawl back to the client and relay some of the creative’s concerns, usually finding a happy medium. At least for the client (I’ve learned that not all creative teams care to ever find a happy medium).
It didn’t take me long at all to learn when the client was walking on sacred ground as far as a concept was concerned. I began to raise these concerns BEFORE going back to the team. I also became fairly adept at “selling the concept.” Or basically, truly explaining up front the who, what, why, when, where behind how it would better sell their product.
All I’ll be darned if it didn’t translate into better results for our clients…and happier creative teams.
Almost fifteen years later, I find myself with quite a bit more experience under my belt and an arsenal of marketing know-how gleaned over the years. I can guide a creative team and give them the strategy up-front that they need to put together a campaign that will be successful. But better yet, I can comfortably tell a client “no” when they make a request that I know won’t be in their best interest. And, you know, I believe firmly that it is a large reason why I have such great relationships with my clients. Not to mention, why they consider us a marketing partner and not just the folks who design stuff.
The truth is, we don’t hire professionals in any field who will just tell us what we want to hear (okay, at least most of us don’t). We hire them because of their expertise and because we trust that they will guide us in the right direction.
My advice to other AE’s out there is, if you find yourself saying “yes” when in your heart you know that the better answer is “no,” do yourself and your client a big favor and speak your mind. Trust me when I tell you that your entire agency will thank you and you may find yourself up for a promotion. Because your client will begin to like and trust you more than they ever did as the smiling, people pleaser, order taking AE. We respect people so much more when they have a backbone! Especially when it means that they take a firm stance every once in a while. Believe me, you will develop a long-term marketing partnership with your client that will be so much richer than your current relationship.
Take it from someone who has been there and knows the difference!
by Tracy Marlowe
Great post. Really makes me think about my interaction with my clients. The thing I struggle with is not knowing which changes will upset my creative team or ruin the concept. Maybe that “feeling” come with experience, but sometimes I’ll say “ok” to a change and get blasted by my team for something I thought was minor.
Thanks Dennis. Glad to hear you enjoyed it.
I will agree with you. That “feeling” does come with time and experience. But I have honestly seen so many AE’s who have been in the business as long, or even longer, than me yet they still act as order takers and don’t have the confidence in themselves to speak their mind and trust that they know more about marketing and advertising than the client. That IS why clients are paying us, after all, is because they believe that we can guide them in the right direction.
If you’re new to the biz, my advice is to make certain you are involved in the strategy development for the creative from the begining so that you will gain a better understanding of how creative and strategy can meld together. Also, that you meet with your creative team before you meet with the client so that you truly understand the rationale for the concepts. That will make it easier for you to sell the idea as well as for you to see when a client’s revisions might be infringing upon the concept, especially, the fulfillment of the objectives of the campaign itself.
Also, read as many good books as you can about marketing. That way you’ll rise above being “just an AE order taker” to the status of a true marketer and partner to your client. Over time, you will develop your own viewpoint and understanding of how marketing works and works well and how stellar campaigns are best executed. It does take time, but if you really want to be more of a consultant than just a sales or customer service rep to your clients, then those are the steps you need to take to excel.
And to folks who have been doing this for 10+ years and still don’t know how to help and guide clients towards a solution that will best serve them in the long run…it may be time to make the leap from AE to more of a customer service type position. But that’s just my two cents!