King's Advisor

Selling in a new concept

2009-04-12T09:04:00.006+08:00

When presenting new brand concepts to clients, I begin by first explaining that some of the ideas they may find uncomfortable. That's normal. Concepts which are new, and have never been tried before, are so foreign they make us feel uncomfortable.

I advise clients to substitute the emotion 'uncomfortable', for 'unfamiliar'. The unfamiliar needs time to grow on you. Snap judgements don't work. You have to play with them, stare at them and keep talking about them.

Unfamiliar concepts provide opportunity for change. I once presented to a group of financial advisers, two names for their new capital lending business.

As I expected they liked the familiar name (the one I presented first), but fell silent when I presented the second name. The name was so different, they had no frame of reference to measure it by. At the end of the meeting they thanked me for my time, and said they would get back to me later in the week.

Later that week I got a call. Although the name initially shocked them, it had begun to grow on them, and the more they talked about it, the more they could see how it would work.

One art director I knew from Mojo Sydney used to say, 'whatever you say, make it very'. A well known copywriter in Singapore tells his clients that 'it's okay if the concept does not resonate with all people. Every new idea ostacises a few people.'

Herman Miller and the chair nobody liked

Take the Aeron chair, design by Herman Miller. All the feedback they got from the industry and market research told them people hated the chair. Despite the negative feedback, in the 1990s it became Herman Miller's fast selling chair.

It wasn't that people didn't like it. It was just so unfamiliar, they were going to need some time to get used to it. The market research and opinions of others in the organisation were falsely interpreted.

Now the chair looks passé, because this unfamiliar chair, is now familiar. Since its debut, there have been hundreds of copies made. The elastic material, integral to the Aeron has been introduced into chair design by other chair manufacturers.

Ideas need bold people to champion them

Every day new ideas get born because someone was bold enough to back an unfamiliar idea. That risk pays off. The idea gets noticed immediately, is printed in newspapers and talked about on television.

In this competitive business world, there is no space for mediocrity. If you have a well-known brand name, you can survive on mediocrity for a while. However, if you are a start-up business, you can't take the risk.

For different reasons, some clients are more risk-adverse than others. If you believe you have a strong idea, and want to see it become adopted, try giving the client tangible materials they can touch, hold and share.

Win-win negotiation for the selfish

2009-04-11T16:40:00.006+08:00

Years ago I read about the concept of win-win negotiation. I never really understood why one party would seek the other party to win. After all, it's hard enough articulating our needs, without the additional burden of having to think for the other party. Unless you are spiritually inclined, who cares?

As long as my needs are met, it’s up to the other party to negotiate their needs right?

Wrong. Negotiating for clients makes sense for the selfish too. Putting aside a moral standpoint, if we negotiate a good deal for the other party, we are more likely to get what we want.

Referrals and repeat business

The business world is so competitive, our services can all look the same. Computers and the internet have dropped barriers to entry in many industries, and made competition flat. In the 21st century, it is referrals and repeat business which is the cash cow.

The days of opportunistic bargaining, where you could push a win-lose deal, and still win overall are far and few. Opportunistic negotiation is where you go for the best deal, no matter what the cost of trust, because you are unlikely to do business with the person again. For example a one-time car purchase, or while travelling in a foreign country, you get a good price on a painting.

Whether it is with clients or suppliers, we are having longer term relationships.

What client or supplier will refer you, or do business with you again, if they lose on their last deal. Even if you have a contract in place, and you gave the other party a fair chance to negotiate their needs, it is not enough.

Negotiating for clients and suppliers

In theory it is up to the client to do their own research, check the contract thoroughly and understand what benefit you are providing. This is rarely the way it works out. Although you can prove on paper they signed the contract, they will secretly despise you and label you untrustworthy.

Their experience, negative or positive, is more important than the contract if you want to do business with them again, or make a referral.

The negotiator of today needs to do more than secure a good deal for their company. They need to lock in the client or supplier's trust as well, to increase the chance of repeat business.

Win-win has a direct dollar and cents outcome.

Guarding credibility

2009-03-11T15:42:00.000+08:00

Credibility is a tangible asset, which to varying degrees, we acquire during our careers. Like putting money in the bank, it builds over time.

Like a character in a computer game, imagine yourself with an energy bar which represents credibility. The more of it you have, the more influence you can exert. The more influence you exert, the more you achieve with your working day.

Most of us take it for granted, and don't recognise its value until we lose it. Apart from the direct criticism it attracts us, it is the indirect effects are most debilitating. We begin to achieve less. We get fewer responses to email, slower return of calls. Favours and deals that once came your way stop flowing.

When we lose credibility, simple things we take for granted get harder, because we no longer have the cooperation of clients and colleagues. This is rarely stated as fact, and that makes it difficult to address.

Here are a few tips on building credibility.

Be aware when credibility is in danger. Highly influential people are aware of the presence of their credibility at all times, and go to great lengths to protect it. They recognise credibility does not come from their title, but from what they say and do. Without their credibility intact, they are useless as leaders. A few years ago I struck a problem with a client that turned nasty. Both of us were at fault, but it was my credibility that took a big hit. In some circles, people still resent me for what happened. Now I'm very careful and guard my credibility.
Credibility is built from small things we do. When you make a commitment, keep the commitment. Show you are reliable with the small things, and people will naturally think you just as reliable with bigger issues.
Put fires out quickly. If a problem occurs in a relationship, get to work fixing it before it spirals out of control. Don't allow it to fester, even if you believe you are not the source of the problem. Pick a course of action to remedy the situation and follow through a 100%. By taking action to remedy the problem can improve your credibility.

Credibility is hard earned, and easily lost. It is up to you to grow it and keep it in tip-top condition.

Anecdotes bring a presentation to life

2009-01-26T07:04:00.008+08:00

Top performing client service use anecdotes to bring their presentations to life. Apart from setting a conversational tone to the presentation, one which welcomes dialogue, it makes the presentation less mechanical and more human.

If you want a client to appreciate the knowledge and people the Agency has out behind the pitch, be anecdotal. The visuals themselves shown during a presentation are not enough. To tell the full story, and involve the audience in the story, talk about the merits of the creative in the context of the people who did the work.

This is not so easy. For an inexperienced presenter, trying to remember and convey all facts is hard enough. To reach a point where you can be anecdotal, the client service need to be very comfortable with their content. They have to know it backwards.

Trying to recite stories while remembering facts is near impossible.

Example presentation using anecdotes

There can be a lot of pressure on all the parties leading up to the creative presentation. Anecdotal give the presenter creative angles and human perspective to the pitch. This can break down barriers and open conversations which build trust.

Imagine the client service is unveiling a website they have completed building. A speaker who is anecdotal will mention the art director's point of view on why he chose a particular shot on the homepage, what improvements the user group suggested when they tested the registration page and why the client service asked the developer to change text on some pages because I felt it was 'unfriendly'.

“You'll notice this page displays some 'unfriendly messages'. We suggest rewording them to read like this”.

“Our users got stuck here during the registration. They were confused, so we recommend introducing a heading”.

Anecdotes inject life and context into a presentation. They build confidence in the mind of the client, who recognise the agency's contribution. Subtly, the client is being educated on how the agency ticks and delivers work.

In creative pitches, these kinds of insights can provide differentiation against competing agencies.

Meeting room etiquette – where to sit

2009-01-26T06:29:00.013+08:00

A lot has been written about the etiquette of where to sit during a meeting. Much of the literature is prescriptive. My advice is not to rely on any one formula, but adopt a seating position which enhances the flow and tone of a meeting.

Deciding where to sit in a meeting is not a decision you should leave to chance.

The position you occupy relative to the client and other parties in the room, says a lot about the type of conversation ahead. Simply put - where you sit, influences where you stand.

In many instances, you will enter a meeting space for the first time. Survey the room, and make calculation where best to sit. Here are two scenarios requiring vastly different seating configurations.

New business meetings

It's natural the client may want to maintain distance in the first meeting. If the room has a large table, the client may feel most comfortable sitting directly opposite. It is likely they will suggest a seating positions A, B, E and F. A and B are occupied by client, and the other side of the table is reserved for the visiting party.

This configuration enables both parties to conversely easily with colleagues, while observing the opposing party objectivity.

Positioned on opposite terms, both parties can be more frank and direct than they would sitting beside one another. This makes reaching common ground a little faster. If the client give no seating clues, ask, "Where would you like for me to sit".

If there is a third party present, who has established a relationship with the client, it is likely they will not take a neutral ground, but sit closer to the client.

If you agree to hold the first meeting informally at a coffee shop or restaurant, try to adopt a seating style comprising of C and D. This position tells the client you are comfortable being close to them and have nothing to hide.

Functionally this configuration is easier to share a laptop screen if you want to show them ideas onscreen. If you decide to open a laptop, recognize it can become a barrier, and pick whether to do this at the beginning or the end of the session.

Work in progress meetings

The client has initiated a project with the agency. All parties are familiar with one another's work style. The agency is due to conduct a face-to-face meeting to show case the work completed to date.

During this meeting, expect all eyes on client service presenting the Agency's work.Take a position where you can simultaneous deliver the presentation, and hold the gaze of all parties present.

That rules out sitting too close to the front in positions C or F. Here you can see your presentation slides, but your back is to 90% of your audience. You will find yourself turning often, missing important cues, dialogue and impairing your effectiveness as a presenter.

If you decide to present sitting, occupy instead the back, centre position G. Although a position which signals arrogance in a new business meeting, from G you can face the projection, and dominate the room with your gaze.

This is a deliberate maneuver to establish you as the key influencer.

Standing while presenting

If you plan to deliver a presentation standing, front furthest from the door D is the spot to be. From here you have line of site to everyone present. Turning to the presentation is easier when standing.

Standing presentations are a good option if you are not expecting too much dialogue with your audience. Instead your objective is to wow and sell your audience with the content of your presentation. Standing takes confidence, and makes an incredible impact.

If you are standing without a lectern, it is even more daring, as you have no cover, and your entire mid to upper body is exposed to view. If you are planning this course, how you dress, your composure,
Standing between your audience and the presentation, you are the most influential person in the room.

If in doubt, give it the overnight test

2008-11-24T19:32:00.007+08:00

There is a saying my creative director had way back. He said ‘if you ever had an inkling that the creative was not right, give it the overnight test’. That’s exactly what we used to do. We would hang the artwork on the wall, and examine it the next day.

Writing a proposal or a difficult email late at night can benefit from the overnight test too. Creatives tend to practice this more than client service. With fresh eyes the following morning, you see more objectively.

When you are tired, or distracted, it is easy for the meaning of an email or an idea to become distorted. It is better to delay sending until you have had time to review it the next day.

Delaying sending it can avoid the necessity of apologising and re-writing a new one.

To conduct an overnight test, leave proposals on your desktop, and emails in your draft folder. In the morning you can correct ambiguous explanations, and remove any tone which may be misinterpreted.

This practice backs-up the idea of doing less, but doing it better. By getting it right the first time, you conserve energy and save yourself the time repeating the task.

Vision, first and foremost

2008-11-24T19:18:00.011+08:00

Having a vision is what drives results. Vision is foresight to see beyond the hurdles and distractions of now, to what is possible and necessary tomorrow.

To develop a vision, client service need to deeply understand the nature of their client’s business, and the behaviour of their customers. They have to not only come up with an idea, but simulate how it would fly in the face of reality.

Creating a vision requires experience, reflection and conviction. It should come from a person who is closest to the Client, as they are the most motivated to see the project succeed.

Client service need to believe with their hearts and minds in the vision. They shouldn't be precious - instead sharing their vision with many colleagues and laypersons to get feedback.

Once the Client and others in the Agency have bought into
the vision, it becomes a matter of maintaining it through to execution.

This is easier than it sounds. Production is complex, and there are issues which arise not considered before. To overcome these problems and not cut corners requires discipline, and an inbuilt guidance system to check decision-making is inline with the vision.

Protecting the vision from erosion is paramount. The trick is to place a perimeter around what is fundamental, and then guard it viciously. You must be clear on what can and cannot be compromised.

Taking ownership and becoming custodian of the vision may make you unpopular in the short term. However this approach in the long run will reduce the number of client revisions, and make the most of the Agency’s creative people.

Clients don’t engage Agencies to prove they can produce a television commercial, or a website for that matter. They are paying for a vision, and the results which come from a vision.

Client service are doing everyone a favour each time they remind themselves and others of this often forgot truth.

The conference call made personal

2008-10-05T12:34:00.004+08:00

Where possible, try to engage in face-to-face meetings, especially when you are expecting to meet key stakeholders for the first time. People are more comfortable doing business with someone they have met in person, than an anonymous voice on the phone.

However, globalisation of business has meant we can't always be in the same room. For many business transactions, we may never have the luxury of a face-to-face meeting. The expectation placed on an Agency to deliver is no different. Just because the Client is in conversing from another country, won't make expectation of the project less.

Establish who is in the room. Write down the name and rank of each participant, and picture them seated at a table. You will need to call their names during the meeting to get the right person's attention. Make sure all the parties are experiencing clear reception, and verify the length of time the call is expected to take.

Progress one point at a time. Go over each point carefully, and anticipate which parts of the discussion may need extra explanation. Send visual aids to all parties before the presentation to improve comprehension.

Shorter meeting times. Attention spans on conference calls are shorter compared to face to face. All parties are focusing solely on audio, which can get tiring, especially if the audio has poor reception. Conversely, in-person meetings are full of body language and eye contact, which provide a source of stimulus. Focus on the most important areas for discussion, and use email to solidify details after the call has ended.

Voice projection. Speak slowly, clearly and voice project. If this is your first meeting with the Client, they'll be listening to your cues in your voice which tell them your level of influence and seniority. If the Client can't hear properly, it is likely they will miss important information. Clients whose English is not their first language, will need extra attention.
Say less. Telephony has a lot of limitations. Although it can connect many people remotely, only one person can speak at a time. Allow longer pauses between speech than in a normal face-to-face meeting, to allow others opportunities to contribute.

Brave are those who face ‘difficult conversations’

2008-10-02T13:34:00.017+08:00

Client service with foresight make small interventions each day, to prevent an issue escalating. These are small investments diffuse any issues, before it becomes an issue.

However, if either the Client or the Agency are what negotiation strategists call 'avoiders', it is unlikely either party is practicing diffusion. Having a genuine desire to maintain good relations, an avoider is not prepared to risk the relationship to table an issue. They are affraid of the emotional consequences of an arguement or conflict. So an avoider delays, procrastinates, and by not acting excacerbates the issue.

It is natural to want to avoid confrontation. After all, no one enjoys confrontation, especially with a Client.

Avoidance however is no cure. The ostrich that stuck its head in the ground never helped anyone. Every relationship, no matter how healthy and endearing, is likely to present challenges.

Planning a difficult conversation
Difficult conversations are fraught with danger. It is easy to get caught up in one's emotions, or to lose focus and miss the point all together. A great deal of skill and time is required to succeed.

Here a few measures client service should take to prepare for a difficult conversation.

Confirm you have an issue. Nothing is worse than client service forcing an issue which does not exist. If the Client is uninterested, it may be a sign they believe there is no issue. Even if there is an issue, there be another way to resolve it without the Agency's involvement.

Send your best people. No amount of preparation can conceal the fact client service are preparing to criticise the Client. This manoeuvre takes a lot of courage and experience. Sending a junior to hangout dirty laundry is not an option. Unless you plan to terminate the relationship, make sure the person you send is experienced and trusted by the Client.

Assess the risk. Map out scenarios, including a 'do nothing'. When risking a possible confrontation, think about what kind of positive return it will bring the Client and the Agency.
Invite the client to your office. Find a way to conduct the conversation face to face, instead of on email. Placing criticism on email is dangerous, as you cannot sense the Client's mood at the time they read it. It may also be interpreted as cowardly, and not worthy of consideration.

Maintain self-control. Before the meeting, write down your points, and refer to it during conversation. This way you stay focused, and are less likely to fall victim to your emotions. Anger, blame and sarcasm only reveal weakness of character, and will work against you.

Be sincere. If you value the relationship, this should flow naturally. The challenge is to maintain a polite, sincere and focused conversation, minimising long term damage to the relationship. If you have had to conduct a difficult conversation, you will know just how hard this is to accomplish.

Take indirect action. Make it known you are treating the matter seriously, by placing embargoes. These are indirect measures to begin limiting liability and demonstrating to the client that their money is not everything to you.

Presentations are a dialogue

2008-10-02T08:30:00.005+08:00

It is remarkable how often client service deliver a presentation, without pausing once to allow the Client to make comment. They bolt from the moment they hear the starting gun, and don't stop talking right until the end.

By refusing the Client the right to interact, isolates the Client and slows down their cognitive responses. Soon they begin to fidget and become distracted, and cease listening.

A far better way to hold the attention of a Client is to engage in a dialogue. A dialogue is two-way communication, where parties learn simultaneously about the subject matter and each other.

Many find dialogue in a presentation unnatural, as they have scripted their presentation one-way. The presentation has been scripted as a soliloquy, where the spot light remains fixed on them.

It is no wonder client service are caught off guard when the Client interrupts them. They are so focused on their presentation, they can't hear or see what is happening around them.

This disconnection between the speaker and the audience produces no results, and wastes the time of the participants. A better approach is to have a dialogue.

While rehearsing, imagine your presentation is a conversation between friends. Deliberately script the presentation with pauses, and invite others to contribute opinions. Simulate what their contribution might be. Anticipate which areas of the presentation are likely to draw criticism, and plan an adequate response.

Here is an example of a client service person, scripting themselves for a dialogue. In this example the client service person is looking for opportunities to draw chatter from all parties present.

Example dialogue
Agency: Good morning Jon. Thank you for inviting us to present today. We have three concepts we will we showing you. One of them is very similar to what you briefed in. The other two however, are quite different. We have given your brief a lot of thought, and we feel the last two have merit.
Jon: Okay great.
Agency: This is our first concept. No surprises here. It is exactly what you asked for.
Jon: Yep. Perfect.
Agency: Jennifer, you haven't seen this concept before. What do you think?
Jennifer: It's good. You have listened to what we wanted.
Agency: Okay. Then let's move to the next concept. I'm going to let Jasmine talk through this concept as it was her idea…

This presentation is staged. It took place in someone's mind. Notice how the client service person was more than a presenter - they were also a mediator. A dialogue will make the presentation more productive and enjoyable for all the attendees.

Client-slave relationship. Are you in one?

2008-09-28T20:02:00.022+08:00

For decades the act of love deprivation and guilt trips have turned the most disobiedient children into high performing, role models. It is the kind of conditioning whereby those who underperform meet the end of a big stick.

Unfortunately some of us carry the master-slave paradigm we learned during childhood into the workplace. Instead of encouraging staff and suppliers to be self-governing, responsible individuals, they revert to master-slave roles to get what they want.

How to get in one.
Nine times out of ten, client service become slaves by poorly framing a Client's expectation. The Agency is so focused on getting the business, they neglect to negotiate the Agency's requirements, and project an unbalanced picture of the working relationship.

They say 'yes' to everything - just to secure the sale. They fail to mention the effort they require the Client into a project, the potential situations for variation fees and realistic turnaround times for changes to production.

Client service will know they have become slaves, when the Client emails a request then calls five minutes later to make sure it is being executed. The Client has been conditioned to micro-manage.

How to get out of one.
The problem is no number of Client lunches and boozing can guarantee the situation can be turned around. The most painless way to fix the issue, is to end the relationship. When you hear of an Agency walking away from a Client's business, this is usually what has taken place.

The good news is most Clients don't want a master-slave relationship. They recognise the relationship is unprofitable for both parties. Playing the master role saps them of precious time and energy, and forces them to micro-manage. All an Agency need do, is prove to a new client, that they can perform without having to be whipped.

You will know you are not in a master-slave relationship, when client service is able to negotiate with confidence at different stages of the relationship. Rather than feeling under the thumb, they have room to manoeuvre when making a request or presenting costs.

Example pitch.
“Hi Bill. You have just seen a presentation of our creative work. You can see we are good. However we believe our creative is a given. If you are an Agency and can't get the creative part right, there's no point being in this game.

Although we are small, we compete with firms many times our size. Clients work with our Agency because they are not willing to pay the high fees demanded of a large agency, but still value client service. They want accountability, accuracy in workmanship, and to never have to chase the Agency to find out the status on their job.

In fact, you can expect us to chase you.

You have a corporate background, and I know service will be important to you. Let's face it, most small agencies are in survival mode, and struggle just to output the product.

Unless this you place a dollar value on your time, there is no point working with us, as you will never feel like you are getting value for money.”

In this delivery, the value proposition is clear - you are dealing with professionals, and this is a scarce commodity which comes at a price. It is said in a very business manner, with a practiced delivery that wastes not a single word.

Cleverly, the last paragraph implies the Client is pitching to the Agency, as much as the Agency is pitching to them. This plants a win-win mentality which will give the Agency an edge in negotiate.

This kind of setup is key to breaking down the master-slave paradigm. The Client is confident they can let go of power, without risking a drop in performance. This freedom places both parties on an even keel, and in good stead for a healthy relationship.

To pitch? Or not to pitch? That is the question.

2008-09-18T17:09:00.011+08:00

While free pitches can sharpen the saw and bring glory for the winner, it can spell disaster for the losing parties.

Know you are going to win.
The best military leaders of all time never went to war unless they knew they were going to win. I think pitching for free is much the same. When you consider the opportunity cost of battling it out with agencies - the angst, forgoing paid work and over working staff - you really have to pick your pitches carefully.

Unless you have intelligence which suggests you will win, perhaps the time is better spent on an existing Client.

Devaluing the agency.
In most cases when you pitch, you have to reveal your big idea. You deal your trump card, right at the start of the game. Any seasoned poker player will advise you such a move smells of desperation.

In addition, giving away the most valuable work at the beginning, devalues the remaining work to be completed. This could be avoided had the Client paid for the big idea.

Samson or Goliath.
Clients could be doing their business a disservice by calling a pitch. Perhaps Agencies with no work spend more time pitching, while the successful ones are busy servicing paying Clients.

The Client gets free ideas, but not necessarily the right Agency to work with.

This is particular true when dealing with small agencies. To survive, they must deliver fast and accurate work to their Clients. Instead of pitching, they build intimate relationships with fewer clients, and incremental grow their retained business.

After all, it is statistically proven easier to retain business than win new business.

Larger Agencies are different. Their business model requires they drive new business, which means lots of pitching. They have more fat in their organisation, and need to continuously pitch to cover their large overhead.

Quite often they are pitching on budgets of $250k and higher, making the carrot enticing enough to pitch for free. They can afford to lose a few pitches and not feel the pinch.

See the full article published in marketing interactive.

Clients play a role in the success of projects

2008-09-09T07:14:00.011+08:00

The confidence the Client has in the Agency's capability to deliver a scope of work, impacts on whether the project will be a success or failure. Put simply, if those around you are telling you that you will fail, your chances of success become slimmer.

From the time we learned to walk or ride a bicycle, we have needed the confidence of others to overcome obstacles. A Client's confidence is no different. The vested confidence in an Agency gives client service power to be effective, make decisions and focus on the deliverables of the project.

For all the reasons confidence empowers, lack of confidence disempowers. The Client will behave unproductively - micro-managing client service, demanding trivial reporting and face to face meetings which accomplish little except appease the Client's emotions. With their focus divided and their attention occupied by the Client's emotional state of mind, client service become tired and ineffective.

The net result for the Agency are projects which never end, projects with no outstanding result to promote the Agency's services, and the threat the Client may refuse to pay. The Client is unlikely to be a long term prospect, or refer the Agency to other professionals.

Client service should keep a mental register of how negatively or positively a Client perceives the Agency, and establish practices to prevent or correct instances where confidence is slipping.

A few practices to minimise the likelihood of a Client losing confidence include:

Seeking win-win deals. Ask yourself 'Does the Client trust us?'. If the answer is no, consider not taking the project. There is a tendency for deal makers to ignore underlying emotional problems, and simply focus on the deal size or particulars. The underlying issue is left unresolved, later surfacing and reducing the value of the contract.
Communicating clearly. Comprehend the Client's needs and understand their intent. Deliver accurate, timely documentation, free of typos. In an existing relationship, a Client may overlook many of these errors, but in a new business context, their tolerance may be much lower.
Assessing personality types. Discuss and assess the Client's personality, where they have worked before, and their pain-points. Tolerance for errors will vary from Client to Client, and depend largely on their expectation and experience.
Act on warning signs. The Client may be testing the Agency's ability to read their body language by dropping subtle clues. Serious or not, warning signs must not be ignored and acted on immediately.
Establish a clear path of complain. Allow Clients to air their complaints by appointing an independent party as a silent listener. The listener is normally someone senior in the Agency, who is approachable and possesses many of the faculties stated above.
Knowing when to call it a day. When confidence slips too far into the red, no reasonable effort may reverse the perception. It may be best to terminate the scope of work agreement, than to continue to push in a direction which is causing all parties undue stress.

Positive client experience is more valuable than the deliverables

2008-09-04T14:03:00.004+08:00

Projects requiring an investment of the Client's time expose the Agency to risks they may not have foreseen. On such projects, it is not good enough to exceed the expected deliverables. Agencies, like all service-based businesses, need to deliver not only a great outcome, but a positive client experience.

Client service may deliver a project on time and budget, but it will not be remembered if it came at huge cost of the Client's time or emotional energy. This is because over the course of the project, the Client begins to measure the performance of the Agency with a non-tangible criteria.

Instead of focusing purely on milestones and the end result, the Client begins to measure the project from the perspective of their day-to-day experience. How they feel about the client service person, and their confidence and attitude to the project begin to influence their overall perception.

So no matter what the outcome, a negative Client experience will smear a great result. The outcome becomes worthless if the process was not a class act. In fact, a less than expected result will be more often forgiven if the Client had a positive experience.

Client service should be aware in such circumstances, that their performance is being measured in real time, and strive to operate professionally and with finesse. The Client should be hardly aware of the Agency's labour, or their efforts to minimise the number of times the Client is touched and inconvenienced.

New relationships are most endanger of a negative Client experience. To mitigate the risk, client service should spend ample time during pre-sales educating the Client on their process, procedures and expectations on the Client.

Forming a solid foundation of trust and connectivity with the client before the project begins will improve the chances of a positive client experience.

With so many service providers to choose from, the deliverable has become a parity. What differentiates Agencies now is the Client experience. A positive experience will be the catalyst for ongoing work and referrals.

Moving from talk to the deal

2008-08-24T16:19:00.025+08:00

For an Agency to move the project from a discussion (or scope of possibility), to an approved estimate, client service are required to draft a scope of work.

Drafting a scope of work requires accuracy, negotiation and speed. Top client service can read between the lines, and pitch the right idea which makes sense for the Client, and can be furnished by the Agency.

How fast client service can draw a red box largely determines if they have created value. Value is created if the Client is not required to do too much thinking. Accurate documentation is drafted, and few amends are required. Long term, the Client grows accustomed to the timesaving created by client service, and the Agency enjoys repeat business.

No matter how knowledgeable client service may be on a subject of marketing, value is recognised by how long client service take to arrive at the real project.

A lot of discussion can ensue during the scope of possibility. Unless client service can move the discussion to a scope of work, they are adding no value and wasting the Client's time.

MNCs favour working with small Agencies which can save them time. Rather than work with large companies, retarded by red tape and slow decision-making, MNCs seek to outsource to agile firms which provide a pointed approach to getting the job done.

Client service who can wade through the delicate process of creating a neat, square box create many benefits.

Empowerment. As the Agency has taken the initiative to write the scope of work, the expectation is shifted to the Client. Subsequent delay becomes the result of the Client slow decision making, and not because the Agency have not delivered.
Conversion. An accurate and complete scope of work attracts less scrutiny, and fewer reasons for the Client to challenge costs.
Ease of execution. A clear square box gives the Agency's production people focus, and maintains budget and delivery timing.
Flexibility. Clients are far more likely to forgive small mistakes which occur during a project, if client service provide an overall timesaving.

Over inflating ones capability

2008-08-06T19:07:00.010+08:00

Client service have reasons for over-selling either themselves or the Agency. They may prize personal development, which they experience when they push themselves beyond their limits. Or perhaps they are trying to guard their relationship with the Client, by pitching for projects to lock-out threats from potential competitors.

Whatever the motivation, the question is, what are the ramifications of over-selling?

Agencies rarely get into trouble for the claims they make which inflate their capability. More often, Agencies get skewed by Clients when they fail to deliver on a promise which cause the Client damage or embarrassment.

So over-selling one's capability poses no real harm to either the Agency or the Client, assuming client service deliver what was promised.

A smart team of client service are well aware of the necessity to deliver. They know their strengths, and how far they can extend before they get into hot water. They can clearly calculate where they are and the risk of extending. They are comfortable when in situations where they don't have answers, because they know that in time they will find solutions.

The decision to over-commit, or risk passing up an offer is not an easy one to make. By turning down a project, client service invite potential competitors. On the other hand, the single act of over-committing could jeopardise the very relationship, the Agency sort to protect.

Have an opinion, or become a puppet

2008-08-03T09:33:00.027+08:00

It is easy for client service to fill their day aimlessly shuffling documents from one place to another. Rather than effectively adding value by carrying out negotiations and advising clients, they resemble pigeons relaying messages.

When they are expected to share an opinion or negotiate, you'll commonly hear 'I'll get back to you'. Example: Client service agree to meet a Client to discuss their requirement, and short of the cleaner, invite everyone from the Agency to attend the meeting.

In such an instance, client service lack knowledge and experience to make decisions. They rely on the Client and their own people to tell them what to do and what to say. Client service who are not in control of the project frustrate the Client and exhaust resources in the Agency. Frustrated Clients are less receptive to new ideas, and exhausted production people more likely to leave the Agency.

It is crucial client service remain in control. Client service need to be critical of Client's requests, and the contributions of others in the Agency. They recognise that behind every opinion, is someone's own agenda, which may not necessarily align to Client's or Agency's goals.

By having an opinion, client service speed up decision-making and improve the Agency's capability to complete a project. They use the opinions of those around them as a guide, not gospel.

The daunting role called client service

2008-06-29T15:42:00.020+08:00

Client service is a lever into the client's world, making them an important asset to an agency. With the strategic importance of their relationship comes responsibility many client service are ill-equipped to deal with.

Management expects client service to divide their time between managing the client, third parties and internal resources. They are expected to influence these three groups in different ways, depending on the objective and desired outcomes.

They are managing tight budgets, high expectations and sometimes uncooperative parties. In this difficult environment they are still expected to grow the business, build agency influence and scale their own team.

It's no wonder we commonly hear the industry refer to client service as 'glorified secretaries'. To the quite observer, they can appear inept when faced with the daunting challenge of dealing with this complicated landscape.

The question is then, how to train client service to be able to better respond to the pressures, and reduce instances of attrition. Here are some suggestions.

Identify the paradigm
Teach manoeuvre
Set up a training ground

Identify the paradigm.
Agency management need to highlight the landscape in which their client service operate, and make the behaviour of the different stakeholders a study. It is not until client service understand the gravity of the forces on them, can they begin to learn how to deal with them.

Teach skills
'Service' in client service encapsulates a broad range of tasks. These tasks are skills which can be taught. To varying degrees, client service excel in all or few of these skills. However, to provide a 360 degree solution, they are required to be supreme in all three.

The client services person who is apt in the art of negotiation, may not be good at coping with the rigorous discipline required to project management.

To be able to negotiate, project manage and expand relationships is a prerequisite to becoming a successful client service.

Teach manoevre
Strategic orientation of oneself in this landscape is important. No matter how developed a client service skill levels may be, they have to take positions and understand how the game is being played.

Manoevre is the study of where best to situate one self to apply maximum effect. By being in the right position, they can exert pressure without writing an email or making a call. They are able to see passed the day-to-day, and understand underlying trends in relationships.

Being able to manoevre gives client service options when they are faced with challenges. Instead of one plan, they have multiple ways of reacting to each group to achieve their end goal.

The chellenge for agencies is how to teach manoevre. Unlike skills which become honed through repetition, manoevre is a way of seeing and thinking about a problem.

Establish a training ground
Nothing can replace practice. The best group to practice skills and manoevre is with suppliers. Clients and production staff are less forgiving, and may not provide feedback. However a long time supplier can make a better test subject, being more accommodating and provide truthful feedback.

Tackling motivation.

2008-06-29T12:32:00.009+08:00

Tackling unmotivated client service raises a few questions. Can we motivated them, and if we can't, you got to ask why we hired them in the first place.

Hiring an unmotivated individual, regardless of their capability, is a mistake. The unmotivated, instead of solving their issues, can turn their energy to distract the motivated.

Being career-oriented, or motivated, is often confused as a responsibility the agency must bare. It isn't. Having career goals is a matter of personal choice every employee makes.

So agency management can be forgiven for failing to motivate the unmotivated. And instead, can place their energies in getting the right people on the bus, and maintaining the motivation of the right people.

One simple way to keep high performing client service motivated, is to give them opportunities to work on, not problems. Motivated client service measure their success by personal growth. Facing a difficult problem that they cannot surmount, their growth is stunted, and they despair.

Agencies will always have problems, but opportunities are rare. To close opportunities, and keep motivation high, point your best and greatest towards opportunities.

Effects of inertia

2008-06-22T11:36:00.005+08:00

When client services under perform when they have to stop and start projects, or are frequently required by management to change direction. Each time this occurs, client services must first slow down, and then power back up. This effort, or energy requirement is called inertia.

Put in physics terms, inertia is the force required to overcome friction and move a project from rest to a certain velocity. The quantity of force required to 'kick-start' the project is substantially more than what is required to keep it running once it is moving.

Overcoming inertia involves setting up meetings, reconnecting with facts, checking with all parties for status reports. For the client service, this can rack up unbilled hours. This unseen cost to services business is transparent in other industries like building and construction. For example, a foreman who books a concrete mixer to arrive on-site, but finds he has nowhere to lay the concrete faces a financial penalty from the truck driver, even though no concrete was poured.

What's more, client service management fail to recognise the debilitating effects of inertia. Inertia consumes precious time and energy of client service, and produces no value for the company or client. Inertia therefore could be blamed for low motivation and staff attrition.

Clients are also taxed by inertia through lost sales revenue. Even though the scope of work has not changed, it has taken longer than forecasted to launch the new product or service.

It stands to reason both the agency and client have a vested interest in keeping a project moving without rest. For client service are most productive when maintaining a constant speed, and least productive when overcoming inertia.

Scaling client service

2008-06-21T19:32:00.009+08:00

Getting the right client service on the bus is hard enough for multinationals to accomplish. For small agencies, it is even harder. Talent is seduced to join the larger companies because they have greater scale, a globally-recognise brand and more internal support structures.

So small agency's find themselves locked out of the talent war, attracting fewer CVs than an MNC. The obvious alternative is to hire staff who lack skills but have potential. Staff who have potential are believed to have the right attitude, but lack experience or proficiency. Therefore, they have a competency gap.

To close a trainee's competency gap, at least three elements are required:

Motivation
Aptitude
Support functions and incentives

The larger the competency gap, the greater the likelihood the trainee will not succeed. What's more, a competency gap of say two points, compared to four more than double. In fact it could be as much as six times greater. This is because the combination of the three criteria create a multiplier effect - the exact result is hard to predict.

For most small agencies, the pressure to provide value is unrelenting. So delivering on a promise to provide support and incentives to trainees is not easy. Providing training can distract key staff from creating value, cause customer dissatisfied and even financial loss.

So it is no wonder we see management tossing their hands in the air, and cursing the quest to scale.

there is another alternative. For the firm to focus on creating client value, hiring experienced people is a better strategy. A more experienced trainee can bring networks of clients, suppliers and new perspectives to improve the firm.

In addition, the risks associated with a competency gap are minimised, as the person is assumed to be proficient.Emphasis shifts from training, to one of maximising the performance of people.

To hire such talent, management will have to offer more salary, and expect to wait longer to find the right person. Using unconventional means to identify talent may be required, like prowling trade shows.

Why small is beautiful

2008-06-15T21:49:00.007+08:00

It has never been a better time to be small.

Speed as a survival mechanism

2008-06-15T19:25:00.014+08:00

The key to Genghis Khan's success was not the size of his army, but the momentum at which it could move. In all accounts of the battles he fought, Khan was reportedly outnumbered by his opponents.

Khan contributed to today's military thinking of maneuver, with his concept of force. Force is the power or influence a company can exude. Force is equal to mass times acceleration (f=ma).

What Khan lacked in mass, he made up for in speed.

Therefore, when a firm is relatively smaller than its competitors, speed is vital for survival. Without speed, small companies lose, because organisations with greater mass are able to exert more force.

To maintain speed, management need to think and execute carefully:

Hire self-starting people. These are people who have the motivation to make decisions and execute work with little supervision. They enjoy an automous working environment, free of red tape and micro-management.
Take only small projects. Set a finite length of time, like one month. For projects which are longer, break them into parts. In a small firm, large projects slow down people, make them tired and reduce their motivation.
Spend time planning the week. Encourage all people to plan their day using calendars. Become masters of our time, we move with greater speed, because we are effective. We see problems much earlier, and we plan how to circumvent them.
Discipline to follow core procedure. Discipline to follow a well designed class of company processes, procedures, documentation, we become efficient. By being efficient, we make fewer mistakes and save time, which can be reinvested to provide customers greater value.
Focus every effort. This is probably the most important, and is present in points 1-4. The objective is to do less. Write fewer emails, give few instructions, ask fewer things of suppliers and deliver fewer items to customers. Focus prevents us loosing site of objectives, and prevents all parties, including the client, from tiring and becoming unmotivated.

Trust is the cornerstone of business

2007-09-21T17:24:00.000+08:00

Contracts alone cannot protect Agencies and Clients in every instance. There is simply not enough time to write a contract for every engagement. Nor are contracts always feasible. For example, you can't write a contract to make a Client give a referral, if you complete project successfully.

You could try, but you won't build trust in the process. At some point, either party will by exposed to risk. And trust will determine whether the party will accept the risk.

One of the best ways to understand trust, is to consider what happens in the absence of it. Every effort to collaborate is met with resistance. Every recommendation treated with suspicion. Every error made never forgiven.

An absence of trust can threaten the success of a project, which can effect the Agency's bottom line. The Client, not trusting an Agency, is guarded and distant. They may ignore valuable information given by the Agency to avoid a critical error in a campaign.

If an Agency cannot direct a project from danger, is the deal nothing but a liability?

If trust is so vital to a successful outcome, client service should be measured not by the results of their campaigns alone, but by their ability to foster trust. Building trust, not building campaigns, should be the guiding force of every decision an Agency makes in its dealing with a Client.

Trust is measureable. Not by whether a Client will shake your hand, but the amount of influence exerted. Different degrees of trust provide different levels of influence.

Executor level tends to be where most trust begins. The Agency repeatedly executes tasks for a Client with the ultimate goal of becoming the Client's criticisor. As a criticisor, the Agency is working optimally for the Client, by providing insights to how the Client's operations and personnel can be improved. As a criticsor, the Agency can transform the very nature of the relationship - improving productivity and efficiency.

A triangle of trust not only provides the Agency influence, but the taller the triangle becomes, the more resilient it is to small, inconsequential errors an Agency may commit. Small errors which at an execution level, threaten the very foundations of the relationship, bounce off harmlessly at criticisor level.

The reason the triangle becomes more resilient as it grows, is because both the Agency and Client are contributing to its growth. The Client, like the Agency, has an emotional and psychological stake in the success of a trust triangle. For the Client, trust spells less red tape and more informal communication, which equates to faster results.

Self awareness the key to service

2007-09-18T19:30:00.000+08:00

The customer experience is difficult to control in a service environment. Customers have a transparent view of company, its staff and operations – all in real time. This complex set of variables produces an untold number of unpredictable scenarios.

Systems can provide top-line guidance, but the day-to-day is largely lost or gained by staff who possess self awareness. Self aware people can read between the lines. They know the limits of the system and when to step in to switch off the auto-pilot and provide a tailored solution.

When you are self aware, you are exactly that. You are aware of the self. You stand outside yourself, and look at the world not through your lens, but through the lens of others. You put aside your needs and feelings, and behave objectively. We can place ourselves in the shoes of others and intervene when the system is not being effective.

Self awareness means being totally in the service of those around you, both at work and in the private life. In this mindset, there are no barriers imposed by the self, because you are not focused on the self. All your energy and concern are deeply routed in the ground around you - not within you.

Effort is directed outwardly to your colleagues, management, customers and family.

By being in the service of real people, in the real world, and not captive to your own feeling and needs, you empower the self without focusing on the self. You become free of your own self-imposed bounds, and connected to the environment.

Strangely, the more focus on the self, the less we stand to gain. In an age where the self is considered above all, nothing can be more threatening to our survival and preservation than a focus on the self. In the 7 Habits of highly Effective People, Covey suggests that it is the people who are interdependent, not independent, who stand to gain most.

In economic terms, we need people to help us achieve our goals, and without their buy-in, we struggle. This thinking is confirmed by spiritual beliefs, which suggest that a selfish life bares little fruit, but a life of generousity creates abundance.

Scenario

Judy recently joined an Agency as an account service person to manage a difficult account. The account is a major piece of business for the Agency, but staff are reluctant to work with the Client. Staff complain the client makes them feel powerless, useless and expendable.

Judy was naturally cautious, but wanted to make a difference. While people within the Agency harboured thoughts which protected their beliefs and justified their behaviour, Judy put herself in the shoes of her client.

By not focusing on the self, Judy feel the client's anxiety stemmed from a high expectation placed upon themselves, their staff and their Agency. So strong was the client’s ambition, it drove a distance between him and everyone else one else around him.

By removing the self, Judy could observe and listen to the client objectively, and not be affected by his criticism. Judy was able to defend his action within her team, and encourage the Agency not waste time in justifying their defensive behaviour, but to put themselves in the service of the Client.

Judy’s self awareness preserved the income stream from the high profile client and increased the satisfaction of those involved in the projects by improving trust and openness.