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Michael is currently senior vice president, responsible for Digital, Technology and Operations at Javelin Marketing Group. Javelin is a full-service customer marketing agency driven by leading-edge analytics for today's digital age.

Michael's focus is on the customer and their story. The strategy is cross channel and the execution is multi-platform. Javelin's analytics reveal what's really happening with your marketing, with your budget, and with your business.

Michael believes in a digital world, not a digital channel. He works with his teams and their clients to generate smart, revenue driving multi-channel marketing solutions. Javelin's clients include AT&T, ING, Pep Boys, Hyatt, Kings Isle, Genetech and others.

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Features

Naughty Or Nice?

Written on
Dec 19, 2008 
Author
Michael Radigan  |
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Naughty Or Nice?

webloyalty.jpgADOTAS EXCLUSIVE — ’Tis the season to be making lists, checking them twice and finding out who’s been naughty or nice. So in that spirit, I give you my top three thoughts on how an agency-client relationship might get on the naughty list, and how you might be able to get it back on the nice list.

They  just don’t get it

Whether you’re on the client side or the agency side, you know something’s screwy with the relationship if you almost always come out of meetings and people start grumbling, “Those guys just don’t get it.” It’s like one side of the table has suddenly started speaking Swahili or something. Everybody’s frustrated. Problems pop up everywhere. New campaigns or projects die on the vine.

One quick way to handle this is for the client to fire the agency or the agency to resign the account. If nobody on either side is willing to put in the effort to figure out what’s causing the problems, then opting for divorce may be the most merciful thing in the long run.

But boy that would spoil the holiday spirit.

There is, of course, a better way. Think of it like marriage counseling. The worst thing you can do is ignore what’s happening. You need to sit down, draw a circle around the relationship and say, “We want this to work, agreed? So what can we do to keep this circle intact and make us strong.” Yeah, sounds kind of mushy. But believe me, it’s not.

Warning: Stay away from accusatory phrases, like “you always” and “you never.” That gets naughty real fast. Instead, remember back to when times were good and clearly describe what made those times good.

What I’ve found is that little unspoken things often build up into big problems. Simply talking them out often does wonders for nudging the relationship into the nice column.

Don’t get no respect
 

Nothing makes me seethe more than the lack of respect thing. Yet it’s critical to the client-agency relationship — as well as all your professional and private relationships. (Stay with me, this one isn’t as mushy as the last one. And besides, if you can’t handle a little emotional stuff this time a year, then bah-humbug on you.)

What does this look like? Clients who treat their agencies like lowest-price commoditized vendors. Agencies that turn their noses up at clients’ marketing or creative ideas. Any hint from either side that “we’re experts and you’re not.” Oh, boy. Sounds like grade school, doesn’t it?

Please, the solution to this one is easy. Whenever you feel that everyone else should just shut up and listen to you — do the opposite. Shut up yourself and listen to them. It’s amazing what you’ll learn. I have found this to be the secret to solving most respect problems. I’ll shut up myself after I talk about the next one.

The heart is there, but the wallet isn’t

The saddest client-agency relationship of them all is when the client “gets it,” treats your agency like a partner and is ready to go — yet they don’t have the capital to implement.

These can be gut-wrenching. If you’re not careful, your agency can start resenting clients like this. You start thinking they’re stealing your time and even your soul. You tell yourself they’re keeping you from working with more profitable clients.

But I encourage you to put yourself in their shoes. Be charitable. And get creative. Maybe you can come up with some kind of venture-marketing plan in which you forego your marketing fees in exchange for a piece of the resulting profit. Risky? You bet. But it puts you in the same boat as your client — a client that loves you. If you help them grow, then you will grow too. Think of it as an investment.

At this time of year and in this economic climate, a little charitable investment all around could ultimately keep us all from sliding helplessly onto the naughty list.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

– Express your opinion, comment below.





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