Last week we talked about how using prospect language is a much more effective way to connect with your agency’s prospects.
There is a sequel to this story, and it has a new moral: leave your arrogance at home.
Remember the agency arrogance we discussed last week as part of the Pet Parents story?
There is even more to that story.
A quick recap of the Pet Parents story.
A few years ago we ran a pitch for a leading retail pet store. The team at the pet store never referred to their target audience as “pet owners”. Nope. They religiously called them “Pet Parents.” They LOVE pets. This “Pet Parents” point was clearly evident in all of the briefing materials. The client team was consistent with this terminology in the Q&A.
Despite all of this, one of the finest agencies in the world approached the pitch in such an arrogant fashion that they missed this critical point. Instead of using the prospect’s “Pet Parents” language, they instead continuously referred to their audience as… pet owners. The agency had not listened and didn’t understand the prospective client. And their creative ideas made things even worse. As the agency continued their presentation they introduced signage ideas for different sections of the client’s stores. There was signage for dogs, cats and fish. Signs for pet food and for accessories. Things then went completely off the rails with their signage idea for the large lizard section: “Pets that eat other pets.”
They thought they were clever. Our client was incredibly upset. A pet parent doesn’t talk that way about pets. Needless to say, that agency did not win.
But wait, there’s more.
The arrogance at the agency ran so deep that prior to the final presentation (the “Pets that eat other pets” travesty) …
… the agency declined the opportunity to have a tissue session with the client.
Why would an agency do such a thing? We asked. Here’s what they said:
“We don’t want to distract our creative team with client feedback.”
Really. “We don’t want to distract our creative team with client feedback.”
But wait, there is EVEN MORE.
Upon informing this agency that they did not prevail, and that the client was disappointed by the constant reference to “pet owners” and the disturbing lack of respect shown for pets, the agency lead said:
“We disagree. We are so proud of this work that we are going to share it with the entire agency in an all-hands meeting.”
Yes, that is some story. I think the client CEO at that time asked a pretty reasonable question: “who the f—k invited that agency?”
The moral of Pet Parents, Part 2.
Arrogance is not an attractive quality in an agency.
This is a people business, and clients have important challenges and opportunities to address. They need the help of professionals they can trust, that are talented, and that they WANT to work with. Speak THEIR language. Check your arrogance at the door. Be the best version of yourself that you can be.
And don’t be THAT agency.
Steve Boehler, founder, and partner at Mercer Island Group has led consulting teams on behalf of clients as diverse as Ulta Beauty, Microsoft, UScellular, Nintendo, Kaiser Permanente, Holland America Line, Stop & Shop, Qualcomm, Brooks Running, and numerous others. He founded MIG after serving as a division president in a Fortune 100 when he was only 32. Earlier in his career, Steve Boehler cut his teeth with a decade in Brand Management at Procter & Gamble, leading brands like Tide, Pringles, and Jif.
Mercer Island Group helps marketers and agencies succeed. Company leadership is as much at home with marketers and their C-Suites as in an agency’s boardroom. With marketers, Mercer Island Group is a top 5 agency search consultancy covering all types of agency relationships (creative, media, web, PR, experiential) and assists marketers with marketing organization structure, workflow and critical skill development (briefing, creative evaluation & feedback, etc.). The company also supports leading and aspiring agencies with positioning, pitch and strategy training and pitch support.