Choose to work with clients you respect – and who respect you
A little bit of respect goes a long way in life and in business, Sefiani boss Robyn Sefiani writes. After several instances where it was sorely lacking, she has a message to those on the client side.
Three things happened last week that reaffirmed my philosophy in business: to only work with clients you like and respect and who show you respect in return.
The first thing that irked me was the continued total silence from a well-known data warehousing company who asked us in January to provide an urgent proposal for crisis drill exercises across five APAC markets.
Over time, I feel like the ‘human’ aspect in these relationships has really grown in importance. We’re all human after all! It might be an old saying, but I still think it holds true: ‘treat people the way you’d like to be treated’ – it goes a long way!
Thank you so much for voicing your experiences. As an actor, I’m frequently made to drop everything and learn lines, and prepare a character, get camera, lights, wardrobe etc set up and submit within hours of receipt…. to then hear NOTHING back. Usually, the audition tape doesn’t even get watched. It’s beyond frustrating and so atrocious and a sad reflection of how lacking in courteous and professional conduct so many industries and individuals have now become. I feel your pain, and truly appreciate you sharing your story.
Such a timely article. The company I work for recently went through an extensive three stage pitching process with a prospective client that required insane turnarounds – but the team pulled it together and did an amazing job. The first warning sign should have been when half of the client team didn’t bother showing up to the pitch in person, despite our team being asked to come in to the office. It’s been a number of weeks now, and every call and email has just gone unanswered. It is so DISRESPECTFUL. The sad thing is, the is experience will taint my view of this brand for life.
Probably one of the biggest learnings is not to jump at an urgent opportunity. I think it’s good to stop and ask if the budget has been signed off, because often it’s been a knee-jerk response by someone who is panicking and hasn’t had their project vetted by the right people.
Unfortunately this bad client behaviour is becoming more and more common. Surprising that these ‘brand experts’ forget that we agency land people are also consumers who, after being treated so unprofessionally, will boycott their products. It’s not enough to dismiss bad behaviour as ‘just business’. Each touch point contributes to the brand health. A good check before wasting your time of RFPs and pitches is to check the company’s Google reviews – often insightful!
Good piece from a true leader in the field of comms. I was approached by a top tier consultancy in the digital experential world recently. We had a call and shared ideas. I sent a short headline approach plan. Total silence. Never heard back from them. Seen one editorial piece in AU industry media and it was shite.
What’s interesting about some marketers or brand teams is they do not realise that their brand purpose should also extend to their external arms.
Who are you, and what do you stand for? Not just with customers or internal stakeholders, but your external stakeholders too…?
Your customer obsession should extend to anyone who comes into dealing with your business and your brand.
Great marketers understand that their external suppliers are also an extension of their team. Treat them well and they will treat you well.
This also extends to living your brand purpose and your values with anyone who deals with you, your team and your brand.
Countless times, you put blood, sweat & tears into a brief response, pitch or an emergency request by the marketing manager who needs to deliver something to the CEO ASAP/YESTERDAY!!!
Then…it’s crickets! Call me a soft millennial but I just want an acknowledgement from the receiver to say thank you for the team’s time and effort. Particularly, when we drop everything to deliver for you. I don’t care how busy you think you are, it costs you nothing to be polite and send a follow up email saying thank you.